Triangulation

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Research Methods in Psychology(Pp 60-68)
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Case Studies

• Case studies are in-depth investigations of a
  single person, group, event or community.
• Case studies allow researchers to retain the
  holistic and meaningful characteristics of
  real-life events (Yin, 2009)
• Case studies are widely used in psychology and
  amongst the best-known ones carried out were by
  Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed
  investigations into the private lives of his
  patients in an attempt to both understand and
  help them overcome their illnesses.

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Characteristics of Case Studies

• Idiographic- concentrating on unique traits of
  individuals or groups
• Focus on context
• Use multiple data sources (data triangulation)
• Examine processes that take place over a period
  of time

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Sources of Case Study Data

• Documentation- letters, e-mails, diaries etc
• Archival records
• Interviews
• Observations

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Types of Case Studies

• Intrinsic
• Unusual or interesting (ie, feral children)
• Not easily generalized
• Extrinsic/Instrumental
• Examine how individual or group experiences fit
  with larger theory (ie cognitive therapy)
• More easily generalized

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Strengths of Case Study Research

• Multiple data sources offer different
  perspectives and increase data triangulation
• Sensitive to context allowing one to study how
  people make meaning out of their lives
• May be only way to study unique behavior
• Helps researchers develop new theories
• Good ecological validity because data are
  gathered from real-life contexts

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Weaknesses of Case Study Research

• Poor population validity since data are gathered
  from specific individuals/groups
• An individuals testimony is difficult to
  validate as past memory is not always accurate
• Confidentiality and anonymity are ethical
  concerns
• Time-consuming
• Researcher bias can be a problem if s/he does not
  objectively select data sources for a case study

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Generalizing Findings

• Difficult to make good generalizations (to
  similar situations or people outside the study)
  from intrinsic case studies.
• Instrumental case studies can be generalized to
  theoretical propositions if enough cases show the
  same thing they can refine theory and give
  direction for future research.

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The End