The Purpose, Role, and Distinctive Design for Case Study Method

The Purpose, Role, and Distinctive Design for Case Study Method

Anonymous

Anonymous

Author Note

Leah Chavez, Department of Psychology: Christian Counseling, Liberty University

Online, Lynchburg VA 24515

        All information and research is accredited to the Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association (6th) edition, Introduction to Research: Less Fright, More Insight, Methods in Behavioral Research, and Case Study Method.

        Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Leah Chavez, Department

of Psychology, Liberty University Online, 1971 Liberty University Drive Lynchburg, VA 24515

E-mail: lrchavez@liberty.edu

The Purpose, Role, and Distinctive Design for Case Study Method

Case studies are acknowledged to be formal research methods that involve close examination of a particular study or case. Case studies can be most popularly found in formal research venues such as journals or professional conferences. This particular method of research allows a researcher to collect data about participants, an organization, or community. Case studies are most encouraged when there is a need for obtaining information of an issue, event, or have an outside interest in the researcher’s discipline. The following information will cover four main questions that will familiarize the reader of what a case is and the usages behind this method. The following questions include: What is a case study? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this specific approach? What are some reasons for using it? And where, or in what ways, can a researcher acquire information or data that can be used for a case study? While exploring the use of a case study method, it is important to realize its purpose so that a researcher may know how to benefit from this method accordingly and appropriately to his or her own discipline and area of study.

Case Study Introduction

A case study is a method or technique that may be applied to a broad scope of various disciplines. A case study requires an up-close observation along with an in-depth examination of a particular case or person of study. This form of method is most popularly used in social sciences with concentrations of clinical medicine, but can also be accepted in other disciplines like psychology, anthropology, sociology, administrative science, etc. According to Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, a case study is formally designed to interpret a problem that would enable the researcher to formulate a plan of action for solving problems while at the same time, draw attention to much needed topical issues, clinical applications, or theoretical matters (Publication Manual, 2010). A case study can gather information from a detailed investigation, a group, a community, or an organization that can also pull resources from interviews, observations, articles, and clinical notes. Overall, case studies discover any influencing factors as well as cause and effect when analyzing a social unit, a person, or relationship in its entirety as well as expand the researcher’s knowledge on these specific topics.

Examining Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

There are a few advantages in using the case study method. According to Case Study Method, one of the advantages include the researcher’s understanding in what is taking place in a person’s behaviors, which can then lead to a good opportunity for innovation (Saul McLeod, 2008). Researchers may also have the opportunity to identify certain conditions about an individual that would enable him or her to possibly study rare phenomena. In this, researchers are learning new information about different characteristics or possible disorders that can then lead the researcher to a better understanding on deciding which method or approach to use when examining people first hand. In this, the opportunity to challenge theoretical assumptions is feasible. Case studies also invite the researcher to different perspectives into the lives of people and their environments, introducing him or her to new ideas or concepts (Saul McLeod, 2008). As mentioned in Methods in Behavioral Research, another great advantage to consider would be the gained insights that allow the researcher to develop a suitable hypothesis in which can be tested using other possible methods (Cozby and Bates, 2012).

Disadvantages

There are also disadvantages in using a case study. For one, a researcher that uses a case study can possibly develop a sense of bias in the data collection and by default, misuse interpretation. This can be a possible disadvantage if there is only a single researcher gathering and analyzing information. Another thing to take into consideration would the difficulty to generalize results from a larger population from a single case study. As mentioned in Case Study Method by Saul McLeod, case studies deal with only one person, group, or event, the conclusions drawn from these cases can also be applied elsewhere (2008). In this instance, case studies are known to be difficult to transcribe, lengthened in time, and costly to do. Researchers may also have difficulty in being as accurate as possible or produce errors of memory and judgment when gathering data from case studies. In this, it would troubling for the researcher to draw definite cause-effect conclusions that would otherwise be pertinent and relevant.

Reasons for Case Study

Case studies can be very useful methods when trying to observe mannerisms or behaviors of one or more people in his or her normal environment. Case studies are a great starting point and preferred method when researchers are constructing questions around the concepts of how and why something may appear the way it does. As mentioned in Introduction to Research: Less Frights, More Insight by Dr. Ray Crawford, it is necessary to apply the four goals of psychological research for effective investigation (2016). These four goals build upon each other, creating a pyramid for researchers (R. Crawford, pg: 49, 2016). When applying the case study approach to one’s research study, it is beneficial to mention that there is room for controlling events as one may find suitable to do. Various other methods like the statistically based studies use quantifiable data that only analyses through an empirical lens of observing phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques (Saul McLeod, 2008). On the other hand, a case study approach will offer new variables and expected questions to help further the research examination of data.