How do you view and assess the use of case studies and biographies in sociological research?

Biographies are used as qualitative research tool used for social research. It is based on life history of an individual. It may be biography or autobiography. Both form crucial methods to study the society.

Case studies - view and assessment in sociological research:

=> Case study is a qualitative research tool in sociology.

=> Case studies help at arriving the ground reality based conclusions

=> Case study assist in testing the validity of a social research and help in forming a new hypothesis and research question also.

Eg Duncan and Blau case study on middle class found that immediate social mobility is possible easily on long range mobility. This throw light on social mobility studies & reality.

=> Criticism of case study include change in behaviour of the people when they know they are observed. It may also lead to serendipity as happened in Hawthorne effect.

Biographies - view and assessment in sociological research:

=> Biographies include the personal details, personal values of the particular individual. It helps in social research of value based systems.

=> Biographies depicts the social culture and society of their times. This helps in analysing the society of past by sociologist.

Eg Eulogy and biography of ancient kings helps in studying social structure of ancient India.

=> Biography expresses true emotions of the individual which help in theory building and validity in social research.

eg Ann Oakley made women housewives to write diaries to study their emotions and concluded on injustice to women.

=> Criticism of biographies include ideological bias, reliability & objectivity issues resulting in difficulty to establish generalisation.