WEEK 4- L7.1 data collection: comparative and historical research Flashcards
some types of comparative research
single case study, small n, large n, qualitative comparative analysis
some types of historical research
event structure analysis
process tracing
what’s the core method of empirical social science?
comparative method
typical uses of the comparative method
test theory
develop theory
apply existing theory to new cases
false uniqueness
researcher concluding that the case is so different that it can’t be compared
false universalism
a single case is seen is highly representative
some risks that come with in depth case studies?
false uniqueness, and universalism
two components and purpose of single case study
- thic description: internal validity
- engage wider academic discussion: external validty
purpose of single case studies
- provide descriptive contextualization
- apply existing theory to new contexts
- examine exceptions to the rule
- generate new theory
single case selection types
critical
revalatory
unusual
crucial
revalatory case selection
reveal a r.ship which can’t be studied by other means
critical case selection
to test a theory
unusual case selection
throw light on extreme or deviant cases
crucial case selection
confirm or disconfirm a theory
advantages of case study 3
- rich or thic description
- good march of theory and evidence
- high internal validity
disadvantages of case study
low external validty
lack of context- uncertainty about conslusions
small n case study advantages
Detailed in-depth analysis of cases still possible
Better ability to contextualize
small n case study disadvantages
High risk of selection bias that might lead to misleading inferences
Causality tends to be deterministic, not probabilistic (more cases needed to see if it holds across cases)
two types of large n case study
- qualitative comparative analysis
- quanitative analysis (involved case selection, data collection, and statistical analysis)
qualitative comparative analysis
formalized systematic comparison (boolean algebra and fuzzy set logic)
QCA is a theory- … approach
testing
what’s a truth table, who uses it?
list of cases with relevant conditions and outcomes
truth table coding options (2)
- crispy set: absent/ present
- fuzzy set: interval scale from 0.0 to 1.0
purpose of analysis for qca
process of paired comparison to generate or test theories.
paired comparison: (all possible combinations of factors/ conditions)