2- case studies

Question 1

what are case studies

Answer 1

• detailed investigation of a single individual/group/institution
• aim to be scientific and objective/systematic methods are used to collect data
• focus on small number of people
• can collect qualitative (interviews/obs) or quantitative (questionnaires/experiments) data
• can take place over long period of time (e.g. weeks/months = longitudinal study to see what changes may occur over a period of time)

Question 2

positive evaluation of case studies (2)

Answer 2

+ provide rich, detailed insights into behaviour, qualitative tends to be more valid than quantitative
+ allows study of rare/unusual behaviours (e.g. Genie/London riots) which might otherwise unethical to carry out using other research methods

Question 3

negative evaluation of case studies (2)

Answer 3

• often use small samples so results can’t be generalised to the wider population and the researcher could be biased in terms of subjective selection and interpretation of results
• data is low in reliability as if conducted again, similar results may not be found and also may be low in validity especially if it relies on recall of past memories as decay and forgetting is a problem