Comparing the Case Study With Other Methodologies

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

The experiment lends itself to determining the causal effect of a stimulus or treatment; for instance, the effect of a commercial on opinion, attitude, or behavior. The researcher must be certain the experimental factor is present during the experiment and that other factors do not occur during the experiment. Therefore a research setting is artificially created in which a single factor can be manipulated while other factors are excluded. This is mostly realized by matching subjects into pairs and randomly assigning one to the treatment group and the other to the control group. By collecting data from both groups on behavioral and attitudinal variables before and after the treatment, and by comparing the results, the researcher determines indications of a causal effect of the stimulus on the dependent variable (attitude, behavior).

An experiment is characterized by a large amount of control by the researcher on the research setting (laboratory situation, exclusion of other factors, and induction of a stimulus), the composition of the research groups, and the activity in the research situation (administration of questionnaires, looking at films).

The survey is the most widely used standardized form of sociological research, especially in the domain of public opinion research. The aim of the survey is to obtain information about individual attitudes, values, opinions, circumstances, and behaviors in large populations by using questionnaires. Instead of questioning a population as a whole, a relatively large random sample of the population is drawn as representative, from which inferences are made about the larger population.

The first aim of a survey is a statistical description of the characteristics of a population. Survey data enable researchers to present an overview of the incidence or prevalence of certain opinions or attitudes and to establish relationships with other characteristics or variables such as income, sex, or age. Besides a general overview, following from the distribution of research topics and a statistical elaboration of existing relationships, a more detailed description of specific relationships in segments or subgroups of the larger population may follow. Such a cross-sectional survey representing a population at one certain point in time has limitations for conclusions about change or the causes of differences between subgroups of populations.

The case study is a research design with a long history in the social sciences, especially in those traditions that hold a participative view on social life and organization. Well-known examples are Street Corner Society by William Foote Whyte and When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter. The case study is the basic design for anthropological field work in non-Western cultures, as it represents an extended examination of the culture, or way of life, of a particular group of people.

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