What are the advantages and disadvantages of case studies?

Question

Case studies for qualitative research.

Answer 1

The professional notes, made in the file of one who is participating in the study. Every professional makes notes about the behavior, relaxed, private, reluctant, embarrassed, in denial, Going forward.  It has been recognized, that  individuals who provided very similar responses, also had many if not exactly matching were indicators he has found to be used to create a profile.  It gives professionals a clue to the strongest influences in the child's ongoing interpretation of how value was bestowed on the individual.

Answer 2

Qualitative research tends to provide in depth information and intimate details about the particular case being studied.  This is an excellent way to determine how policies have an effect on society at the micro level, and also to see if theories have the predicted  outcomes on the individual level.  

The problems with this are in regards to generalizability and intersubjectivity.  In other words, since the researcher is studying a limited case or group very deeply, it is hard to apply what is learned to society in general.  For example, in Elija Anderson's book Code of the Street, he does a qualitative case study of inner city society in a particular area of Philadelphia.  Since he spent many months studying this one particular neighborhood, he got a lot of rich information about this group.  Now, are his findings applicable to other inner city neighborhoods, or are his findings only a reflection of that one particular neighborhood?  

The second part, intersubjectivity has to do with the nature of qualitative research itself.  Since it involves observation, interaction, interview, or content analysis of a particular case, most of the interpretations are made based on the opinion of the individual researcher.  In other words, if you and I spent a day at a local park, watched the people come and go, and took notes of things we found to be significant or interesting about how people behaved, the things you noted may be very different than what I noted as important.  This is because each of us make decisions and judgments based on our own individual world view.  Also, since these types of studies are so random and based on observations of events as they happen, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to replicate them in a different study.  When you can't replicate a study, there is no way to determine if your findings are accurate.