Case study

When making an effort to document inductive reasoning and demonstrate by example behavioral phenomena, whether of people, animals, businesses, or systems of some kind, a case study is often used.

Generally a case study is a relatively short, factual account of a sequence of events chosen to illustrate a broader principle. Case studies are widely used in the study of phenomena that by their nature cannot be reproduced in a controlled, laboratory setting.

Critics of case studies point out the greater rigor of larger scale studies that are statistically defensible.