Case Studies & Content Analysis

• Case Studies are an in-depth investigation, description and analysis of a single individual/group/institution/event
• Case studies offer detailed insights on unusual or atypical behaviour
• Case studies may contribute to understanding of 'typical' functioning
• Case studies may lead to future hypotheses
• Case studies can result in the spread of false information if findings are generalised
• Case studies involve researcher bias as the final report is based on the subjective selection and interpretation of the researcher
• Case studies may have low validity due to personal account which may have suffered from memory decay
• Content Analysis is a research technique that enables the indirect study of behaviour by examining communications that people produce e.g. emails, texts, films
• Coding is where the communication to be studied is analysed by identifying each instance of the chosen categories
• Thematic Analysis is an inductive and qualitative approach involving identifying implicit or explicit ideas within the data
• Content Analysis circumnavigates many ethical issues as the content already exists in the public domain
• Content Analysis has high external validity
• Content Analysis uses a systematic method so is easy to analyse
• Content Analysis often studies communications outside of the context within which they occurred so may produce false ideas
• Content Analysis may lack objectivity
• Content Analysis may be reductionist as the behaviour is broken down into separate categories