Single case studies as a means for developing psychological theories

Anatoliy Skvortsov; Alexander Romashchuk

doi:10.1002/pchj.117

Single case studies as a means for developing psychological theories

Psych J. 2015 Dec;4(4):231-42. doi: 10.1002/pchj.117.

Authors

Anatoliy Skvortsov^{1

2}, Alexander Romashchuk³

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Social Sciences/School of Psychology, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russian Federation.
² Center for Speech Pathology and Neurorehabilitation, Moscow, Russian Federation.
³ Faculty of Psychology/Department of Psychology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation.

PMID: 26663629
DOI: 10.1002/pchj.117

Abstract

The Socratic function of single case studies (SCSs) is described in its relation to the problem of scientific theory development. Contrary to the traditional point of view, the single case study is not a demonstration or verification of theoretical concepts, but a method of their generation and opportunity for analysis of their interrelations. Considering the case study from the perspective of the Socratic function brings to light important conclusions about the ecological validity of theory development. The essential features of the Socratic function are illustrated using the example of the famous Romantic Essays of Alexandr Luria.

Keywords: Galilean mode of thought; Socratic function of experiment; case study; ecological validity.

MeSH terms

Biomedical Research*
Humans
Psychological Theory*