evaluation of case studie

• as case studies are in depth and mostly qualitative investigations, the range of data collected results in realism. This holistic approach to conducting research is favoured by humanist psychologists- arguing the depth of detail gives highly valid insights and are a true reflection of a person's experience,
• case studies are often the only way to investigate very unrealistic or extreme human behaviour, this research cannot be replicated in a lab for ethical reasons- so if it wasn't for the case study method, some research would not exist altogether, the results of one unusual case study can upend an established theory
• possible downsides to case studies- findings from one person's unusual behaviour cannot be generalised, there may be other unknown factors that resulted in a behaviour.
• possible downsides to case studies- as the subjects in a case study are unique, exact replications to check for the reliability of findings are not possible.
• possible downside to case studies- can suffer from researcher bias, researchers decide which findings to include and exclude when writing up, potentially only including data that confirms a bias- furthermore the researcher may lose the ability to think objectively about a subject of the case study due to working with them closely for an extended time period.
• they can be used to generate a hypothesis that can then be tested experimentally, such as testing for the existance of Broca's area with the use of highly controlled FMRI brain scans on large numbers of participants.