Case Studies

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about case studies, focusing in particular on: (i) case studies being most commonly focused on one individual and involving numerous interviews and psychological assessments; (ii) the example of SB, who was blind at birth but gained site aged 52, used to highlight a key advantage of utilising case studies, which is to assess individuals whose circumstances are highly unusual and not able to be replicated in a laboratory setting; (iii) further advantages, as well limitations, including the potential for researcher bias, issues with replicability, and expense of the process.

About the lecturer

Dr Peter Allen is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol. Dr Allen’s research interests are in evidence-based learning and teaching in higher education, with a focus on statistical literacy; specifically on understanding the barriers that psychology students can face when learning research methods and statistics. A goal of this research is to derive strategies that can help students become better researchers and scientific thinkers. Some of Dr Allen’s recent publications include 'Training Structural Awareness with StatHand' (2022) and 'Research Performance of Academic Psychologists in the United Kingdom' (2022).