Pro and cons of using case study to understand personality disorders
DQ2: Case Studies
Pro and cons of using case study to understand personality disorders
Case studies are important in the study of personality disorders because they contain descriptive data whose objective is to inform one about a particular disorder. In this respect, a case study not only defines a particular disorder but is it also a real example that well captures the concepts of a particular disorder. To psychologists, case studies are helpful in understanding how different aspects of a person’s life are related to each other and how a particular disorder affects different aspects of one’s life. In addition, case studies are important for exploratory research and for generation of ideas. This is important because it helps psychologists to come up with suggestions on how a particular disorder can be treated successful using different interventions.
Although case studies are informative they also have their limitations. For one, case studies deals with a one person, event or group and as such the results drawn might not represent the wider body of similar instances. In other words, case studies tend to be subjective and as such their results may not apply elsewhere. In addition, case studies tend to be too deterministic and lack empirical support.