CASE STUDY: CHARACTERISTICS, METHODOLOGY AND EXAMPLE - PSYCHOLOGY - 2025

A case study is a type of research present in the social sciences that consists of the detailed observation of a study subject (also known as a case). This type of research is typical of disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

Case studies are part of qualitative research; in other words, research that focuses on studying a phenomenon in depth instead of using statistics to draw general conclusions. This type of research can be used for different purposes.

Some of the most common purposes are to create a theory before conducting a more expensive study, to study unusual situations, or to investigate in depth a phenomenon relevant to the researcher.

The most used techniques in the case studies are the observation and the application of questionnaires, although we can find other methods depending on the discipline in which this research is carried out.

Characteristics of a case study

The most important characteristic of a case study is that it is the in-depth study of a situation, event or specific case, in such a way that its internal characteristics are mainly taken into account but also the context in which it occurs.

Variation according to discipline

Depending on the discipline in which this methodology is applied, a case can be defined in different ways.

For example, in psychology a case is usually considered to be a patient with a certain type of mental disorder; on the other hand, in anthropology a case may be a tribe that has not had contact with Western society.

Search for understanding

The main intention of the case study is to try to understand all the variables that influence the specific situation that is being studied and how they interact with each other. Despite the fact that this methodology does not allow establishing causal relationships, it has the following advantages:

- It is cheaper and logistically simpler to carry out, since it does not require very large populations or laboratory conditions.

- It allows observing events that only occur naturally, and that cannot be reproduced at will. In this way, previous theories that were only hypothetical until now can be verified.

- Helps to establish first hypotheses to facilitate future research.

- It allows to study a phenomenon in depth, so that more conclusions can be drawn about it.

Main objectives

In general, the most common objectives of a case study are the following:

- Explore reality to later formulate a theory.

- Describe what happens in the case.

- Explain the causes that cause it.

Unlike many of the other types of research that exist, the case study is inductive; that is to say, it goes from concrete situations to a general explanation.

However, to be able to affirm a cause-effect relationship it is necessary to supplement this type of research with another of a quantitative type.

Methodology of the case study

The standard definition of case studies considers that they have five main phases:

- Selection of the case.

- Creation of a series of questions about it.

- Obtaining the data.

- Analysis of the collected data.

- Creation of the report.

Case selection

The first thing to do to carry out a case study is to find a relevant event for the researcher, as well as the objectives to be met when investigating it and the source of information that is going to be used.

In general, the investigator will choose a case that is relevant to his previous work, or will choose to study a rare event that is suddenly available.

Create questions

What do you want to verify with the case study? After selecting the situation or event to be studied, the researcher will have to make a list of what he wants to check with this methodology.

Although in principle only a general question can be chosen, after the first contact with the case the investigator will have to choose more specific questions to ask, so that he can get the most out of the situation.

Obtaining the data

After establishing the pertinent research questions, the data collection phase begins. Through observation, questionnaires or interviews, the researcher will obtain as much information as possible about the situation he is studying.

Analysis of collected data

Because qualitative investigations do not allow establishing a causal explanation, the analysis of the data will focus on comparing the initial questions and hypotheses with the data collected.

At this point, the researcher can decide whether or not he believes that the data obtained can be extrapolated to other situations, in addition to pointing out possible avenues of investigation to learn more about the phenomenon studied.

Report creation

Finally, once the data has been collected and analyzed, the researcher will explain the research process chronologically. In addition to talking about the most relevant situations, you will also tell how you collected the data.

In this way, the researcher will be able to communicate to his readers what he has learned from the case, his conclusions and their validity.

Case study in psychology

In psychology, the case study is a type of research that is carried out especially in the field of mental illness.

Because it is unethical to cause disorders in the laboratory in order to study them, researchers have to learn more about them by studying people who already have them.

In fact, the one who is considered by many to be the first modern psychologist, Sigmund Freud, based all his theories about the human mind on the study of the cases of patients who came to his office.

Case study example

Possibly the most famous case study example in history is that of Phineas Gage, a construction worker who was involved in an accident while on a construction site. His skull was pierced by a steel bar that damaged part of his brain, but Gage managed to survive.

However, this man's personality completely changed after the accident. Psychologists of the time were then able to study the effect that parts of the brain damaged in the accident had on Phineas' personality.

This type of research could not have been carried out in any other way, since the brain of a patient cannot be damaged in the laboratory to know the effects of each injury.

For this reason, neuroscience was based entirely on case studies, which allowed us to observe this type of phenomenon without having to purposefully harm anyone.

References

1. "Case Study Research Design" in: Explorable. Retrieved on: March 5, 2018 from Exporable: explorable.com.
2. Barrio et al. "Study of cases". Report of the Autonomous University of Madrid. Recovered from uam.es
3. "Case Study" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 5, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Brain case study: Phineas Gage" in: Big Picture Education. Retrieved on: March 5, 2018 from Big Picture Education: bigpictureeducation.com.
5. "Case Study in Psychology" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: March 5, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.