05 Qualitative Methods - Case Studies Flashcards
Islamism and Family Law Reform in Morocco and
Jordan
(1) Definition of research problem: What is the research question?
(2) Specifying concepts: What are the main concepts used in the study?
(3) Specifying theory: Which theories do the authors discuss, and how do these theories inform the reader about the relationship between cause and effect?
(4) Selecting cases: According to Gschwend and Schimmelfennig (2007:5), “the question is how observations can be selected so that the results of the analysis are unbiased and provide a valid assessment of the theory.“
(4.1) Which cases did the authors select and why?
(4.2) How would you assess the authors’ decisions regarding the case-selection?
(5) Measuring concepts: How do the authors operationalize their main concepts?
(6) Control for alternative explanations: How do the authors control for alternative explanations (if at all)?
(7) Drawing theoretical conclusions: How do the authors discuss the relationship between their findings and the theories they employed?
(1) Why Islamists Approved Family Law Reform In Morocco And Not In Jordan?
(2) The different relationships Islamists had with their respective monarchs; the strength of leftist parties and their ties to civil society; Nature of Monarchical Support and Presentation of Reforms
(3) X
(4.1) Islamism and Family Law Reform in Morocco and Jordan to compare the application and the reception of family law in both countries
(4.2) The authors want to understand the response of Islamists to the law reforms in both countries, in a comparative manner. Furthermore, the authors state there was no direct comparison between both countries.
(5) Qualitatively, by comparing historical and current events and responses, to explain why certain decisions were taken and how they affected the law reforms.
(6)They state in the conclusion that Morocco went a “middle way”, that was regarded as an olive branch to the Islamists and explain that the situations need to be seen in the political context.
(7) X
Questions on: Ruffa, Chiara (2020): “Case Study Methods: Case Selection and Case Analysis”. In: Luigi Curini and Robert Franzese (eds): The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, Volume 1. SAGE. (pages to read: 1133-1147).
(1) Read pages 1133-1135: What is the purpose of case studies, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of this method?
To test and develop theory, with few cases more can be understood to generate a generalisation, but limited by positivism and very time-consuming
(2.1) What is a case? (please pay particular attention to the author’s illuminating description of her difficulties to decide what her cases were)
A broader phenomenon under study, a detailed examination of an aspect of a historical episode to develop or test historical explanations that may be generalizable to other events
(2.2) How is a case study different from illustrative examples?
Illustrative examples suggest causal relations might be at play, and complement a significant correlation with empirical examples suggesting an underlying mechanism
(2.3) Why is it important to clarify the objectives of your research if you use case study-design?
X
(3) The author distinguishes between three different case selection strategies. Explain each of these strategies briefly.
- Selecting case out of convenience: e.g. knowing language of literature, knowing country etc.
- Randomly selecting case: problems could arise, as one could face issues such as a small sample size
- Strategic case selection: selection of a case or two, based on hypothesised characteristics in relation to a broader universe of cases
(4) Read the section about “single case studies”.
(4.1) Explain the different strategies of case selection in single case studies.
Focus on only one case, to explore the plausibility of a theory or tracing the causal mechanism at play
(4.2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of single case studies.
Advantages are higher conceptual validity, consideration of complexity of contextual factors
Disadvantages are effects of selection bias
(5) Read the section about “comparative case studies”.
(5.1) Explain the “most different” and “most similar” system design?
Most similar: case comparison based on “method of difference”, looking for similarities
Most different: two cases that vary but have the same dependent and independent variables
(5.2) What is the difference between variable-oriented and case-oriented designs?
Variable oriented: aim at establishing generalised relationships between variables
Case oriented: seek to understand complex units with rich descriptions of a few instances of a certain phenomenon
(5.3.) What are the advantages and disadvantages of comparative case studies?
Advantage: greater generalizability and controlling for confounders; testing new and old hypotheses
Disadvantages: selection bias; possibility of missing independence among cases and of comparing apples and oranges
(6) Read the section “options on how to do a case study”. What three options do the author discuss? In particular, how does she describe the structured, focused comparison?
Process tracing: most common; systematic examination of diagnostic evidence selected and analysed in light of research questions and hypotheses posed by the investigator
Structured focus comparison: same questions are asked across cases
Congruence: complements process tracing
