Poverty remains to be deeply engraved in the American culture. Since the 1970s, income inequality has risen thus increasing the poverty levels, pushing economic adversity and deprivation in urban and urban areas. According to Glock (2018) deprivation means something is missing and the scenario is serious. Severe deprivation means that extreme lack of things people considers essential in life. Severe deprivation means economic hardship that is persistent, acute and compounded (Desmond, 2015). Some Americans have experienced severe deprivation despite them living in one of the world’s super power countries. In 2010, 20.5 million Americans were said to live in deep poverty, that is, on income below half the federal poverty threshold. This statistic was up by almost 8 million since 2000. (Desmond, 2015). In the same year, one in every fifty Americans were said to live in an income where they survived on food stamps.
These statistics are done by scholars using different methodologies. Two of these methodologies include case studies and group comparisons. Case study methodology occurs when a research is based on a particular person, group or situation over a given period of time. Studies using comparison groups involve repeated observations of the same variables over short or long periods of time. This research paper will evaluate relevant studies in order to find out the major strengths and weaknesses of case studies and comparison studies researching effects of early severe deprivation. It will be argued that case studies are more beneficial as compared to comparison group studies. Severe deprivation studies will help us identify factors that contribute to it and how it can be eradicated or managed.
Case Studies have in-depth research
Case studies can give conclusions which are either illustrative or confirmable. Crowe et al. (2011) is useful when there is need to obtain in-depth information on an issue. Koluchova (1972) did a case study on severe deprivation in two monozygotic two boys who had been brought up in social isolation. The study established that a thorough research was done since forensic experts are also involved. In the study, residual effects are said to be studies in the next follow-up study so as to ensure they exhaust every information on the unusual case of deprivation. According to Kratochwill (2015) puts more emphasis on distinct cases that have played a significant role in psychology and health sciences. Significant details are given about the particular individuals involved in the study. Case studies are said to be detailed as they can last over long period of time. During this time, the researcher or scholar gets to learn a lot and observe the study. It is thus a significant method as compared to group comparative studies.
Comparison group studies summarize different dependent variables across many subjects. Once common measure is the arithmetic mean, which is easy to calculate. It makes evaluation of data points more manageable, nevertheless, scholars forget that group average should not be used to forecast conclusions on the individual behaviour. Group means in comparison studies need to be taken as approximations of the population group mean
Comparative group studies collect data from multiple points while conducting a given type of research. However, they cannot pre-determine and take into account periods regardless of what happens between these points. The process involved in comparison studies makes respondents change how they respond overtime in order to suit what they see as the main objective of the observer. Taylor Robinson, Smyth, Diggle and Wjitehead (2013) conduct a longitudinal study on effects of social media deprivation and disease serenity on employment status of UK students. The researcher here investigated a wide cohort on employment status. The study took a total of 15,572 minutes of observations during the whole study. They had to use different effect models to clearly show the trends and the effects. Thus case studies are more preferable as compared to comparison group studies.
Case studies have a double function
Case studies said to have twofold functions; one is that they study on their own unit as well as that of a larger group of units. The scholar can make the case study be entrenched with several units. This means that the scholar can explore a case and still have the capability to analyse the data in the case analysis, between the case analysis and come up with a cross-case analysis. This gives the researcher the power to check subunits in the larger case. According to case studies are determined by the extent of information a particular study has and how much is known. Koluchova (1972) conducted a case study in the 1970s when few scientific studies had been done. The scholar was able to report an unusual case of deprivation. I this case, the researcher choses to concentrate on one unit, that is, social deprivation of twin boys. When a scholar selects an embedded case study he can then be able to explore further on the subunits, which are then looked over with larger case studies. It is impossible to embed a longitudinal study with smaller units, especially if the sample is large. In a Time Series study, a small number of research units is used through time and measured on different scenarios. This is mostly done on educational research, psychological studies, medicine and econometrics research papers. In contrast, social research uses panel survey where a well-defined set of respondents are surveyed repeatedly. Panel survey uses a large number of research units.
Meaningless Null hypothesis
The null hypothesis as a charge of comparison is of little value to researchers. This is because it is invariably false. The null hypothesis states that the population means from which the researcher has obtained the observed group means are the same. This is not possible as even if the independent variable has no profound effect on the dependent variable. In this case, the null hypothesis is almost necessarily false. According to psychologist Loftus (1996) rejecting the null hypothesis in psychological research is like rejecting that the moon is made of “copper” Appropriate response would be, “yes, so what”. O'Connor " Rutter (2000) examines the attachment disturbances and disorder on a sample of children adopted in the UK. They compare this group with another sample on non-deprived children within the country. The study does not have a null hypothesis. Having a null hypothesis and rejecting it does not tell the extent of the effect. Reacting the null hypothesis would mean that he differences between the groups would be as a result of chance. Neupane (2014) conducts a case study did a study on effects of poverty on future well-being of children. Neupane (2014) asks the right question instead of putting too much emphasis on the goal of rejecting the null hypothesis at the expense of asking the right questions. Case studies are better as the relationship between the variables being investigated can be determined as compared to Comparison group studies.
Participants serve as their own controls
Comparison group designs such a Robinson, Smyth, Diggle and Wjitehead (2013). The independent variable is tested by comparing the group means on the dependent variable. The between groups comparison at Robinson, Smyth, Diggle and Wjitehead (2013) id determined to determine the difference could have happened by chance. In case studies, group means are not even calculated, however, there are several measures of the dependent variable for every subject before, during and after the intervention. Case studies are able to conduct meaningful comparison of the same person or group in different times. In a case such as Koluchova, J. (1972), before and after portraits of the respondents is the same. This is because different respondents begin a program at varied levels on the dependent variable. Only calculating the mean can be misleading. The case study involves Czechoslovakian male identical twins who their mother dies after giving birth. Data is collected from each twin and benchmarked against the available measures on the extent of change. This is better and gives a more refined assessment as compared to having comparison group studies. Differences will occur between the subjects and the subjects of change.
Conclusion
Case studies have played a significant role in both behavioural and health sciences. In comparison groups studies, analysis of data, conclusions and inferences are drawn from group level and not as per individual participants. From this evaluation, case studies have more strengths over comparison group studies. Some of the benefits include participants serve as their own controls, can have a null hypothesis thus conduct a hypothesis testing, in-depth information and double functions. This study will guide scholars look for suitable ways on which they can make comparison group studies better especially in the health and social sciences segments.
References
Crowe S., Cresswell K., Robertson A., Huby G., Avery A., Sheikh A. (2011). The case study approach. BMC Med. Res. Methodol. 11:100. 10.1186/1471-2288-11-100
Desmond, M. (2015). Severe deprivation in America: an introduction. RSF
Glock, C. Y. (2018). The role of deprivation in the origin and evolution of religious groups. In Cults in Context (pp. 147-157). Routledge.
Koluchova, J. (1972). Severe deprivation in twins: A case study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 13(2):107 – 114.
Neupane, B. (2014). Impacts of childhood poverty on children's wellbeing: a critical case study of children in Tanahun, Nepal (Master's thesis).
O'Connor T.G " Rutter M. (2000). Attachment disorder behavior following early severe deprivation: extension and longitudinal follow-up. English and Romanian Adoptees Study Team. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.39(6):703-12
Sykes, B. L., " Pettit, B. (2015). Severe deprivation and system inclusion among children of incarcerated parents in the United States after the Great Recession. RSF.
Taylor-Robinson D.C, Smyth R, Diggle P.J, " Whitehead M. (2013). A longitudinal study of the impact of social deprivation and disease severity on employment status in the UK cystic fibrosis population. PLoS One. ;8(8)
