Case Study

Case Study Research Design
What is a Case Study?
Basically, a case study is an in depth study of a particular
situation rather than a sweeping statistical survey. It is a
method used to narrow down a very broad field of research
into one easily researchable topic.
The case study research design is also useful for testing whether
scientific theories and models actually work in the real world. You
may come out with a great computer model for describing how the
ecosystem of a rock pool works but it is only by trying it out on a
real life pool that you can see if it is a realistic simulation.
Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst
the best known were the ones carried out by Sigmund
Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the
private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand
and help them overcome their illnesses.
Freud's most famous case studies include Little Hans
(1909a) and The Rat Man (1909b). Even today case histories
are one of the main methods of investigation in abnormal
psychology and psychiatry. For students of these disciplines
they can give a vivid insight into what those who suffer from
mental illness often have to endure.
E-Content : Module 8- Research Methods and Statistics.
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Case studies are often conducted in clinical medicine and
involve collecting and reporting descriptive information about a
particular person or specific environment, such as a school. 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.
In order to produce a fairly detailed and comprehensive profile
of the person, the psychologist may use various types of
accessible data, such as medical records, employer's reports,
school reports or psychological test results. 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, work mates and
others who have a good knowledge of the person, as well as to
obtain facts from the person him or herself.
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.
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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.
Interpreting the information means the researcher decides what
to include or leave out. A good case study should always make
clear which information is factual description and which is an
inference or the opinion of the researcher.
The case study research designs have evolved over the
past few years as a useful tool for investigating trends and
specific situations in many scientific disciplines.
The case study has been especially used in social science,
psychology, anthropology and ecology.
This method of study is especially useful for trying to test
theoretical models by using them in real world situations. For
example, if an anthropologist were to live amongst a remote
tribe, whilst their observations might produce no quantitative
data, they are still useful to science.
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For psychologists, anthropologists and social scientists they
have been regarded as a valid method of research for many
years. Scientists are sometimes guilty of becoming bogged
down in the general picture and it is sometimes important to
understand specific cases and ensure a more holistic approach
to research.
H.M.: An example of a study using the case study research
design.
The Argument for and Against the Case Study Research
Design
Some argue that because a case study is such a narrow field
that its results cannot be extrapolated to fit an
entire question and that they show only one narrow example.
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On the other hand, it is argued that a case study provides more
realistic responses than a purely statistical survey.
The truth probably lies between the two and it is probably best
to try and synergize the two approaches. It is valid to conduct
case studies but they should be tied in with more general
statistical processes.
For example, a statistical survey might show how much time
people spend talking on mobile phones, but it is case studies of
a narrow group that will determine why this is so.
The other main thing to remember during case studies is their
flexibility. Whilst a pure scientist is trying to prove or disprove
a hypothesis, a case study might introduce new and
unexpected results during its course, and lead to research
taking new directions.
The argument between case study and statistical method also
appears to be one of scale. Whilst many 'physical' scientists
avoid case studies, for psychology, anthropology and ecology
they are an essential tool. It is important to ensure that you
realize that a case study cannot be generalized to fit a whole
population or ecosystem.
Finally, one peripheral point is that, when informing others of
your results, case studies make more interesting topics than
purely statistical surveys, something that has been realized by
teachers and magazine editors for many years. The general
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public has little interest in pages of statistical calculations but
some well placed case studies can have a strong impact.
How to Design and Conduct a Case Study
The advantage of the case study research design is that you
can focus on specific and interesting cases. This may be an
attempt to test a theory with a typical case or it can be a
specific topic that is of interest. Research should be thorough
and note taking should be meticulous and systematic.
The first foundation of the case study is the subject and relevance. In
a case study, you are deliberately trying to isolate a small study
group, one individual case or one particular population.
For example, statistical analysis may have shown that
birthrates in African countries are increasing. A case study on
one or two specific countries becomes a powerful and focused
tool for determining the social and economic pressures driving
this.
In the design of a case study, it is important to plan and design
how you are going to address the study and make sure that all
collected data is relevant. Unlike a scientific report, there is no
strict set of rules so the most important part is making sure that
the study is focused and concise; otherwise you will end up
having to wade through a lot of irrelevant information.
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It is best if you make yourself a short list of 4 or 5 bullet points
that you are going to try and address during the study. If you
make sure that all research refers back to these then you will
not be far wrong.
With a case study, even more than a questionnaire or survey, it
is important to be passive in your research. You are much more
of an observer than an experimenter and you must remember
that, even in a multi-subject case, each case must be treated
individually and then cross case conclusions can be drawn.
How to Analyze the Results
Analyzing results for a case study tends to be more opinion
based than statistical methods. The usual idea is to try and
collate your data into a manageable form and construct a
narrative around it.
Use examples in your narrative whilst keeping things concise
and interesting. It is useful to show some numerical data but
remember that you are only trying to judge trends and not
analyze every last piece of data. Constantly refer back to your
bullet points so that you do not lose focus.
It is always a good idea to assume that a person reading your
research may not possess a lot of knowledge of the subject so
try to write accordingly.
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In addition, unlike a scientific study which deals with facts, a
case study is based on opinion and is very much designed to
provoke reasoned debate. There really is no right or wrong
answer in a case study.
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 research may also
continue for an extended period of time, so processes and
developments can be studied as they happen.
The case study research method originated in clinical medicine
(the case history, i.e. the patient’s personal history).
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. 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’.
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. Amongst the sources of data
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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). 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.
The data collected can be analyzed using different theories
(e.g. grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological
analysis, text interpretation, e.g. thematic coding) etc. 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.
Strengths of Case Studies
 Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.
 Provides insight for further research.
 Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (or
unethical) situations.
Because of their in-depth, multi-sided approach case studies
often shed light on aspects of human thinking and behaviour
that would be unethical or impractical to study in other ways.
Research which only looks into the measurable aspects of
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human behaviour 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
 Can’t generalize the results to the wider population.
 Researchers' own subjective feeling may influence the case
study (researcher bias).
 Difficult to replicate.
 Time consuming.
Because a case study deals with only one person/event/group
we can never be sure whether the conclusions drawn from this
particular case apply elsewhere. The results of the study are
not generalizable because we can never know whether the
case we have investigated is representative of the wider body
of "similar" instances
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Because they 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.
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Case Study

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