Case Study Method in Psychological Research

CASE STUDY METHOD IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
Typically, data are gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods
(e.g. observations & interviews).
The case study research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e. the
patient’s personal history). In psychology, case studies are often confined to the study of a
particular individual.
The information is mainly biographical and relates to events in the individual's past (i.e.
retrospective), as well as to significant events which are currently occurring in his or her
everyday life.
The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data
collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies.
What is an example of a case study in psychology?
Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst the best known were the ones
carried out by Sigmund Freud, including Anna O and Little Hans.
Freud (1909a, 1909b) conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his
patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses. Even today
case histories are one of the main methods of investigation in abnormal psychology and
psychiatry.
This makes it clear that the case study is a method that should only be used by a psychologist,
therapist or psychiatrist, i.e. someone with a professional qualification.
There is an ethical issue of competence. Only someone qualified to diagnose and treat a
person can conduct a formal case study relating to atypical (i.e. abnormal) behavior or
atypical development.
How is a case study conducted?
The procedure used in a case study means that the researcher provides a description of the
behavior. This comes from interviews and other sources, such as observation.
The client also reports detail of events from his or her point of view. The researcher then
writes up the information from both sources above as the case study, and interprets the
information.
The research may also continue for an extended period of time, so processes and
developments can be studied as they happen.
Amongst the sources of data the psychologist is likely to turn to when carrying out a case
study are observations of a person’s daily routine, unstructured interviews with the
participant herself (and with people who know her), diaries, personal notes (e.g. letters,
photographs, notes) or official document (e.g. case notes, clinical notes, appraisal reports).
The case study method often involves simply observing what happens to, or reconstructing
‘the case history’ of a single participant or group of individuals (such as a school class or a
specific social group), i.e. the idiographic approach.
The interview is also an extremely effective procedure for obtaining information about an
individual, and it may be used to collect comments from the person's friends, parents,
employer, workmates and others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to
obtain facts from the person him or herself.
Most of this information is likely to be qualitative (i.e. verbal description rather than
measurement) but the psychologist might collect numerical data as well.
How to analyze case study data
The data collected can be analyzed using different theories (e.g. grounded theory,
interpretative phenomenological analysis, text interpretation, e.g. thematic coding).
All the approaches mentioned here use preconceived categories in the analysis and they are
ideographic in their approach, i.e. they focus on the individual case without reference to a
comparison group.
Interpreting the information means the researcher decides what to include or leave out. A
good case study should always make clear which information is the factual description and
which is an inference or the opinion of the researcher.
Strengths of Case Studies
 Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.

 Provides insight for further research.
 Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or unethical) situations.
Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a topic in far more detail than might be possible
if they were trying to deal with a large number of research participants (nomothetic approach)
with the aim of ‘averaging’.
Because of their in-depth, multi-sided approach case studies often shed light on aspects of
human thinking and behavior that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways.
Research which only looks into the measurable aspects of human behavior is not likely to
give us insights into the subjective dimension to experience which is so important
to psychoanalytic and humanistic psychologists.
Case studies are often used in exploratory research. They can help us generate new ideas (that
might be tested by other methods). They are an important way of illustrating theories and can
help show how different aspects of a person's life are related to each other.
The method is therefore important for psychologists who adopt a holistic point of view
(i.e. humanistic psychologists).
Limitations of Case Studies

 Lacking scientific rigour and providing little basis for generalization of results to the
wider population.
 Researchers' own subjective feeling may influence the case study (researcher bias).
 Difficult to replicate.
 Time-consuming and expensive.
 The volume of data, together with the time restrictions in place, impacted on the depth
of analysis that was possible within the available resources.
Because a case study deals with only one person/event/group we can never be sure if the case
study investigated is representative of the wider body of "similar" instances. This means the
the conclusions drawn from a particular case may not be transferable to other settings.
Because case studies are based on the analysis of qualitative (i.e. descriptive) data a lot
depends on the interpretation the psychologist places on the information she has acquired.
This means that there is a lot of scope for observer bias and it could be that the subjective
opinions of the psychologist intrude in the assessment of what the data means.
For example, Freud has been criticized for producing case studies in which the information
was sometimes distorted to fit the particular theories about behavior (e.g. Little Hans).
This is also true of Money’s interpretation of the Bruce/Brenda case study (Diamond, 1997)
when he ignored evidence that went against his theory.

Case Study Method in Psychological Research

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Case Study Method in Psychological Research

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CASE STUDY METHOD IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Strengths of Case Studies

 Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.

Limitations of Case Studies

You might also like