Case studies are intended to give you the opportunity to apply concepts and theories learned in the course. For each case study, you must choose one individual (real or fictional) to analyze according to any one concept or theory learned in the respective unit. (You are welcome to analyze the same person more than once over the term, as you will be applying different content in each case.) You can choose to analyze any real or fictional person as long as they are well known enough so as to not require background information for clarity. Importantly, the purpose of this assignment is NOT to write a biography. Your goal is to consider the concept or theory within the context of the person’s life; and/or to interpret their behaviour or experience according to the concept or theory. You may focus on the individual’s personality development, their current state, or a specific aspect of the individual’s life. It is recommended that you choose a fairly specific concept (or part of a theory or model in cases of complex ideas like the Big 5 or Freudian theory). In the case of discussing psychological disorders (including personality disorders), you should remain speculative and not imply that the person “has” a diagnosis or disorder (unless it is public knowledge).
The audience should be someone who has completed this course. As such, there should be very little time spent restating what has already been stated. Instead, you should be demonstrating critical thinking by presenting original insight(s). The primary goal of these assignments is to apply course content; however, if it is either necessary or appropriate for your topic, you may cite outside sources as you see fit (to a maximum of 3 references per assignment). If referring to ideas or research findings presented in lecture content or in the textbook, you may simply treat this information as general knowledge and no formal citations are needed (and therefore no References page is needed in this case). If you refer to any other literature or outside sources in a case study assignment (e.g., information/facts on the subject or relevant research not discussed in class), then you must cite the information according to APA style AND also include an additional References page listing the full reference(s) for this new information. A References page is therefore NOT required in all cases. It depends on the approach you take. In many cases, logic or reason alone are sufficient in the application of course content, and some individuals are very well known, so outside sources are not always necessary.
Case studies are not meant to be summaries of course material. Rather, they are intended to encourage critical thinking about specific research topics, theories, and concepts/models in order to provide insight about some individual.
CASE STUDY SUBJECTS:
A list of recommended subjects is available in Canvas. If you would like to analyze someone not on this list, you should check with me to see if the person is appropriate (and familiar enough).
CASE STUDY FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each case study assignment must be typed, double-spaced (with 1-inch margins), in 12-point Times New Roman or similar font, and NO MORE THAN ONE PAGE IN LENGTH (any additional content will be ignored, with the exception of a References page). First-person perspective and direct quoting should be used minimally and formal/academic tone should be maintained throughout. You must include a heading at the top of the first page indicating the unit number and the subject’s name along with your name and student number (see sample online). You should also very clearly state the concept or theory you will be examining in the first sentence. A References page can be included in addition to the one page if it is required (i.e., if you cite information not cited in the textbook or lecture). You should adhere to APA formatting (7th ed., APA, 2019); however, case studies do NOT require a title page, an abstract, a running head, or additional headings.
