Chapter 10 (Sam)

Question 1

case study research

Answer 1

a method of analysis that involves an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or event; in political science, generally used with the intent of identifying general causal principles.

Question 2

comparative research

Answer 2

a research design that seeks to compare phenomena across different political systems or cultures.

Question 3

counter-intuitive

Answer 3

a condition that occurs when a situation, event, or outcome differs from dominant theoretical expectations or common sense.

Question 4

Scope conditions

Answer 4

the explicit limits to which particular research can make valid claims.

Question 5

The theory-testing case study is appropriate in two distinct counter-intuitive conditions:

Answer 5

a phenomenon is expected to confirm a theory but refutes it (referred to as a failed most-likely case), or a phenomenon is expected to refute a theory but confirms it (referred to as a successful least-likely case)

Question 6

Process tracing

Answer 6

a research method that generates causal pathways between the independent and dependent variables of a case by connecting a series of observations.

Question 7

Generalization in the context of case study research is the process of extending the findings of a single case study to a wider population of cases

Question 8

most similar systems design

Answer 8

a comparative research design in which the researcher compares very similar systems in an attempt to explain differences between them.

Question 9

most different systems design

Answer 9

a comparative research design in which the researcher compares very different systems in an attempt to explain similarities between them.

Question 10

equivalent measures

Answer 10

This may mean using different indicators in different cases or working hard to ensure that the indicators chosen do, in fact, measure the same concept in all the cases under study.

Question 11

Galton’s problem

Answer 11

a problem that occurs when the units under observation are not independent of one another.

Question 12

Between-subjects design

Answer 12

: an experimental design in which different subjects are randomly assigned to various treatment and control groups; causality is inferred based on post-treatment differences observed between these groups.

Question 13

Causal effects

Answer 13

: the difference between the value of an outcome when a subject receives a treatment and when a subject does not receive the treatment. (p. 209) Control group: a group of subjects randomly assigned not to receive the treatment in an experiment; identical to the treatment group in all other respects.

Question 14

Double-blind design

Answer 14

: a research design in which both the subjects and the research team are unaware of who receives the treatment and who receives a placebo; intended to reduce the risk of the researchers providing subjects with cues about how they should react and to control for bias in the data collection.

Question 15

Experimental (or treatment) group

Answer 15

: a group of subjects exposed to the intervention of interest in an experiment; identical to the control group is all respects except that the control does not receive the treatment.

Question 16

External validity

Answer 16

: the extent to which the findings drawn from the cases under examination may be used to make generalizations about phenomena outside the original study

Question 17

Feasibility

Answer 17

: the extent to which a study is capable of being completed, given the researcher’s skills and resources

Question 18

Field experiment.

Answer 18

: an experiment in which a researcher’s intervention is implemented in a subject’s natural environment

Question 19

Fundamental problem of causal inference

Answer 19

: a situation referring to the fact that causal effects cannot be observed in the real world and that causal inferences are therefore required.

Question 20

Internal validity

Answer 20

: the extent to which the researcher has produced results reflective of reality, as measured within the confines of the study.

Question 21

Laboratory experiments

Answer 21

: an experiment in which subjects are recruited to a common location where the researcher exerts a relatively large degree of control over the experimental setting.

Question 22

Natural (or naturally occurring) experiment

Answer 22

: a course of naturally occurring events in which different conditions appear to be randomly assigned to subjects without the planned intervention of the researcher (e.g., a lottery); to qualify as a natural experiment, assignment to experimental and control groups must be allocated as if by random assignment.

Question 23

Placebo

Answer 23

: a form of stimuli that does not contain the precise treatment the researcher is testing; often takes a form similar to the experimental treatment without exposing subjects to the specific ingredient that is hypothesized to have a causal effect (e.g., a sugar pill); a type of control group in that it offers the experimenter a point of reference to estimate the treatment’s effect.

Question 24

Planned intervention

Answer 24

: a situation in which an experimenter purposefully manipulates one or several aspects of subjects’ conditions according to a predefined scheme.

Question 25

Quasi-experiments

Answer 25

: a course of events in a subject’s environment that implies neither “as if” random assignment nor any planned intervention by the researcher. (p

Question 26

Random assignment

Answer 26

: the process of assigning some members of a population to a treatment group and others to a control group; random assignment ensures that the two groups are identical in all respects aside from the receipt of treatment.

Question 27

Single-blind design

Answer 27

: an experimental design in which subjects remain unaware of various types of information—such as whether they are part of the treatment, placebo, or control group—in order to reduce the possible bias that this information could induce

Question 28

Statistical power

Answer 28

: the ability of a research design to detect effects should such effects exist; a power analysis can give researchers an idea of what sample sizes will make an experiment sensitive enough to detect effects of certain sizes. (p. 213)

Question 29

Stimulus/stimuli

Answer 29

the treatment(s)—often involving exposure to different forms of information— to which subjects in an experimental group are exposed

Question 30

Survey experiment

Answer 30

an experiment implemented in the context of a survey involving the random manipulation of a part (or parts) of the survey instrument.

Question 31

Within-subject design

Answer 31

: an experimental design in which researchers evaluate subjects before and after exposure to a given treatment; may also involve comparisons made to the before and after observations of the control group; causality is inferred based on any differences observed between comparisons.