case studies

Question 1

what is a case study

Answer 1

• an in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event.
• It usually collects qualitative data e.g. through interviews, observations, questionnaires
• Sometimes quantitative data can be obtained through experiments or psychological testing.
• Case studies can be conducted over a long period of time and information may be gathered from the person as well as family and friends.
• Longitudinal studies 2+ weeks
• Snapshot studies - 2 weeks or less

Question 2

what are the strengths/positives of case studies

Answer 2

• What is normal and what deviates from that and case studies helps us with that.
• Case studies and contribute to our understanding of ‘normal functioning’.
• Case studies provide rich, detailed insights concerning unusual and atypical forms of behaviour. –> They may be preferred to “artificial” methods such as experiments and questionnaires.
• Case studies may lead to larger scale research

Question 3

what are the weaknesses/negatives of case studies

Answer 3

• Study is atypical - can we compare to society/ can we generalise it ? → is it the only one
• Objectivity / subjectivity, if you study someone consistently over a course of years, you’re going to lose objectivity and your findings won’t be relevant.