Case Studies

Question 1

What are some Strengths of Case Studies?

Answer 1

-Can be used to study rare, unethical, or impractical conditions and behaviors.

-Ecological Validity: can be used to evaluate behaviors and conditions in real-world settings that are hard to replicate in a lab

-Can provide new evidence to support psychological theories.

Question 2

What are some Weaknesses of Case Studies?

Answer 2

-Reliability: qualitative data often requires interpretation, so can be open to the researcher’s own bias.

-Generalisability: Case studies are often based on small sample sizes and may not apply to larger populations.

-Ethics: Case studies can be invasive and potentially inappropriate.

-Difficult to replicate which can lead to poor reliability

Question 3

How can you overcome researcher bias in Case Studies?

Answer 3

-Using inter-observer reliability:

Asking another researcher to analyse the data, compare their results + assess the level of agreement to see if its consistent