Critically explore the strengths and limitations of case study Essay

Critically explore the strengths and limitations of case study research with children and young people in exploring issues of race and ethnicity - Essay Example y looking at past works by Ince (2004) that focused on a small group of young black people leaving care as well as Maniam’s et al (2004) study on various methods that can be used in exploring issues of race and ethnicity. Research with children and young people is critical. It can advance understanding of how they develop and live, can contribute to theoretical debates, and its outcomes can impact directly and indirectly on the lives of those researched and others in similar situations. In this case, the study focuses on young people as well as children in reference to issues of race and ethnicity. The function of case study method in research becomes more outstanding when social issues such as drug abuse, racial segregation, poverty and ethnicity are considered. Prominence of case studies as a research technique gained recognition when researchers started raising more and more concerns regarding the limitations of quantitative methods. This was particularly in availing holistic and in-depth explanations for social and behavioral conditions. Superiority of case studies lies in the fact that the research approach incorporates both quantitative and qualitative data; these sets of data are utilized to elucidate both the procedure and result of a phenomenon through comprehensive observation, reconstruction and analysis of the case study under scrutiny. Ince (2004) carried out a qualitative research with a small group of black care leavers, through the research she demonstrated the young blacks’ identity problems resulting from their limited contact with their families and community. The research also brought to the forefront the impacts of racism as well as open and indirect discrimination in these children’s lives. Maniam et al (2004) seemed to favor use of case studies as he stated that bringing forth qualitative data on racism would be one way of researchers wittingly colluding with racism. He cited that to overcome inadequacies that have resulted due to a