Case Studies and Longitudinal Studies as Research Methods - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

10 original exam-style questions - 3 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 9 of GCSE Sociology: Research methods Practice Book.

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2.9 Case Studies and Longitudinal Studies as Research Methods

AQA 8192 · about 50 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. For questions worth 4 marks or more write your answers in full sentences. Spend about 50 minutes on this paper.

Explain two ways a detailed case study of a single youth club could produce findings that are not reliable for other clubs in the same region.

(Total for Question 1 is 4 marks)

Define what is meant by 'sample attrition' in the context of a longitudinal research project following the same participants over decades.

(Total for Question 2 is 2 marks)

Using your knowledge of research methods, explain one way researchers can try to reduce the problem of sample attrition in a long-term longitudinal study.

(Total for Question 3 is 4 marks)

Discuss how far sociologists would agree that longitudinal studies are worth the high cost and effort involved in following the same people for many years.

(Total for Question 4 is 12 marks)

Define what sociologists mean by a 'longitudinal study' when investigating a cohort of people over time.

(Total for Question 5 is 2 marks)

Outline one strength of using a case study to research the culture of a single company.

(Total for Question 6 is 2 marks)

Identify one practical advantage of longitudinal studies compared with cross-sectional surveys when studying life-course changes.

(Total for Question 7 is 2 marks)

Explain two weaknesses of longitudinal studies as a method when sociologists follow the same cohort for many years.

(Total for Question 8 is 4 marks)

Outline one ethical issue that can arise in a long-term longitudinal study working with the same family over thirty years.

(Total for Question 9 is 2 marks)

Item A: The 'Young Lives' style hypothetical project. A research team plans to follow 800 children born in the same year in one UK city. They will interview the same children every five years from age 5 to age 35 about education, employment and health. Many interviewers will visit participants in their homes and schools during the study.

(a)Using Item A and your knowledge of longitudinal studies, identify two practical problems the research team might face when following the same 800 people over 30 years.(4)

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Mark scheme · 2.9 Case Studies and Longitudinal Studies as Research Methods

Question 1

B1 identifies a reason, e.g. the club may have a unique set of staff or a particular funding situation
B1 development, e.g. staff style or funding can shape activities and behaviour so results do not transfer to clubs with different conditions
B1 identifies a second reason, e.g. the small sample and specific local culture may produce context dependent findings
B1 development, e.g. local demographics or community history can affect outcomes, reducing reliability if repeated elsewhere
Answer: Findings may not be reliable because the club could have a unique staff team or funding situation affecting activities and behaviour, and because the small, context specific sample and local culture mean results depend on local demographics and history and may not repeat elsewhere.

Question 2

B1 identifies sample attrition as the loss of participants from the sample over time
B1 development, e.g. due to moving away, refusing further participation or dying, which can bias results
Answer: Sample attrition is the loss of participants from the sample over time, for example because people move away, refuse further participation or die, which can bias the study results.

Question 3

B1 identifies a method to reduce attrition, e.g. maintaining regular contact and updated addresses with participants
B1 development, e.g. this keeps participants engaged and makes follow up easier
B1 identifies a second measure, e.g. offering incentives or compensations for continued participation
B1 development, e.g. incentives can improve retention but must be balanced against ethical concerns about undue inducement
Answer: Researchers can reduce attrition by maintaining regular contact and updated addresses to keep participants engaged and make follow up easier, and by offering incentives or compensation to improve retention, while taking care with ethical limits to avoid undue inducement.

Question 4

Level 1 (1-3): Simple or partial arguments. Limited use of sociological ideas. Little or no balance. Conclusion, if present, is unsupported or is a brief assertion.
Level 2 (4-7): Developed arguments using sociological perspectives or studies. Some balance, with at least one strength and one weakness considered. Some evidence of evaluation but with limited depth or support for the judgement.
Level 3 (8-12): Well developed, balanced discussion drawing on sociological perspectives and examples. Clear evaluation of strengths such as ability to track change and suggest causal links, and weaknesses such as cost, attrition and ethical issues. A supported conclusion that reaches a justified judgement on whether the benefits outweigh the costs.
Indicative content:
- Arguments that longitudinal studies are worth the cost: they can track the same individuals and so identify sequences and potential causal relationships, for example linking early education experiences to later employment outcomes, which cross-sectional studies cannot do as effectively
- They reveal life course patterns and long term social change, providing rich data for policy evaluation and theory development, and can combine quantitative and qualitative methods for depth and representativeness
- Arguments that they may not be worth the cost: longitudinal studies are expensive and time consuming, require long term funding and researcher continuity, and face sample attrition which may bias results
- Ethical challenges arise from long contact with participants, such as maintaining consent and privacy across decades, and attrition reduction methods like incentives raise ethical trade offs
- Different sociological perspectives may value longitudinal research differently: interactionists may prize qualitative longitudinal insight into identity formation, functionalists or policy-oriented sociologists may value longitudinal evidence for social policy, while some practical or critical perspectives may prefer faster, cheaper methods where time or resources are limited
- Conclusion could weigh the high value of unique longitudinal insights against practical and ethical limits, concluding that longitudinal studies are often worth the cost for questions about change over time, but not always appropriate for all research questions

Question 5

B1 identifies that a longitudinal study follows the same group of respondents and re-studies them at intervals over an extended period (oe)
B1 development, e.g. allows researchers to track change over time in the same people
Answer: A longitudinal study follows the same group of respondents and re-studies them at intervals over an extended period, allowing researchers to track change over time in the same people.

Question 6

B1 identifies a strength, e.g. produces rich, detailed qualitative data about the company's culture
B1 development, e.g. allows deep understanding of processes, meanings and relationships within that organisation
Answer: A case study produces rich, detailed qualitative data about the company's culture, allowing a deep understanding of processes, meanings and relationships within that organisation.

Question 7

B1 identifies an advantage, e.g. they allow direct observation of change in the same individuals rather than inferring change from different age groups
B1 brief development, e.g. this makes it easier to link cause and effect over time for the same people
Answer: Longitudinal studies allow direct observation of change in the same individuals rather than inferring change from different age groups, making it easier to link cause and effect over time.

Question 8

B1 identifies a weakness, e.g. high cost and time required to run long term studies
B1 development, e.g. funding and researcher continuity can be difficult to maintain over many years
B1 identifies a second weakness, e.g. sample attrition where participants drop out over time
B1 development, e.g. attrition can bias the results if those who remain are systematically different from those who left
Answer: Longitudinal studies are costly and time consuming to run, making funding and consistent research teams hard to maintain, and they risk sample attrition, where participants drop out over time, which can bias results if those who remain differ systematically from those who left.

Question 9

B1 identifies an ethical issue, e.g. maintaining informed consent as participants age and family circumstances change
B1 development, e.g. researchers must regularly reconfirm consent and deal with changing capacity or changing relationships
Answer: An ethical issue is maintaining informed consent over time as participants age and family circumstances change; researchers must regularly reconfirm consent and consider changing capacity and relationships.

Question 10

(a) B1 identifies a practical problem, e.g. high cost of interviewing large numbers repeatedly over many years
(a) B1 identifies a second practical problem, e.g. sample attrition, participants moving away or refusing further participation
(a) B1 development for first problem, e.g. funding may be hard to secure for the whole period and quality may drop if budgets shrink
(a) B1 development for second problem, e.g. loss of participants can reduce representativeness and require replacement strategies
(a) Answer: Practical problems include the high cost of interviewing large numbers repeatedly, making long term funding and consistent quality difficult, and sample attrition, as participants may move away or withdraw, reducing representativeness and forcing replacement strategies.

Case Studies and Longitudinal Studies as Research Methods - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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