Aspects of Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Aspects of Psychology - Essay Example The validity of the study can be accounted both by the objective nature of the study which includes behavioral patterns and the subjective nature that includes the experiences and feelings of an individual. The data collected also accounts for the uniqueness and hence the validity of the study. However, as the case study results cannot be replicated, the reliability measures of the study are generally very low. When the case study pertains to a specific individual the results cannot be generalized to a larger population as they cannot be considered to represent a particular population. The major advantages of the case study method includes the following: in-depth analysis of a case may at times provide insights to a new phenomena which in turn could stimulate a new research, additionally these new findings can contradict existing theories and lead to establishment of newer treatment modalities, a detailed view of the process or phenomena can be obtained through a case study, and inve stigation of extreme and inaccessible conditions. Despite the many advantages, the case study method also suffers from many disadvantages such as low replication and reliability measures, the study data and its interpretation can be influenced by the researcher’s thoughts resulting in researcher bias, documentation depends entirely on the memory of the individual which can result in inclusion of only those factors that are livid in the minds of the people and exclusion of other possible factors which are vaguely remembered and finally as the results of a case study cannot be easily replicated it if difficult to generalize them to a particular population (The case study method, n.d). Naturalistic observation method involves observing the behavior of an organism in its natural surroundings. The method requires no obstruction either from the investigator or the method used to collect data which would affect the behavior of the organism under study.