The following is a sample Paper 3 that looks
at a case study. Below you will first find the
stimulus piece, followed by the static
questions.
Stimulus piece
A group of researchers conducted a case study to help counsellors develop effective
interventions to assist female victims of domestic violence in developing countries. To carry
out the study, a hospital in a small local community in a West African country was asked to
identify women who had suffered from or were suspected of suffering from domestic
violence. Counsellors were sent to discuss the research the research goals with the women
and in the end, 20 women agreed to participate in the study. Most of these women lived in
arranged marriages and had children. The researchers used focus group interviews to collect
data. The interviews were videotaped and later transcribed for analysis.
About two-thirds of the women reported that their husband abused them almost daily. The
violence was physical, verbal, emotional and sexual. The violence was sometimes
encouraged by the husband’s family. All the women found that the violence was
unacceptable but few of them had ever talked about it before. They suffered from the
violence and abuse but nearly all wanted to maintain their marriage. The reasons for this were
for example economic, or fear of social stigma, fear for their lives or for fear of losing their
children.
The researchers suggested a number of possible strategies to avoid violence in the families
based on this study. The best way to help and support the victims would be to target the
abusive partners for individual therapy and counselling to stop the violence, but family
therapy involving the extended family and couples counselling were also suggested as
strategies.
Generally, the perpetrators of violence refused to talk about the violence or receive
counselling. They were supported in their decision by family and friends. Couples
counselling proved somewhat successful for the upper-class families, who were afraid of the
social stigma of a legal solution and did not want to involve the extended family. During
counselling, the couples were told to follow a code of conduct prohibiting violence, and they
were taught how to better communicate. They also got the opportunity to discuss gender role
expectations and possible ways of resolving conflict without violence. However, for most
women, the solution of individual therapy was the only option. The individual therapy helped
them to solve one problem at a time.
© John Crane, InThinking
http://www.thinkib.net/psychology/ 1
A follow-up of home visits was conducted to find out if violence had stopped and if attitudes
about domestic violence had changed. Only a small percentage of the women reported
violence after the intervention had begun. Half of the women were no longer living with their
husbands at the end of the intervention but the separations were reported to be friendly in
nearly half of the cases.
Questions
1a. Identify the method used and outline two characteristics of the method.
1b. Describe the sampling method used in the study.
1c. Suggest an alternative research method giving one reason for your choice.
2. Describe the ethical considerations in reporting the results and explain ethical
considerations that could be taken into account when applying the findings of the study.
3. Discuss the possibility of generalizing/transferring the findings of the study.
© John Crane, InThinking
http://www.thinkib.net/psychology/ 2
