Research Design

A case study is an in-depth analysis of a single event, social situation, individual, organization, community, or process. To conduct a case study, a researcher typically collects or accesses data from a variety of sources. Data collection strategies may include the examination of existing documents and archival records,  interviews with key informants, direct observation, and even participant observation, if possible. While there is no single definition of the case study method, the approach generally involves an intense investigation of a bounded (i.e., spatial or temporal) phenomena within its natural context. For example,  researchers might use this method to study a single case of a foster child, drug lord, cancer patient, criminal, or sexual assault victim or they could develop a multiple case study design to facilitate comparative analysis. Alternatively, the case study researcher may examine an exemplary event within the context of an entire community or organization.  The primary purposes of case study research are illustrative, descriptive, explanatory and exploratory.  A major criticism of the case study as a method is that a developed study of a single case, while offering depth on a topic, does not provide enough evidence to form a generalized conclusion. In other words, it is difficult to make universal claims based on just one case, since one case does not verify a pattern.

However, case studies are useful when the single case is unique. In these instances, a single case study can add tremendous knowledge to a certain discipline. For example, a feral child, also called "wild child," is one who grows up isolated from human beings. Feral children grow up without social contact and language, which are elements crucial to a "civilized" child's development. These children mimic the behaviours and movements of animals, and often invent their own language. There are only about 100 cases of feral children in the world. As you may imagine, a feral child is a subject of great interest to researchers. Feral children provide unique information about child development because they have grown up outside of the parameters of normal child development. And since there are very few feral children, the case study is the most appropriate method for researchers to use in studying the subject. At age three, a Ukrainian girl named Oxana Malaya suffered severe parental neglect. She lived in a shed with dogs, eating raw meat and scraps. Five years later, a neighbour called authorities and reported seeing a girl who ran on all fours, barking. Officials brought Oxana into society, where she was cared for and taught some human behaviours, but she never became fully socialized. She has been designated as unable to support herself and now lives in a mental institution. Case studies like this offer a way for sociologists to collect data that may not be collectable by any other method.