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Today we will…. Recall what a case study is and some examples from cognitive psychology Examine what is involved in compiling a case study Discuss how a psychologist might select information for a case study Consider how case studies may contribute to psychological research.
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Today we will… • Recall what a case study is and some examples from cognitive psychology • Examine what is involved in compiling a case study • Discuss how a psychologist might select information for a case study • Consider how case studies may contribute to psychological research psychlotron.org.uk
Case studies • Which case studies do you know? • From cognitive psychology: • HM – anterograde amnesia following surgery to reduce epilepsy • KF – STM deficits following head injury • Clive Wearing – retrograde & anterograde amnesia following viral brain infection psychlotron.org.uk
Case studies • In depth study of: • An individual or small group • A specific environment • Draws on a range of sources of data according to the purpose e.g.: • Clinical psychology • Educational psychology • Sports psychology psychlotron.org.uk
What’s in a case study? • Case history • Description (& diagnosis) of problem/issue • Record of treatment/intervention • Record of outcomes psychlotron.org.uk
What’s in a case study? • Biographical information (e.g. interviews) • Observations • Psychological test results • Pre-existing records (e.g. school, employment, medical) • Reports from others psychlotron.org.uk
Strengths Rich, qualitative data provides in-depth understanding (non-reductive) Can track and describe change over time (not just a ‘snapshot’) Weaknesses Heavy reliance on retrospective & self-report data Non-standardised methods may be difficult to replicate Lack of generalisability Case studies psychlotron.org.uk
Theory Research Practice Case studies and other research • Generate new theoretical ideas • Test out existing theories • Develop new measuring instruments and research techniques psychlotron.org.uk