case studies and content analysis

• case studies


  an in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual, group, institution or event
• who does it focus on

  • unusual individuals or events
  • more 'typical' cases e.g., elderly
• case studies= production of qualitative data

  using interviews, observations, questionnaires or a combination of these
• case studies take place over a long period of time usually
• content analysis


  a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce, for example, in texts, emails, TV, film and other media
• coding


  the stage of a content analysis in which the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories (which may be words, sentences, phrases)
• thematic analysis 


  an inductive and qualitative approach to analysis that involves identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data. Themes will often emerge once the data has been coded
• content analysis 


  placed into categories and counted (quantitative data) or can be analysed in themes (qualitative data)
• case studies (evaluation)


  strengths:

  • rich, detailed insights
  • contribute to our understanding of 'normal' functioning

  weakness:

  • generalisation if sample is small
  • memory decay
• content analysis evaluation 


  strengths:

  • no problem with ethical issues, because it is normally materials that want to be studied e.g., TV, films etc
  • flexible- qualitative data and quantitative data

  weakness:

  • people tend to be studied indirectly
  • lack of objectivity