Page 55 - DLIS407_INFORMATION AND LITERATURE SURVEY IN SOCIAL SCIENCES

Information and Literature Survey in Social Sciences

Notes it “can reveal potential relationships between variables, thus setting the stage for more elaborate
investigation later”.
A descriptive study also aims at a classification of the range of elements comprising the subject matter of
study. The classification must satisfy two criteria, viz., (1) exhaustiveness and (2) mutual exclusiveness.
Exhaustiveness is achieved when all the important elements are identified; Mutual exclusiveness
occurs when each item can be unambiguously placed in only one category in the system. Descriptive
information should also be useful for explanation, prediction and awareness.

Task What are the key differences between the social science research and natural
science research?

7.2.3 Case Study

A case study is one of several ways of doing research whether, it is social science related or even socially
related. It is an intensive study of a single group, incident, or community. A case study is a method of
exploring and analysing the life of a single social unit - be it a person, a family, an institution, cultural
group or even an entire single community. It is a way of organising social data so as to preserve the
character of the social unit being studied. Expressed differently, it is an approach which views any
social unit as a whole.

Functions
The case study method describes a case in terms of its peculiarities. It gives us an insight into the
typical or extreme cases whose unique features are not reflected by the usual statistical method. A
case study helps to secure a wealth of information about the unit of study, which may provide clues
and ideas for further research. It examines complex factors involved in a given situation so as to
identify causal factors operating in it. A case study aims at studying everything about something
rather than something about everything as in the case of a statistical method. While in a statistical
approach the ‘individual’ disappears from the analysis, in a case study the ‘individual’ representing
the ‘wholeness’ is preserved, as it is an approach which views any social unit as a whole. Thus a case
study gives us a total view of a unit or a clear insight into a situation or process in its total setting.
Thus the perspective of a case study is both qualitative and organic. It gives an overall generic picture
of a problem. The case study, as a research method, often employs more techniques than one. Thus,
for tracing a developmental process, it uses historical method, it employs descriptive method where
a factual picture is needed, it employs interviewing, mail questionnaire, check lists, rating scales,
etc., to gather data, it looks to statistics for testing hypotheses. The aim of a case study is to ascertain
the generic development of a social unit under study, revealing the factors that moulded its life
within its cultural setting. Burgess termed the case study method as “the social microscope.” It is
most valuable for diagnostic, administrative and therapeutic purposes. It develops ideas, sometimes
leading to conclusion and sometimes to hypotheses to be tested. It may also be useful for developing
new concepts or testing existing concepts.

Features of Case Study
Some of the salient features of the case study methods or approach are given below.
1. It studies a unit - an individual, a family, a community, a society, a nation, etc.
2. It undertakes an in-depth study of the whole unit.

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