case studies

Question 1

What’s a case study?

Answer 1

A non-experimental method involves gathering detailed information about an individual group of people
Often used for one off or unusual cases
Can be longitudinal retrospective
Information is usually gathered through regular interviews or through the administration of regular psychological tests

Question 2

What data do case studies collect?

Answer 2

It varies from case to case but they tend to generate qualitative data and focus on a particular aspect of behaviour

Question 3

What’s an example of a case study?

Answer 3

The case of ‘little Hans’ who had a phobia of horses and Freud wanted to discover why he had this phobia

Question 4

What are the advantages of case studies?

Answer 4

Produce rich qualitative data giving us a real insight into human behaviour
High ecological validity because there’s no artificial set ups or variables to be manipulated

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of case studies?

Answer 5

Impossible to replicate so the reliability of the findings cannot be checked
Low generalisability as it’s only carried out on one person or a small group