The Importance of Case Studies in Research

Case studies are research that focus on and gather in depth information about a specific
person, group, community or event. They have numerous advantages and disadvantages. But do
they actually have an important place in research.
Scientific research is based on objectivity. However with a number of case studies use self report
measures such as interviews and questionnaires to gather information. Self report measures are
not necessarily an objective data source because they can easily contain social desirability bias
and interviewer bias for instance. Furthermore leading questions can be a problem, as is shown
in Sigmund Freud (1909) analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. Hanss father asked him if
When the horse fell down did you think of your daddy? Leading questions can greatly affect
participants answers, and therefore influence the results/ findings of research.

On the other hand, case studies can provide very detailed information about a particular
subject that it would not be possible to acquire through another type of experimentation. For
example Sigmund Freud (1909) analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy, consisted of
qualitative notes on Little Hans discussions, behavior and dreams collected over a four year
period. Thus, allowing for a greater in depth analysis of Hans behavior.

Another issue with case studies is their lack of generalisability. Case studies generally
study a single person or a group of people. So the results or conclusions found cannot be applied
to the general population; because the participants studied may not be accurately representative
of the typical or target populace.

A further strength of this method is that research is able to be carried out on unusual
cases that it would not be ethical to carry out any other way. For example: Thigpen and Cleckley
(1954) a case of multiple personality. It would be impractical and perhaps offensive to carry out
an experiment comparing people with multiple personality disorder and those without it. But by
conducting a case study, Thigpen and Cleckley were able to spend over 100 hours with Eve
White documenting her behavior and gaining information about the disorder.

However case studies are very time consuming, and can be difficult to carry out and
analyze. In addition case studies usually generate qualitative data which must be interpreted by
the researcher, meaning that the data may become subjective. This problem can be furthered if
the researcher lets their own opinions of the outcome of the study influence the way they
interpret their data; (researcher bias).

To conclude, case studies do have some very beneficial advantages; especially the fact
that usually unethical matters can be tested via this method. However the disadvantages are also
high as the findings of case studies cannot be generalized to the wider population until the
theories have been tested in controlled conditions. Also the problem that the research can lack
objectivity is a big downside to the case study method, because it means that the research is
surely not scientific. So it is arguably questionable whether case studies can be held in high
respect.