Case Study

An intensive examination of a single individual — typically one who exhibits a peculiar and rare phenomenon. In a case study, we make detailed observations of of various characteristics of the individual, especially thos characteristics that are thought to be possible causes of the phenomenon.

Case studies typically include a great deal of information such as medical histories, the results of medical tests, reports of childhood experiences, the assessments of personality and intelligence, and descriptions of how interpersonal communication styles.

The most important advantage of case studies is that they give researchers a large amount of potentially useful information. One important disadvantage of case studies is that researchers cannot isolate the effects of possible causal factors.