Marguerite G. Lodico & Katherine H. Voegtle, Child and Adolescent Life Stories: Perspectives from Youth, Parents and Teachers Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 2005.

Human development is a magnificent process yet it can be intricate, multifaceted, and complex to understand. Many researchers have debated the appropriate methods to understanding and studying human development. Although many quantitative studies in human development have been published, there are a growing number of researchers and teachers utilizing qualitative methods to study and teach about human development. Using case studies, autobiographies, life stories, or narratives to learn about human development has often been overlooked in educational settings. Researchers who develop case studies use ethnographic methods, including interviews, observations, and narratives in order to capture individual stories and experiences that often do not shine through when utilizing quantitative methods. In this stimulating book, the authors encapsulate the unique lives of several children and adolescents so that students can appreciate the various stages of development. Although the authors point out that case studies have a history of being used as research methods in studying life-span development, it is a more recent trend to use case studies in teaching about human development. Lodico and Voegtle developed this book of case studies to aid those in taking or teaching courses in human development and to emphasize the importance of studying individual case examples. …