Case study in psychology refers to the use of a

descriptive research Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred. Rather it addresses the "what" question (what are the characterist ...

approach to obtain an in-depth analysis of a person, group, or phenomenon. A variety of techniques may be employed including personal interviews, direct-observation,

psychometric tests Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...

, and archival records. In psychology case studies are most often used in

clinical research Clinical research is a branch of healthcare science that determines the safety and effectiveness ( efficacy) of medications, devices, diagnostic products and treatment regimens intended for human use. These may be used for prevention, treat ...

to describe rare events and conditions, which contradict well established principles in the field of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

.Christensen, L. B. (1994).“Experimental methodology"( 6th ed)., Needham Heights, MA:

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

. Case studies are generally a single-case design, but can also be a multiple-case design, where

replication Replication may refer to: Science * Replication (scientific method), one of the main principles of the scientific method, a.k.a. reproducibility ** Replication (statistics), the repetition of a test or complete experiment ** Replication crisi ...

instead of sampling is the criterion for inclusion.Yin, R.(1994). “Case study research: Design and methods” (2nd ed.) Beverly Hills, CA.:

Sage Publishing SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent business, independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California. It publishes more than 1,000 journal ...

. Like other research methodologies within psychology, the case study must produce

valid Validity or Valid may refer to: Science/mathematics/statistics: * Validity (logic), a property of a logical argument * Scientific: ** Internal validity, the validity of causal inferences within scientific studies, usually based on experiments ** ...

and reliable results in order to be useful for the development of future research. Distinct advantages and disadvantages are associated with the case study in psychology. The case study is sometimes mistaken for the

case method The case method is a teaching approach that uses decision-forcing cases to put students in the role of people who were faced with difficult decisions at some point in the past. It developed during the course of the twentieth-century from its origin ...

, but the two are not the same.

Advantages

One major advantage of the case study in psychology is the potential for the development of novel

hypotheses A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

for later testing. Second, the case study can provide detailed descriptions of specific and rare cases

Disadvantages

Case studies cannot be used to determine causation.

Famous case studies in psychology

*Harlow -

Phineas Gage Phineas P. Gage (18231860) was an American railroad construction foreman known for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain's left frontal lobe, and ...

*Breuer & Freud (1895) -

Anna O. Bertha Pappenheim (27 February 1859 – 28 May 1936) was an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social pioneer, and the founder of the Jewish Women's Association (''). Under the pseudonym Anna O., she was also one of Josef Breuer's best-documented pa ...

* Cleckley's (1941) case studies of

psychopathy Psychopathy, sometimes considered synonymous with sociopathy, is characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits. Different conceptions of psychopathy have been ...

(

The Mask of Sanity ''The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality'' is a book written by American psychiatrist Hervey M. Cleckley, first published in 1941, describing Cleckley's clinical interviews with patien ...

) and

multiple personality disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...

(

The Three Faces of Eve ''The Three Faces of Eve'' is a 1957 American film noir mystery drama film presented in CinemaScope, based on the book of the same name about the life of Chris Costner Sizemore, which was written by psychiatrists Corbett H. Thigpen and Hervey M. ...

) (1957) *

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...

and

Little Hans Herbert Graf (10 April 1903 – 5 April 1973) was an Austrian-American opera producer. Born in Vienna in 1903, he was the son of Max Graf (1873–1958), and Olga Hönig. His father was an Austrian author, critic, musicologist and member of Si ...

and the

Rat Man "Rat Man" was the nickname given by Sigmund Freud to a patient whose "case history" was published as ''Bemerkungen über einen Fall von Zwangsneurose'' Notes Upon a Case of Obsessional Neurosis"(1909). This was the second of six case histories ...

John Money John William Money (8 July 1921 – 7 July 2006) was a New Zealand psychologist, sexologist and author known for his research into sexual identity and Sex determination and differentiation (human), biology of gender. He was one of the first ...

and the

John/Joan case David Reimer (born Bruce Peter Reimer; 22 August 1965 – 4 May 2004) was a Canadian man born male but raised as a girl following medical advice and intervention after his penis was severely injured during a botched circumcision in infancy. ...

Genie (feral child) Genie (born 1957) is the pseudonym of an American feral child who was a victim of severe abuse, neglect, and social isolation. Her circumstances are prominently recorded in the annals of linguistics and abnormal child psychology. When she was ...

* Piaget's studies *Rosenthal's book on the

murder of Kitty Genovese In the early hours of March 13, 1964, Kitty Genovese, a 28-year-old bartender, was raped and stabbed outside the apartment building where she lived in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. Two weeks a ...

* Washoe (sign language) * Patient H.M. *

Lev Zasetsky Lev Alexandrovich Zasetsky (9 August 1920 – 9 September 1993) was a patient who was treated by Soviet neuropsychologist Alexander Luria. Zasetsky suffered a severe brain injury, losing his ability to read, write, and speak (retrieving desired ...

(A.R. Luria) *

Solomon Shereshevsky Solomon Veniaminovich Shereshevsky (russian: Соломон Вениаминович Шерешевский; 1886 – 1 May 1958), also known simply as 'Ш' ('Sh'), 'S.', or Luria's S was a Soviet journalist and mnemonist active in the 1920s. He ...

(A.R. Luria) *

When Prophecy Fails ''When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World'' is a classic work of social psychology by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, published in 1956, detailing a ...

published in 1956, this study was done on a group that believed aliens were going to save them soon as the world was about to end, and what would happen to them when the day of ending didn't happen.

References

^ Schultz & Schultz, Duane (2010). Psychology and work today. New York:

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...

. pp. 201–202. {{ISBN, 0-205-68358-4. Psychological tests and scales

Advantages

Disadvantages

Famous case studies in psychology

See also

References