Researchers and clinical professionals

Researchers and clinical professionals use single case research designs when they want to learn more from a disorder, problem, or phenomenon affecting one person. Single case designs can be ideal to use to study one person in depth, such as when creating a specific intervention for a specific patient, or to use when studying a rare phenomenon. For example, a clinician might want to conduct in depth research on a patient’s response to intervention after a stroke. As another example, it could be rare for a patient to present with late stage untreated syphilis. If this patient consents to be part of a single case research study, information about late stage untreated syphilis could be gained without violating ethical standards or placing someone at risk by denying treatment.

Think of a topic or scenario you would want to research using a case study.

1. What would you want to study and why did you select this topic.
2. Summarize how you could conduct a single case study to assess this using the scientific method. Discuss what single case method you would use and why.
3. Discuss anticipated findings from your study.
4. Discuss the possible limitations to your study.