Lecture 8 Flashcards
What are quantitative methods?
- Many instances (occurs regularly)
- Few variables (you only want to know 1/2 things)
- Large “N” methods (many people)
- Cross case analysis
- (quasi) numerical data
- Social sciences
What are qualitative methods?
- Few instances (not many of the exact same case)
- Many variables (many questions)
- Small “N” methods (few people)
- Within-case analysis to construct causal pathways in individual cases
- In-depth study
- Humanities
What method is best for hypothesis generation?
- Qualitative methods
- Provide in-depth knowledge of few cases, which permits tentative inductive inferences
- Looks for causal relationship
What method is best for hypothesis test?
- Quantitative methods
- It can test with statistics whether the correlation that the hypothesis predicts is actually present
- Gives a hard conclusion; you test more people
Why are qualitative methods not good for hypothesis test?
- It is hard to say something about a whole population based on single cases
- Falsification is hard
- Only hypothesis that can be refuted by qualitative methods is that factor A is a necessary of sufficient condition for factor B
What kind of inference do quantitative methods use?
- Forward causal inference (from cause to effects)
- Assume that a particular cause has operated in the set of instances under study, and gather data about the effect of that cause in the population
What kind of inference do qualitative methods use?
- Reverse causal inference (from effects to causes)
- Start from a real-world case in which a certain effect is apparent, and inquire what caused that effect
What are the pros & cons of qualitative methods?
Pro’s:
- Reverse causal inference
- Reconstructing complex causal pathways
- Generating hypotheses
Cons:
- Danger to selection bias
- Difficulty to generalise findings
What are the pros & cons of quantitative methods?
Pro’s:
- Forward causal inference
- Testing generalisations about relationships between variables
Cons:
- Poor basis for reconstructing causal pathways
- Not able to ascertain which causes produced the observed effects, or how they did so
What is case-study method?
- Qualitative method
- Case-study research is the intensive study of a single case with the purpose to shed light on a larger class of cases
What is the typical procedure of case-study method?
- note an outcome in the case under exam
2. try to ascertain what causal factor acting in the case was responsible for that outcome
Why do people use case studies?
- Lend themselves more to hypothesis generation and explorative research, than hypothesis test (confirmation or disconfirmation)
- A single-unit study allows to ventilate multiple hypotheses
- but we are unlikely to adopt or reject a hypothesis on the basis of it
What are different kinds of cases?
- Typical case: highly representative instance
- Extreme case: may reveal causal relations more strongly
- Crucial case: paradigmatic for a category (creates paradigm)
- Deviant case: anomaly, may help pinpoint limitations of a theory
- Counterfactual case: “what if” scenario that departs from reality, helps isolate contribution of causal factors
What is validity?
How good/trustworthy your research is
What is internal validity?
- Degree to which a study’s findings are warranted for the case studies
- How useful & true is your research for the particular case you studied?
