Comparative Government and Politics - Comparative Methods Flashcards
what is the comparative method
the process by which different cases are compared in order to better understand their qualities, and to develop hypotheses, theories, and concepts
what is a methodology
the systematic analysis of the methods used in a given field of enquiry. Also used to describe the body of methods used, or the means used to reach a particular set of conclusions
what is a unit of analysis
the object of study in comparative politics
what is the level of analysis
the level of study in comparative politics, ranging from the macro (political system) level to the micro (individual) level.
what is the case study method
a research method involving detailed study of a particular object and the context within which it exists
what is the historical method
a research method with multiple cases, focusing on the processes and tracing how they lead to a known outcome
what techniques do case studies use
- reading the academic literature
- examining primary and secondary sources
- interviews with participants and other observers in the unit
- direct observation, either as a ‘fly on the wall’ or as a participant
what is the qualitative method
a research method based on studying a few cases within their natural setting, with an emphasis on values, opinions, behaviour, and context
how many cases are used in the qualitative approach
a limited number
what does the qualitative method tend to be
descriptive rather than predictive
what is aim of the qualitative method
to understand the interaction of multiple variables
what is a most similar system
a research design based on using cases that are as similar as possible, in effect controlling for the similarities and isolating the causes of differences
what is a most a different system
a research design based on using cases that are as different as possible, in effect controlling for the differences and isolating the causes of similarities
what is a correlation
a relationship between two or more variables or attributes
what is the regression line
the line of best fit in a scatter plot, summarising the relationship between two variables
what are outliers
the observations furthest away from the value predicted by the regression line
what is the historical method
a research method based on studying cases from the past, often with a focus on their development through time
what is process tracing
the study of the sequence of events linking a cause to an effect
what is path dependence
the idea that the outcome of a political process dpeends on earlier decisions that lead down a particular path
what is critical juncture
a turning point which establishes interests, structures, or institutions persisting through time
what is sequencing
the idea that the order of events, not merely their occurrence, affects the outcome
what is a slow moving cause
an influence which changes slowly but, over a long period dramatically
what is counterfactual
a thought experiment speculating on possible outcomes if a particular factor had been absent from a process, or an absent factor had been present
what is selection bias
arises when selected cases and variables are unrepresentative of the wider class from which they are drawn
what is being generalizable
being able to be accurately applied or extended to situations or circumstances other than those originally studied
what is the issue of having too few cases and too many variables when conducting comparison
having more explanatory factors for a given outcome than there are cases available to study
what is the issue of selection bias when conducting comparison
the cases selected for study are often an unrepresentative sample, limiting the significance of the findings. The selection may be influenced in particular by survivorship, value, or confirmation bias
what is survivorship bias
a form of seleciotn bias that crops up when we study only surviving exampels of politicla types, overlooking past examples
what is value bias
allowing assessments, the choice of facts, and conclusions to be impacted by the values of the researcher
what is confirmation bias
the tendency to seek out or interpret information that confirms pre-existing beliefs and attitudes, and to ignore information that does not
what is globalisation
the process by which the links between people, corporations, and governments in different states become integrated through trade, investment, and technology
what did Powell say about comparative politics
‘comparison is the methodological core of the scientific study of politics’ (Powell et al., 2014)
what is the greatest advantage of a single case comparison
it offers an in-depth, real-world understanding of a phenomenon, a clearly defined example that helps to illustrate a wider principle
what does Yin (2018) say about case studies
they should be understood in terms of both their scope and their features
what is the quality of a representative case study
it is typical of the category
what is the quality of a prototypical case study
it is expected to become typical
what is the quality of an exemplary case study
it created the category
what is the quality of a deviant case study
it is an exception to the rule
what is the quality of a critical case study
if it works in one place, it will work anywhere
what is an example of a representative case study
coalition government in finland
what is an example of a prototypical case study
the advanced use of social media in US election campaign
what is an example of an exemplary case study
the British parliament
what is an example of a deviant case study
China as large country that is not a federation
what is an example of a critical case study
promoting democracy in Afghanistan
what is an example of a hypothesis
- the wealthier a country, the more likely it is to sustain a stable democracy
- the violent end to a dictatorial regime is more likely to bring chaos than democracy
what does Lipset (1990) say about the most similar system
‘the more similar the units being compared, the more possible it should be to isolate the factors responsible for differences between them’
what is another name for the quantitative method
large N cases
what does the historical method combine
both qualitative and quantitative approaches to research, helping to examine the robustness of findings across distinct time periods
