Case Study Method
set of people, such as a family or small group of
- Frederic Leplay, 1829
Learning Objectives:
• Define case study research.
• List reasons researchers use the case
study method
• Explain the how data is recorded when
using the case study method.
• Describe the benefits and limitations of
using the case study method.
What is case study?
Case study can be defined as an intensive study
about a person, a group of people or a unit,
which is aimed to generalize over several units.
The case study method often involves simply
observing what happens to, or reconstructing
‘the case history’ of a single participant or group
of individuals (such as a school class or a specific
social group), i.e. the idiographic approach.
Case studies allow a researcher to investigate a
topic in far more detail than might be possible if
they were trying to deal with a large number of
research participants (nomothetic approach)
with the aim of ‘averaging’.
Table 1. Types of case study
Person - The study of one single
individual, generally using several different
research methods.
Group - The study of a single distinctive
friends.
Location - The study of a
particular place, and the way that it is used or
regarded by people.
Organization - The study of a single
organization or company, and the way that
people act within it
Event - The study of a
particular social or cultural event, and the
interpretations of that event by those
participating in it
The main characteristics of the case study
1. A descriptive study
a. (I.e. the data collected constitute
descriptions of psychological processes and
events, and of the contexts in which they
occurred (qualitative data).
b. The main emphasis is always on the
construction of verbal descriptions of behavior
or experience but quantitative data may be
collected. c. High levels of detail are provided.
2. Narrowly focused
a. Typically a case study offers a
description of only a single individual, and
sometimes about groups.
b. Often the case study focuses on a
limited aspect of a person, such as their
psychopathological symptoms.
3. Combines objective and subjective data
a. i.e. the researcher may combine
objective and subjective data: All are regarded
as valid data for analysis, and as a basis for
inferences within the case study.
 i. The objective description of
behavior and its context
ii. Details of the subjective
aspect, such as feelings, beliefs,
impressions or interpretations. In fact, a
case study is uniquely able to offer a
means of achieving an in-depth
understanding of the behavior and
experience of a single individual. 2
Hayes, N. (2000) Doing Psychological
Research. Gathering and analyzing data.
Buckingham: Open University Press. p.
134. 3
4. Process-oriented.
a. The case study method enables the
researcher to explore and describe the nature
of processes, which occur over time.
b. In contrast to the experimental
method, which basically provides a stilled
‘snapshot’ of processes, which may be
continuing over time like for example the
development of language in children over time.
Types of case study methods:
 Illustrative – This type of method is used
to “illustrate” or describe an event or situation
in such a way that people can become more
familiar with the topic in question and perhaps
become acquainted with the terminology
associated with the topic.
 Exploratory – This method is a condensed
case study and the purpose is to gather basic,
initial data that could be used to identify a
particular question for a larger study. This
study is not designed to produce detailed data
from which any conclusions could be drawn. 
It is simply exploratory in nature.
 Cumulative – The cumulative method is
designed to pull together information for
several events/situations and aggregate it in
such a way that it allows for greater
generalization. It has the advantage of saving
time and money by not creating new and
repetitive studies.
 Critical Instance – These studies are used
to examine situations of unique interest or to
challenge a universal or generalized belief.
Such studies are not to create new
generalizations. Rather, several situations or
events may be examined to raise questions or
challenge previously held assertions.
Advantages of the case study method
1. Stimulating new research.
A case study can sometimes highlight
extraordinary behavior, which can
stimulate new research.
2. Contradicting established theory.
Case studies may sometimes contradict
established psychological theories
3. Giving new insight into phenomena
or experience.
Because case studies are so rich in
information, they can give insight into
phenomena, which we could not gain in
any other way
4. Permitting investigation of otherwise
inaccessible situations.
case study gives psychological
researchers the possibility to
investigate cases, which could not
possibly be engineered in research
laboratories
Disadvantages of the case study method
1. Replication not possible.
Uniqueness of data means that
they are valid for only one person.
While this is strength in some forms of
 research, it is a weakness for others, 1. Personal documents, viz diaries,
because it means that findings cannot memories, autobiographies, letters etc
be replicated and so some types of of the researcher.
reliab29ility measures are very low.
2. Qualification and interest of the
2. The researcher’s own subjective researcher.
feelings may influence the case study
3. Life history of the respondents.
(researcher bias).
4. Motives and objectives of the study.
Both the collection of data and
the interpretation of them.

3. Memory distortions. “Research,” Center for Innovation in

Research and Teaching <
The heavy reliance on memory
https://cirt.gcu.edu/research/developmentr
when reconstructing the case history
esources/research_ready/descriptive/case_
means that the information about past
study> ( 27 April 2019)
experiences and events may be
notoriously subject to distortion

4. Not possible to replicate findings. “Research,” King’s Psychology Network

<http://www.psyking.net/HTMLobj-
Serious problems in
3838/Case_Study_Method.pdf> ( 27 April
generalising the results of a unique
2019)
individual to other people because the
findings may not be representative of “Research,” Study Lecture Notes
any particular population. <http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-
research-methodology/case-study-method-
definition-characteristics-stages-sources>
Stages in a Case Study Method of Data ( 27 April 2019)
Collection

The techniques and processes of a case

study method are given as following.

1. Choice of a case or selection of a

problem.

2. Description of the events.

3. Factors influencing study.

4. Data processing.

5. Data recording.

Sources of Data for Case Study