Case Studies
case study
the type of observational research scientists do when they focus on one person or just a few individuals
Some scientists spend their entire careers studying just a handful of individuals. Why would they do this? When they focus their attention on a very small number of people, they can gain a tremendous amount of insight into those cases. The richness of information that is collected in clinical or case studies is unmatched by any other single research method. This allows the researcher to have a very deep understanding of the individuals and the particular phenomenon being studied.
Case Study: Conjoined Twins Sharing a Brain
In 2011, the New York Times featured Krista and Tatiana Hogan, Canadian conjoined twins who are joined at the head. What makes them especially unique is that their brains are connected through the thalamus, a part of the brain that sends sensory information (like sights, sounds, and touch) to higher brain areas. Because of this, researchers believe the twins may actually share some experiences. For example, if Krista laughs at something on TV, Tatiana might also smile or laugh—even without seeing the show herself. Their case has fascinated neuroscientists, who study them to better understand how the brain processes sensory information.
You can watch this video to learn more about their lives as conjoined twins.
Pros and Cons of Case Studies
Case studies can provide valuable and essential information about behavior to researchers. But if they provide so much information, why are they not more frequent among researchers? As it turns out, the major benefit of this particular approach is also a weakness. This approach is often used when studying individuals who are interesting to researchers because they have a rare characteristic. Therefore, the individuals who serve as the focus of case studies are not like most other people. If scientists ultimately want to explain all behavior, focusing attention on such a special group of people can make it difficult to generalize any observations to the larger population as a whole. Generalizing refers to the ability to apply the findings of a particular research project to larger segments of society. Again, case studies provide enormous amounts of information, but since the cases are so specific, the potential to apply what’s learned to the average person may be very limited.