Download The case study method - churchillcollegebiblio

Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 1 of 11
1






The case study method
Research method originated in clinical medicine (the case history, i.e. the patient’s personal history
(idiographic method)
Description of the symptoms, the diagnosis, the treatment and eventual outcome (descriptive
method) but also in newer research explanatory case studies
Uses the person’s own memories, the memories of friends and relatives, or records of various
types such as diaries, photographs etc.
Often combines interviews and observations.
In-depth investigation of experiences that allow to identify interactions and influences on
psychological processes
Opens up and explore aspects of human experience that can be investigated using other types of
research methods (qualitative study/inductive research)
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’.
The case study is not itself a research method, but researchers select methods of data
collection and analysis that will generate material suitable for case studies such as
qualitative techniques (semi-structured interviews, participant observation, diaries),
personal notes (e.g. letters, photographs, notes) or official document (e.g. case notes,
clinical notes, appraisal reports). The data collected can be analysed using different
theories (e.g. grounded theory, interpretative phenomenological analysis, text
interpretation (e.g. thematic coding) etc. All the approaches mentioned here use
preconceived categories in the analysis and they are ideographic in their approach, i.e.
they focus on the individual case without reference to a comparison group.
Intrinsic versus instrumental case studies2
Intrinsic case studies represent nothing but themselves. The cases in intrinsic case
studies are chosen because they are interesting in their own right. The researchers
want to know about them in particular, rather than about a more general problem or
phenomenon.
Instrumental case studies constitute exemplars of a more general phenomenon. They
are selected to provide the researcher with an opportunity to study the phenomenon of
interest. The research question identifies a phenomenon (e.g. stress, bereavement,
fame etc) and the cases are selected in order to explore’ how the phenomenon exists
within a particular case’. In this design, individuals who are experiencing the
phenomenon under investigation are all suitable cases for analysis.
Descriptive versus explanatory case studies
Descriptive case studies are concerned with providing a detailed description of a
phenomenon but it is not explored in terms of existing theoretical formulations, but it
is assumed that the description will generate new insights.
Explanatory case studies aim to generate explanations for the occurrences with which
they are concerneds, i.e. descriptions of what is going on are accompanied by attempts
1
Frude, Neil (1998) Understanding Abnormal Psychology. Oxford: Blackell Publishers.
Willig, Carla (2001) Introducing qualitative research in psychology. Buckingham: Open University
Press, page 73 ff.
2
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 2 of 11
to use explanatory concepts within the accound, so this kind of case study goes
beyound the mere narrative or description.
Data collection in case studies
Researchers gather information in different ways, so although interviewing (esp.
semi-structures interviews) is a widely used method it is not the only one used by
case-study researchers. Clinical neuropsychologists who are investigating someone
who has suffered a distinctive brain injury will use a number of specific tasks,
designed to reveal if there are neurological deficits occurring as a result of the injury.
These may range from specific memory tasks (e.g. the person is asked to listen to
something like a news report and then tell the researcher what it was about), to
drawing tasks in order to detect if the person shows any kind of visual neglect, to
single-eye and handedness tasks, which might indicate whether there are unusual
differences in functioning between the two halves of the participant’s brain.
Smith (1997) studied the experience of pregnancy undergone by four women. By
seeing each of the women at regular intervals throughout their pregnancy and
afterwards, Smith was able to explore detailed aspects of their experiences, and also
to see how their memories of the experience changed over time and in retrospect. The
women’s experiences were explored using a number of different techniques, including
repertory grids and diary methods, i.e. triangulation was used in order to take up
different perspectives on how pregnancy is perceived by different women over time.
What is a case?3
A single case doesn’t have to mean just one single person. It might be a family, a
social group, or even a single organisation. A case study can involve dealing with
quite a number of individuals, actually. For example, a case study may involve
interviewing staff in a small but growing computer company, on the social
psychological aspects of managing staff (Hayes & Lemon, 1990). This information
could then be used to compare with other larger companies, in terms of how they had
tackled staff management issues at a similar stage in their history. The table below
lists five different types of case, which could be the subject of a case study, ranging
from an in-depth study of a single individual to the study of an organisation or an
event.
Table 1. Types of case study
The study of one single individual, generally using several different research
Person
methods.
The study of a single distinctive set of people, such as a family or small group
Group
of friends.
The study of a particular place, and the way that it is used or regarded by
Location
people.
The study of a single organisation or company, and the way that people act
Organisation
within it.
The study of a particular social or cultural event, and the interpretations of that
Event
event by those participating in it.
Triangulation
Using multiple methods of investigation to explore the same phenomenon is called
triangulation, a metaphor taken from geographical surveying, where taking multiple
3
Hayes, N. (2000) Doing Psychological Research. Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open
University Press. p. 134.
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 3 of 11
measurements allows the surveyor to obtain a single result. Adopting triangulation as
an approach allows the researchers to take up different perspectives in looking at case
studies- perspectives, which may help us to systematise our investigations and gain a
better all-round understanding of what is going on4.
Complex cases, for example, may be seen as social, cultural or psychological systems.
In such cases it is often helpful for the researcher to adopt a systems analysis
approach to the study. This involves identifying the four major dimensions to the
system: elements, order, processes and functions.
Table 2. Dimensions of system analysis
Elements
Order
Processes
Functions
The separate parts which make up the system
Coherence between the elements, e.g. patterned interactions or mutual
expectations
Changes over time, or transactions or exchanges (both psychological and
physical)
The goals or outcomes of activity within the system
A case can also be viewed as a psychological field. The concept of psychological field
was first introduced by Lewin in 1952, and it was a way of expressing the complexity
of social experience by organising into different dimensions such as e.g.
psychological dimension, spatial dimension, cultural dimension, historical dimension
and social dimension. There are other possibilities of the psychological field, and by
using triangulation the psychologist may be able to understand more fully what is
going on, because the collection of different kinds of data and analysing them to see
to what extent they may converge to influence the experience or the behaviour under
investigation.
Table 3. Psychological field analysis
Psychological dimension
Spatial dimension
Cultural dimension
Historical dimension
Social dimension
Aspects of individual experience and identity.
Places or locations within which a particular event or experience is set
(home, pre-natal clinic, school, the psychological laboratory. Orne
(1962) showed how this can affect people’s understanding of what is
going on, e.g. demand characteristics).
Symbols and rituals involved in the event.
Previous or related events influence on the situation or how it is
perceived
Relationships, lifestyles and social networks.
Psychology has always used information from case studies. The earliest psychologists
recognised their value, as they drew on single cases to develop insights into
psychological mechanisms. Many major theoretical perspectives derived from case
studies, such as the Piagetian model of child development. Watson and Rayner (1920)
used the experimental data of the case study of little Albert to test if emotional
reactions could be conditioned. Case studies form the main part of research into topics
such as clinical neuropsychology and other areas of physiological psychology. Since
these are considered by many to be the most ‘scientific’ areas of psychology, it is a
little ironic, according to Nicky Hayes that a culture began to develop in mainstream
4
Silverman (1993) pointed out that triangulation of method may lead to a neglect of the role of context
in the constitution of meaning. In triangulation, the researcher is using different methods of data
analysis to arrive at a better understanding of ‘what is really going on’, and in the process the
researcher may integrate insights gained from the different analytic approaches and this could lead to
some confusion as to the context-specific aspects of the data (ibid. page 81)
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 4 of 11
psychology from the middle and later part of the 20th century wherein case studies
were regarded with slight suspicion, as being unscientific.
These reservations had two sources. The first was a rather narrow perception of the
nature of scientific research, which led to the assumption that only nomothetic
approaches to research were valid in psychology. That perception originated with the
behaviourist school of thought, which asserted that the purpose of psychological
research was to identify general laws of behaviour. This, in turn, led to the belief that
only research conducted on large numbers of people could be valid, and that belief
came to influence psychological methodology long after psychologists had accepted
that identifying psychological mechanisms and processes is just as useful as
attempting to identify general laws. Case studies were treated with suspicion because
it was impossible to tell whether the individuals being studied were actually
representative of the population. A second reason for suspicion against the case study
method was that it could seem to be like ‘anecdotal evidence’, i.e. it could seem that
the difference between systematic evidence of the case study and everyday anecdotes
was not so evident. However, a properly conducted case study is very different from
any type of anecdotal evidence.
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
behaviour 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 behaviour 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
behaviour and experience of a single individual.
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.
Uses of the case study.
The case study method permits the collection of detailed descriptive data, which are
usually qualitative in nature. It may provide information on the unique features of
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 5 of 11
particular individuals. For example, the method is used widely in clinical psychology,
where ‘classic cases’ such as Freud’s cases are often described. The approach plays a
major role in diagnosis and in the planning of therapy or treatment. Alternatively, case
studies may be made of the typical representatives of groups.
Examples which illustrate the uses of case studies include some of the following
Effects of isolation in young children5
Mason (1947) The case study of Isabelle who had been kept in isolation in a dark
room with her mother who was deaf and without speech gives insight into the
development of children by an extraordinary case. Isabelle had not been given an
adequate diet and had severe rickets. During her isolation she communicated with her
mother using gestures. The mother escaped from the isolation when Isabelle was
about six years old. On her admission to hospital Isabelle behaved like a wild animal
and only made croaking sounds. After one week in the hospital she started to make
speech sounds and seemed to pass rapidly through the normal stages of speech. After
18 months she had a vocabulary of over 2000 words, could read and write, and could
compose imaginative stories.
Koluchova (1976) This case study involves Czechoslovakian, male, identical twins
whose mother died after giving birth. The twins went to a children’s home for eleven
months, then spent six months with their aunt, and then went to live with their father
and stepmother. The father was of low intelligence and the stepmother was
exceptionally cruel. The boys were never allowed out of the house and were kept
either in a small unheated closet or in a cellar. They were discovered at the age of
seven, and they could hardly walk, had acute rickets, were very fearful and their
spontaneous speech was very poor. After placement in a hospital and later in a foster
home excellent gains were made. The children are now adults and appear well
adjusted and cognitively able.
Curtiss (1977) Genie was found when she was 13 years old. Her history was one of
isolation, severe neglect and physical restraint; she was kept strapped to a child’s
potty in an attic. Her father punished her if she made any sound. On discovery her
appearance was of a six-or seven-year-old child. She was described by Curtiss as
‘unsocialised, primitive, and hardly human’; she made virtually no sounds and was
hardly able to walk. Genie has not achieved food social adjustment or language
despite intervention and being placed in a foster home.
See more on the case of Genie (see here a press report of the case
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2112gchild.html and a lecture where the
case is presented http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~li101is1/SP02/020306.htm
Memory research.
Luria’s research on exceptional memory
Luria (1968) has given an example of the importance of imagery in remembering:
The mind of a mnemonist. The name of the man was in reality S.V. Shereshevski,
usually referred to as “S”. S was studied over a period of nearly thirty years by
A.R.Luria, his extraordinary talent was examined and tested but left Luria
confounded, as it proved impossible for him to actually measure S's memory. Instead
Luria looked at the way S was able to remember any amount of information put in
5
Cardwell,M. et al. (1996) Psychology for A level. London:Collins Educational p.380)
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 6 of 11
front of him, what limitations (if any) prevented S from memorising, and what effects
his ability had on his life and his mind. S had come to Luria's laboratory to have his
memory "tested" on the recommendation of his employer. As a reporter he had
attended morning meetings where assignments were handed out for the day, on
spotting that S failed to take any notes, the editor was surprised to hear that S could
repeat back everything the editor had said with no errors. Luria's first discovery was
that there seemed no limit to the capacity of S's memory, whether the material given
was numbers, words, meaningless syllables or sounds. Not only could S reproduce a
table of 50 numbers in any order or direction specified, he could also do the same
weeks, months or years later. Where tables of numbers were concerned, S would see
the table in front of him and be able to just read off the numbers, any mistakes made
were due to either a number being poorly written, or because he had heard a noise (or
someone had spoken) when he was trying to read the table. This led Luria to
investigate the idea that S was subject to synaesthesia or where another sense is called
into play such as taste, vision or sight, for instance when Luria asked whether S would
remember his way back to the institute, S replied "How could I possibly forget? After
all, here's this fence. It has such a salty taste and feels so rough; furthermore, it has
such a sharp piercing sound." (Luria, 1968). This synaesthesia proved to be quite a
drawback and would inhibit S's ability considerably especially when he changed
career and became a professional mnemonist, hearing a noise from the audience
would be enough to make him see "splashes" or "puffs of steam" which would
obscure his ability to conjure up images of the words he had to memorise. He could
become so preoccupied by the sound of a person's voice that what they were saying
did not register. In fact to enable him to remember with such phenomenal success, the
sequence had to be read at the right speed, with time in between each item during
which S would produce a mental image of the word, or it's meaning, and he would
find the task very difficult with any other noise at the time. One of his methods for
remembering a list of words was to envisage himself walking down a very familiar
street, and distributing each of the items along the way, to recall the items he merely
retraced his steps, collecting each of the deposited items along the way (method of
loci). Luria discovered that any failure to recall material was a failure of perception
rather than memory, in that S had inadvertently "placed" an item against a similar
coloured background and it had therefore not stood out for recognition and had not
been retrieved. Nonsense syllables or meaningless words were memorised by
associating them with known words, either by themselves or linked with two or three
others, a list of any kind could be committed to memory for retrieval at any time in
the future (associations of words).
The study of brain damaged patients, e.g. see here on memory loss in the case of
the musician Clive Wearing http://tecfa.unige.ch/staf/stafg/ortelli/staf15/projet1/projet/index2.html or the case study of HM:
Corkin (1984) H.M. was 27 when brain surgeons removed most of his hippocampus
and part of the amygdala in a last attempt to relieve the patient’s severe and lifethreatening epilepsy. The operation did achieve its goal, because the seizures were
milder and could be managed with medication. His memory, however, had been
affected dramatically. Although H.M. could recall most of the events that had
occurred before the operation, he could no longer remember new experiences for
much longer than 15 minutes. The declarative memories (i.e. memories of facts and
events) vanished like water down the drain. With sufficient practice, H.M. could
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 7 of 11
acquire new skills, such as solving a puzzle or playing tennis (this kind of memory is
called procedural memories), but he could not remember learning these skills. Nor
could he learn new words, songs, stories, or faces. H.M.’s doctors had to reintroduce
themselves every time they saw him. It seems that H.M.’s terrible memory deficits
involve a problem in transferring explicit memories from short-term storage into longterm storage in the first place. He would read the same issue of a magazine over and
over again without realising it. He could not recall the day of the week, the year, or
even his last meal. Today, many years later, H.M. will occasionally recall unusually
emotional evens, such as the assassination of someone named Kennedy. He
sometimes remembers that both his parents are dead, and he knows he has memory
problems. But according to Suzanne Corkin, who has studied H.M. extensively, these
“islands of remembering” are the exceptions in a vast sea of forgetfulness. He still
does not know the scientists who have studied him for decades. Although he is now in
his seventies, he thinks he is much younger. This good-natured man can no longer
recognise a photograph of his own face; he is stuck in a time warp from the past.
Ulric Neisser’s (1981) case study research of John Dean’s testimony dealing with
memory6
In ‘John Dean’s memory: A case study’, presents a detailed analysis of a number of
documents to throw light on the ways in which John Dean7 remembers a series of
events that took place at the White House. John Dean, who used to be a counsel to
former US president Richard Nixon, testified before the Watergate Committee of the
United States Senate in June 1973. The Committee’s investigation took place to
establish whether or not high-ranking government officials had been involved in the
cover-up of a politically motivated burglary. Neisser was interested in the extent to
which Dean’s testimony matched up with the transcripts of tape recordings of
conversations in the White House, which emerged after Dean’s interrogation had
taken place. This case study was, therefore, instrumental in the sense that John Dean’s
testimony serves as an exemplar of a more general phenomenon (i.e. workings of
memory). While Neisser acknowledges that it is not possible to do full justice to John
Dean’s testimony within the terms of reference of a cognitively orientated case study,
he proposes that the exploration of memory within a real-life context of some
complexity can expand our understanding of some of the mechanisms involved in the
psychology of memory. This case study is, therefore, ‘a psychological study aimed at
clarifying the nature of memory for conversations’ (Neisser 1984:4). It is an
explanatory, single case study.
Neisser uses two sources of data for his study:
1. The official transcripts of two important meetings in the president’s Oval Office,
which took place on 15 September 1972 and on 21 March 1973, respectively.
2. Transcripts of the Committee’s cross-examination of John Dean about both of
these meetings.
Neisser compares the transcript of each meeting with Dean’s account of the meeting
during the cross-examination. The purpose of these comparisons is to establish how
Dean remembers the conversations that took place between himself, the president and
the White House aide Robert Haldeman.
6
7
in Willig. op.cit. pp. 79-80
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/ see more on Dean and the Nixon case here.
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 8 of 11
Comparison between the transcript of the meeting of 15 September 1972 and Dean’s
account of the meeting almost one year later shows that, during his testimony, Dean
reports contributions to the conversation by Nixon, Haldeman and himself, which
none of them had, in fact, made. These contributions are largely self-serving in the
sense that they express others’ respect and recognition for Dean (e.g. a warm and
cordial reception, praise for his work) and his own modesty and foresight (e.g. a
reluctance to take credit, a warning about future developments in the case). Neisser
suggests that Dean’s testimony of the meeting of 15 September describes a
conversation that Dean wishes had taken placer rather than one that did, in fact, take
place. However, at the same time, Neisser points out that Dean’s recollection of the
conversation is basically accurate in that it demonstrates that president Nixon was
fully aware of the cover-up of the burglary and that he approved of it. Thus, while
Dean’s recollection was faulty, both in terms of the words used by participants in the
conversation as well as their gist, his testimony was characterised by what Neisser
refers to as ‘ a deeper level of truth’.
Comparison between the transcript of the meeting of 21 March 1973 and Dean’s
account of it during cross-examination tells a different story. Now Dean produces a
generally accurate recollection of his conversation with president Nixon. Neisser
suggests that this is because on 21 March Dean was able to present the president with
a verbal report while the president listened, interjecting the occasional remarks or
questions. This meant that Dean had had an opportunity to rehearse his contribution to
the conversation, both before and after the meeting itself. In addition, this meeting,
unlike the meeting on 15 September, had fulfilled Dean’s hopes in that he had been
given the opportunity to say what he wanted to say while president Nixon listened to
him. This interpretation is supported by the fact that, in his testimony, Dean barely
referred to the second half of the 21 March meeting during which Haldeman joined
Dean and the president. Important statements made during that second half of the
meeting were remembered by Dean but they were attributed to another conversation
altogether. Neisser argues that Dean’s memory of 21 March is dominated by his own
performance and that other memories of what took place during that meeting were
shifted or forgotten as a result.
On the basis of his case study, Neisser is able to identify a process of recollection,
which he calls ‘repisodic’. He argues that, in addition to episodic memory (i.e.
retrieval of autobiographical events) and semantic memory (i.e. facts, word meaning,
general knowledge), it may be useful to think of memory as being ‘repisodic’ in that it
is based upon a series of similar events that were nevertheless remembered as one
representative episode. In Neisser’s words, ‘what seems to be an episode actually
represents a repetition’. ‘Repisodes’ embody the common characteristics of a series of
events. This means that what people say about such ‘repisodes’ is true at a deeper
level even though it is not faithful to any one particular occasion. John Dean’s
testimony provides an illustration of how ‘repisodic memory’ occurs within the
circumstances of a particular historical event, which ultimately led to the resignation
of president Nixon.
Case studies to investigate possible causes of schizophrenia
The Genain Quadruplets (identical quads) is one well-documented case in which
identical quadruplets were all diagnosed as suffering from a schizophrenic illness.
Their identity was protected by researchers and they were given the name Genain.
The girls were born in the early 1930s and were subject to a good deal of publicity in
their early lives, and at one time the parents actually charged admission for the public
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 9 of 11
to view the babies at home. A few years later the parents also encouraged the girls to
perform together in a singing and dancing troupe. Apart from this, the family led a
somewhat isolated life, and the father was overly protective and involved in his
daughters. It also appears that he sexually abused at least two of the girls. This overprotection continued into the girls’ early adulthood. At the age of 18, the first girl
(Hester)became aggressive and destructive and dropped out of school. Another girl
(Nora) became disturbed at the age of 20 and developed a range of physical and
psychological symptoms which persisted for more than two years and she was
admitted to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia. The
third girl (Iris) reported hearing voices some time after, and she became extremely
agitated and was admitted to the psychiatric hospital and diagnosed as schizophrenic.
The last sister (Myra) had a breakdown two years later when she was 24. She had
disordered thinking patterns, poor contact with the real world, and showed a range of
physical symptoms like her sisters. She was also diagnosed as schizophrenic.
At this stage the family was taken to the Clinical Centre of the NIMH (National
Institute of Mental Health) and they were studied by Rosenthal. They were treated
but with little success, and after 2 years they were transferred to a state hospital. A
later report from Rosenthal (1963) on the quads’ condition indicated that Myra had a
job, was married and in good progress. Nora was out of hospital and had made some
progress. Iris had had a number of relapses and remissions, and Hester remained in a
severe psychotic state and had continued to need hospital care. De Lisi et al (1984)
made a follow-up study and found that Myra had remained relatively well and now
had two children. The other three sisters were living at home with their mother, and
exhibited psychotic symptoms to varying degrees. All of the four quads were
maintained on medication.
The fact that all of the sisters developed a schizophrenic illness is clearly in line with
the view that genetic factors are involved in the aetiology of schizophrenia. However,
despite their ‘photocopy’ genetics, the four sisters developed somewhat different
forms of psychotic illness, and experienced their first episode at slightly different
ages. Thus there were significant differences, as well as striking similarities, in the
course and long-term outcome of the four sisters’ schizophrenic disorders. The
disparities must reflect environmental differences. The intrauterine environment may
have been somewhat different for each of the children. There is also evidence that the
children were treated differently by the parents. Hester were less favoured by the
parents than the other two sisters, and they seem to have had the poorest outcome.
Myra was something of a favourite, and her illness appeared to be less severe than
those of her sisters. It is therefore possible that differential treatment by the parents
may have had an effect on the severity and chronicity of the illnesses they developed
in early adulthood.
Case studies of individual psychological problems (e.g. Freud’s case study
of Little Hans)
Freud (1909) Analysis of a phobia in a five-year-old boy. Hans, a small boy four
years old, had developed a phobia of horses. His family lived opposite a busy
coaching inn, which meant that Hans was unhappy about leaving the house, because
he saw many horses as soon as he went out of the door. When he was first asked
about his fear Hans said that he was frightened that the horses would fall down and
make a noise with their feet. He was most frightened of horses, which were drawing
heavily laden carts and, in fact, Hans had seen a horse collapse and die in the street
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 10 of 11
one time when he was out with his nurse. It was pulling a horse-drawn bus carrying
many passengers and when the horse collapsed Hans had been frightened by the
sound of its hooves clattering against the cobbles of the road.
Freud interpreted Hans’ phobia as symptomatic of his Oedipus complex. He saw the
fact that Hans was reluctant to leave the house as indicating that he would rather stay
at home with his mother and he considered that the horses, being large and powerful,
symbolised his father. When the father, instructed by Freud, suggested to Hans that he
was actually frightened that the horse would bite him, Hans insisted at first that it was
because he was frightened about it making a noise with its feet but later accepted his
father’s suggestion. Freud considered that this represented a disguised form of
castration threat anxiety.
Case studies to illustrate the outcome of psychotherapy (like e.g. Dibs
described by Axline 1971)
Axline (1971) Play therapy is a form of psychotherapy, which assumes that children’s
play provides a window into their unconscious thought processes. It is assumed that in
their play children may express wishes, fears and fantasies, which are at the root of
any current problems. In order to understand any of these current problems, it is
assumed that previous events and unconscious thoughts need to be brought out into
the open so that an insight may be gained into behaviour. Dibs was a 5-year-old boy
with behavioural difficulties who attended a private school. He was socially
withdrawn and exhibited antisocial behaviours such as aggression and tantrums,
which the school paediatrician was unable to explain. During therapy, Dibs was
permitted to direct his play activities and the therapist’s function was to provide
appropriate play materials and a safe and non-judgemental environment in which Dibs
could express his feelings freely. After a series of weekly sessions, his self-esteem
developed and he learned to respect and accept others. His problem behaviour
gradually disappeared.
Advantages of the case study method (Searle 1999)8
1. Stimulating new research. A case study can sometimes highlight extraordinary
behaviour, which can stimulate new research. For example, Luria’s study of the
memory man “S” enabled researchers to begin to investigate cases of unusual
memory abilities, and the cognitive mechanisms, which made such phenomena
possible. Without the case study, it is unlikely that this area of research would
have been opened up in the same way.
2. Contradicting established theory. Case studies may sometimes contradict
established psychological theories. Searle cites the case study of severely deprived
Czechoslovak twins, and the remarkable recovery they showed when placed in a
caring social environment, as an example of a case study which challenged the
established theory of the early years of life being a critical period for human social
development.
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. For example, the case of S.B., a blind man given sight in
adulthood, gave researchers a particularly detailed insight into the processes and
8
Hayes, N. (2000) Doing Psychological Research. Gathering and analysing data. Buckingham: Open
University Press. p. 133.
Qualitative data collection methods: the case study method 1/ /page 11 of 11
experiences of perception, highlighting aspects of the experience, which had not
yet previously been suspected.
4. Permitting investigation of otherwise inaccessible situations. Searle claimed
that the case study gives psychological researchers the possibility to investigate
cases, which could not possibly be engineered in research laboratories. One
example of this is the case of Genie, the severely deprived child whose case
enabled researchers to study the effect of extreme social deprivation continued
from infancy to puberty. To create such a situation for research purposes would be
totally unethical and not possible but when Genie was discovered by social
workers, the use of case-study methodology permitted much deeper insights into
the mechanisms, processes and consequences of her experience and recovery.
Disadvantages of the case study method
Searle (1999) identified a number of disadvantages to case study research.
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, because it means that findings cannot be replicated and so some types of
reliability measures are very low.
2. The researcher’s own subjective feelings may influence the case study
(researcher bias). Both the collection of data and the interpretation of them. This
is particularly true of many of the famous case studies in psychology’s history,
especially the case history reported by Freud. In unstructured or clinical case
studies the researcher’s own interpretations can influence the way that the data are
collected, i.e. there is a potential for researcher bias.
3. Memory distortions. The heavy reliance on memory when reconstructing the
case history means that the information about past experiences and events may be
notoriously subject to distortion. Very few people have full documentation of all
various aspects of their lives, and there is always a tendency that people focus on
factors which they find important themselves while they may be unaware of other
possible influences.
4. Not possible to replicate findings. Serious problems in generalising the results of
a unique individual to other people because the findings may not be representative
of any particular population.
Ethical aspects of the case-study method
In a case study, the researcher often obtains deeply personal information, which is not
usually shared with other people. The nature of the study means that some of this
information will eventually be published, or at least written up as a research report. It
is therefore essential that anyone conducting a case study is very protective of their
research participant’s identity and that they must try to obscure details that can lead to
deduction of identity. Also it is important that the researcher has the professional
competence to deal with the problems of the case study, e.g. in the case of child abuse
or anorexia nervosa. Therefore the ethical guidelines such as informed consent, no
deception, right to withdraw, debriefing and confidentiality must always be observed.
When the researcher is interviewing in order to collect data for a
study, it is often recorded so that the interview can be
transcribed for further analysis. it, e.g.here where the researcher
is interested in how it is to be a new student at the university.