Editor's Introduction: Combining Pragmatic Case Studies Within a Single Case Experimental Design

Abstract

The target article in the current issue of PCSP by Fredrik Folke and associates (2012) documents and interprets six case studies of cognitive-behavioral therapy for Body Dysmorphic Disorder. This introduction places the article in a larger methodological context from my perspective as editor of the PCSP journal. I first review five types of case studies identified by McLeod (2010) in his seminal book on case study research. These include the main type of case study employed in PCSP, the Pragmatic Case Study, and four other kinds, including those that focus on theorybuilding, the adjudication of truth claims, the narrative experience of the participants, and singlecase experimental designs. I then discuss the advantages of combining Pragmatic Case Study designs with these other types. The Folke et al. article is an example of a successful such combination, integrating parallel pragmatic case studies within a single-case experimental design structure.Key words: pragmatic case study; theory-building case study; adjudicated case study; narrative experience case; single case experimental design; case study; clinical case study; Body Dysmorphic Disorder; Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) _____________________________________________________________________________ FIVE MODELS OF CASE STUDY RESEARCHAs PCSP's Editor I'm taking the opportunity with this issue's target article by Folke et al. (2012) to highlight a relevant idea I've been developing over the past couple of years. The idea was first stimulated by John McLeod's (2010) seminal book on systematic and rigorous research using case studies in psychotherapy. From McLeod's extensive investigation of the psychotherapy case study literature, he has differentiated and categorized five distinct kinds of case study research. From my perspective, it seems a natural development to consider how different models might be combined to mutually enhance the knowledge produced by each. McLeod's categories are described below. The Pragmatic Case StudyThis model focuses on systematically documenting and interpreting exemplars of best clinical practice. As such, it strives in part to capture the clinical and narrative process of

Indigenous Knowledge Approach to Successful Psychotherapies with Aboriginal Suicide Attempters

“…Data from individual cases were collected in a process similar to that described by Peterson. 9 Fishman 10 has summarized this process in which we begin with a focus on the client and his or her presenting problem. We select a guiding concept with accompanying clinical experience and research support.…”

Development of Individual Add-On Interventions for Patients With Depression Who are Persistently Not on Track in Group Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: A Protocol for a Treatment Development and Feasibility Study

“…Since case studies provide an efficient way of representing and analysing complexity these can be seen as an ideal opening approach for this project. Fishman (2012) argues for combining different case-study models and thereby enhancing the knowledge produced by each. The discovery phase of this project can be seen as a combination between a quantitative case analysis and a Narrative Experience Case Study, as the patient’s symptom level in each session is measured and depicted in a time-series graph.…”

“…The discovery phase of this project can be seen as a combination between a quantitative case analysis and a Narrative Experience Case Study, as the patient’s symptom level in each session is measured and depicted in a time-series graph. The Narrative Experience Case Study focuses on exploring the narrative experience and personal meaning of the therapy from both the client’s and therapist’s viewpoints (Fishman, 2012). In this manner, the analyses will comprise both quantitative baseline descriptives, course descriptives and qualitative data.…”