case studies

Question 1

what is a case study

Answer 1

-An in-depth study that gathers a lot of detail about one person or a small group/event/community over time
-usually carried out in the real world. They are idiographic and very individualistic

Question 2

how is data typically gathered in a case study

Answer 2

from a variety of sources and by using several different methods

Question 3

length of a case study and why

Answer 3

-may continue for extended period of time
-processes and developments can be studied as they happen

Question 4

how did a case study origionate

Answer 4

in clinical medicine (the case history, the patients personal history)

Question 5

what does a case study often involve

Answer 5

a triangulation of methods

Question 6

what does a triangulation of methods include

Answer 6

observation
clinical medicine
interviews

Question 7

what would a pure case study be

Answer 7

a detailed written account of the person, their behaviour, and the researcher’s interpretation

Question 8

example of ways data can be collected in a case study

Answer 8

-psychometric test
-experiments
-case histories
-detailed notes
-observations
-secondary data
-interviews
-medical hisotry
-questionnaires

Question 9

how are the findings of a case study organised

Answer 9

to represent the persons thoughts, emotions, experiences and abilities

Question 10

how are case studies different from other methods

Answer 10

they are idiographic

Question 11

what type of data is often recorded and what can happen to this data later on

Answer 11

-often qualitative data
-this data can be converted to quantitative data

Question 12

what strategies do case studies employ

Answer 12

longitudinal strategies

Question 13

issue with the reliability of case studies

Answer 13

-often requires interpretation
-can be subject to researchers own bias

Question 14

how to overcome the issue of reliability with case studies

Answer 14

-inter rater reliability
(two or more observers independently rate behaviours using same operationalised categories and then their recordings are correlated, a strong positive correlation of +0.8 or higher indicates high reliability)

Question 15

what’s the issue of validity in case studies

Answer 15

-validity will often depend on methods being used as part of the study
-to deal with validity issues will depend on method

Question 16

strengths of case studies

Answer 16

-high explanatory power
-gain insight
-holistic idiographic approach
-high ecological validity

Question 17

limitations of case studies

Answer 17

-not generalisable
-loose objectivity due to bias as a result of relationship between the researcher and the patient, affecting validity