A case study is an in-depth examination of a single person, group, or event. Case studies are used in many fields including psychology, sociology, anthropology, and political science. A good case study will include a detailed description of the subject as well as an analysis of their behavior. Often times, case studies are used to examine rare or unusual events.
One example of a case study based research is the famous Bobo Doll experiment conducted by Albert Bandura. In this experiment, children were shown a film of an adult acting aggressively towards a Bobo Doll. The children who saw the film then acted out aggression themselves when they were later given the opportunity to play with the doll. This experiment showed that children can learn aggressive behaviors from observing others.