case studies

• 5 key features of a case study?

  1. in depth investigation of one person/small group of people
  2. investigate naturally occuring events
  3. can be longitudinal or retrospective
  4. gather a range of information(family relationships,medical history)
  5. use a number of methods to gather the information (interviews,observations)
• name 2 strengths of case studies?

  1. produces rich meaningful date in qualitative form
  2. high ecological validity
• explain a weakness of case studies?

  findings are unreliable & unrepresentative

  often unique & rare cases which are difficult to repeat as they are so rare

  ? valid - cannot be repeated to check if results are reliable from 1 person/small group
• rich data * for case studies?

  qualitative data is produced by using observations/interviews

  * valid - provides more precise measure & gives in depth explanation in detail
• high ecological validity * for case studies?

  they are naturally occuring so it is as true to real life as it can be

  * valid - results are more accurate & can be applied to real life