Methodology: Case Studies and Luk and Agoha (2014) Flashcards
(18 cards)
Why are case studies conducted?
To provide detailed insight into a unique situation.
Define ‘idiographic’.
Focusing in detail on a topic and on individuals.
Define ‘nomothetic’.
Looking for general rules in behaviour by drawing on data gathered that focuses on large numbers and finding cause and effect.
Define ‘triangulation’.
Cross verification of data from two or more sources to provide validity in findings and conclusions.
Describe 5 features of a case study.
- Single ppt/small group
- Psychometric testing, patient observations, official documents- e.g. case notes, clinical notes, interviews that are then triangulated
- Carried out over a long period of time (longitudinal)
- Gathering mainly qualitative data
- Idiographic in clinical
How are case studies used in clinical psychology?
- To gather info on different disorders
- Takes an idiographic approach as focus on individual
- In-depth analysis of experiences and influences of psychological processes
- This is often done through methods such as diagnostic interviews, ppt observation, medical records, diaries
- Methods to analyse such data are often thematic analysis, grounded theory, and other text interpretation
- Most of the material and data collected is qualitative
Evaluate 5 strengths of case studies.
- High reliability in the use of triangulation as it allows to show how data is consistent- adding credibility to the approach
- High validity due to triangulation of data allowing for a range of measures to verify each other making conclusions more credible
- High ecological validity due to ppts being assessed in environments natural to them therefore their behaviour will also be natural
- High application as they provide insight in to disorders and how they affect people and their real life behaviour which can lead to new treatments to help
- High ethics in clinical case studies as psychologists take care to follow HCPC guidelines to ensure protection from harm for the vulnerable groups being studied
Evaluate 4 weaknesses of case studies.
- Low generalisability due to studying a single ppt or small group with unique circumstances or details of their disorder that is hard to generalise to a wider population
- Low reliability due to a unique case that is not likely to occur again and so data found cannot be compared easily due to lack of other data
- Low validity due to studying patients closely in which researchers would likely form a bond with them therefore they may be subjective in their interpretations of behaviours so hard to avoid researcher bias
- Low validity due to clinical interviews used providing descriptions of symptoms of the disorders in which a patient may not disclose all info and so their diagnosis may not be accurate
Identify a clinical case study.
Luk and Agoha (2014)
Describe the aim of this case study.
- To describe the experience of a Chinese-American adolescent girl with anorexia nervosa
- from multiple perspectives of theories
- with a focus on cultural.
Describe the procedure.
- Case study using retrospective data of chart reviews from when Amy was 15 and admitted to the Inpatient Child Psychiatric unit for further care
- with a BMI of 11.8
- She suffered body dysmorphia, amenorrhea, and cold intolerance
- She underwent individual therapy, group therapy, daily weigh-ins, and monitoring of meals
- family dynamics were Amy behaving in a child-like manner towards her father and argumentative to her mother- ‘too traditional’
- She was discharged 3 months later but got readmitted 2 more times in 6 months due to not maintaining body weight
- refused to eat meals with family, mother would have difficulty in understanding her problems
- On her 3rd admission Amy was assigned a in-home therapist of the same culture who visited regularly to help with tension during family meals
- therapist advocated for Amy’s independence, improving communication and overall family understanding
- Visited China 10 months post-discharge and discontinued the fluoxetine while there
- BMI on return to clinic was 19 kg/m2
- Amy was animated, talked at her time in china and her studio photography session with her sister and cousin, proudly displaying photos in an album
- Amy then remained asymptomatic and continued to gain weight
Describe the results.
- Found that the main cause of the eating disorder was due to an overbearing mother who wouldn’t cater to Amy’s dietary preferances
- With the therapists help of balancing food options for Amy and reducing tension at family meals she started to gain more weight
- After visiting China Amy remained asymptomatic but still refused meals with her family
Describe the conclusions of this case study.
- Amy’s anorexia was a result of rejecting her parents and their different culture not the desire to be thin
- Amy did not express a desire for thinness verbally or non-verbally in any of her sessions, her reasons for eating often centred around her disgust with the food options her mother offered
- Amy’s struggle with her mother is consistent with developmental theories of anorexia as a product of a need for autonomy and control
- Amy’s perception of her mother was of her being overbearing and controlling
- Amy was experiencing conflicting cultural norms- those of her peers and those of her parents, so she rejected her ancestral culture- worsening already tense conflict
- Visit to China improved her autonomy and relationship with parents who gave her more freedom that allowed her to develop her sense of identity
Generalisability
A weakness of this study is that there is low generalisability. This is because a narrow sample of a single female ppt who was 15 years old of Chinese-American ethnicity was used. This cannot represent males with AN, those older than adolescence, or of other cultures that Amy was not a part of.
Reliability
A weakness of this study is that there is low reliability due to the use of a case study. Amy’s case was unique due to not having a desire to be thin instead begin a rejection of her mother’s meals. This therefore cannot be replicated as it would be unethical to cause problems in a family relationship to test for consistency
Applications
A strength of this study is that there are positive applications as a result of the conclusions. Luk and Agoha found that Amy rejected her Chinese ancestral culture though rejection of their food and food rituals due to her mothers overbearing nature. This may lead to positive applications of more cultural research on AN becoming more widespread-which can help AN patients as this may, like Amy, be a sufficient treatment for them.
Ethics
A weakness of this study is that it could be determined to be unethical. This is because Amy may have felt distressed due to the intense research on her disorder, causes of admission and development. This therefore will have caused psychological harm breaking the ethical guideline of harm to ppts
Validity?
- A strength of this study is that there is high levels of validity. Primary data was gathered through obtaining the BMI of the participant, Amy, when she was 15 years old- reaching a BMI of 17.25 kg/m2 whilst also observing a range of Amy’s treatment/therapy e.g. group therapy, daily weigh ins etc. In addition to this, secondary data was also gathered when she was 13 years old and diagnosed with AN, and had a BMI of 11.8, and her inpatient and outpatient charts were reviewed. The use of both secondary data and primary data increases the validity of the study as it provides a wider range of depth and detail used, which makes a cause and effect conclusion about the case of her AN easier to establish.
- Triangulation- constructs a case history, can involve experiments, interviews and observations. Luk and Agoha used BMI, hospitalisations, care received, recovery etc. triangulation increases internal validity because psychologists can gain a greater understanding of mental disorders and behaviour associated with them.
- Numerical data (quant) can be statistically analysed/is objective (such as BMI), reducing researcher bias about the reduction of her AN.
- However, a weakness is the fact that the case study was a restrospective view of the experience and reality of Amy who suffered from AN. This could affect the validity as the data gathered may be based on inaccurate memories and may have been affected by multiple factors such as the trauma of living with an ED, decreasing the validity of the conclusions made.
