Research Methods -> Case Studies

Question 1

case study

Answer 1

The purpose of a case study is to provide a detailed analysis of an individual, establishment or real‐life event. A case study does not refer to the way in which the research was conducted, as case studies can use experimental or non‐experimental methods to collect data.

Question 2

Strengths of case studies

Answer 2

A strength of the case study approach is that it offers the opportunity to unveil rich, detailed information about a situation. These unique insights can often be overlooked in situations where there is only the manipulation of one variable in order to measure its effect on another.
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Case studies can be used in circumstances which would not be ethical to examine experimentally. For example, the case study of Genie (Rymer, 1993) allowed researchers to understand the long‐term effects of failure to form an attachment which they could not do with a human participant unless it naturally occurred.

Question 3

Weakness of case studies

Answer 3

There are methodological issues associated with the use of case studies. By only studying one individual, an isolated event or a small group of people it is very difficult to generalise any findings to the wider population since results are likely to be so unique. This therefore creates issues with external validity as psychologists are unable to conclude with confidence that anyone beyond the ‘case’ will behave in the same way under similar circumstances, thus lowering population validity.