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A tale of two cultures: Contrasting quantitative and qualitative research. Political Analysis 14
, 2006
"... Abstract The quantitative and qualitative research traditions can be thought of as distinct cultures marked by different practices, beliefs, and norms. In this essay, we adopt this imagery toward the end of contrasting these research traditions across ten areas: (1) approaches to explanation, (2) c ..."
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Abstract The quantitative and qualitative research traditions can be thought of as distinct cultures marked by different practices, beliefs, and norms. In this essay, we adopt this imagery toward the end of contrasting these research traditions across ten areas: (1) approaches to explanation, (2) conceptions of causation, (3) multivariate explanations, (4) equifinality, (5) scope and causal generalization, (6) case selection, (7) weighting observations, (8) substantively important cases, (9) lack of fit, and (10) concepts and measurement. We suggest that an appreciation of the alternative assumptions and goals of the traditions can help scholars avoid misunderstandings and contribute to more productive "cross-cultural" communication in political science.
The Strategy of Paired Comparison: Toward a Theory of Practice.” Comparative Political Studies 43(2
, 2010
"... Paired comparison is a strategy of political analysis that has been widely used but seldom theorized. This is because it is often assimilated to single-case studies or regarded as a degenerate form of multicase analysis. This article argues that paired comparison is a distinct strategy of comparativ ..."
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Paired comparison is a strategy of political analysis that has been widely used but seldom theorized. This is because it is often assimilated to single-case studies or regarded as a degenerate form of multicase analysis. This article argues that paired comparison is a distinct strategy of comparative analysis with advantages that both single-case and multicase comparisons lack. After reviewing how paired comparison has been dealt with in comparative politics, the article details a number of its advantages and pitfalls, illustrates them through the work of four major pairing comparativists, and proposes what is distinct about the strategy. It closes with a number of suggestions for using paired comparison more effectively. Keywords paired comparison, methodology, comparative theory This article examines a strategy of comparative analysis that has been widely used but little theorized—paired comparison. It has been used since Alexis de Tocqueville used it implicitly across his two most famous books, Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the French Revolution. And it has recently been used effectively by authors as different as Valerie Bunce, Peter
Comparative politics and the synthetic control method.
- Am J Pol Sci
, 2014
"... In recent years, a widespread consensus has emerged about the necessity of establishing bridges between quantitative and (Tarrow 2010) . Comparative researchers base their studies on meticulous description and analysis of the characteristics of a small number of selected cases, as well as of their ..."
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In recent years, a widespread consensus has emerged about the necessity of establishing bridges between quantitative and (Tarrow 2010) . Comparative researchers base their studies on meticulous description and analysis of the characteristics of a small number of selected cases, as well as of their differences and similarities. By carefully studying a small number of cases, comparative researchers gather evidence at a level of granularity that is difficult if not impossible to incorporate in quantitative studies, which tend to focus on larger samples but employ much coarser descriptions of the sample units. However, large-sample quantitative methods are sometimes adopted because they provide precise numerical results, which can be compared across studies, and because they are better adapted to traditional methods of statistical inference. We thank Neal Beck, Anthony Fowler, John Gerring, Adam Glynn, Danny Hidalgo, Kosuke Imai, Gary King, Hermann Maier, Teppei Yamamoto, the editor, and four anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on earlier versions of this article. The title of this article pays homage to 1 See As a result of a recent and important methodological debate
A statistical method for empirical testing of competing theories
, 2010
"... Empirical testing of competing theories lies at the heart of social science research. We demonstrate that a well-known class of statistical models, called finite mixture models, provides an effective way of rival theory testing. In the proposed framework, each observation is assumed to be generated ..."
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Empirical testing of competing theories lies at the heart of social science research. We demonstrate that a well-known class of statistical models, called finite mixture models, provides an effective way of rival theory testing. In the proposed framework, each observation is assumed to be generated either from a statistical model implied by one of the competing theories or more generally from a weighted combination of multiple statistical models under consideration. Researchers can then estimate the probability that a specific observation is consistent with each rival theory. By modeling this probability with covariates, one can also explore the conditions under which a particular theory applies.We discuss a principled way to identify a list of observations that are statistically significantly consistent with each theory and propose measures of the overall performance of each competing theory. We illustrate the relative advantages of our method over existing methods through empirical and simulation studies. Empirical testing of competing theories lies at the heart of social science research. Since there typically exist alternative theories explaining the same phenomena, researchers can often increase the plausibility of their theory by empirically demonstrating its superior explanatory power over rival theories. In political
Is there a (Viable) Crucial-Case Method
- Comparative Political Studies
"... Case study researchers use diverse methods to select their cases, a matter that has elicited considerable comment and no little consternation. Of all these methods, perhaps the most controversial is the crucial-case method, first pro-posed by Harry Eckstein several decades ago. Since Eckstein’s infl ..."
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Case study researchers use diverse methods to select their cases, a matter that has elicited considerable comment and no little consternation. Of all these methods, perhaps the most controversial is the crucial-case method, first pro-posed by Harry Eckstein several decades ago. Since Eckstein’s influential essay, the crucial-case approach has been used in a multitude of studies across several social science disciplines and has come to be recognized as a staple of the case study method. Yet the idea of any single case playing a cru-cial (or critical) role is not widely accepted. In this article, the method of the crucial case is explored, and a limited defense (somewhat less expansive than that envisioned by Eckstein) of that method is undertaken. A second method of case-selection, closely associated with the logic of the crucial case, is introduced: the pathway case.
Assessing the Power of the Purse: An Index of Legislative Budget
- Institutions,” Political Studies
, 2006
"... To compare parliamentary capacity for financial scrutiny, I construct an index using data for 36 countries from a 2003 survey of budgeting procedures. The index captures six institutional prerequisites for legislative control, relating to amendment powers, reversionary budgets, executive flexibility ..."
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To compare parliamentary capacity for financial scrutiny, I construct an index using data for 36 countries from a 2003 survey of budgeting procedures. The index captures six institutional prerequisites for legislative control, relating to amendment powers, reversionary budgets, executive flexibility during implementation, the timing of the budget, legislative committees and budgetary information. Various methods of index construction are reviewed.The results reveal substantial variation in the level of financial scrutiny of government by the legislature among contemporary liberal democracies.The US Congress has an index score that is more than three times as great as those for the bottom nine cases, predominantly Westminster systems. Even allowing for US exceptionalism, the top quartile of legislatures score twice as high on this index as the bottom quartile.These findings suggest that the power of the purse is a discrete and non-fundamental element of liberal democratic governance. For some countries it is a key safeguard against executive overreach, while others maintain a constitutional myth. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure (Publius, Federalist 58).
What you see and what you get: Pitfalls and principles of nested analysis in comparative research
- Comparative Political Studies
, 2008
"... In a recent contribution to this journal, Munck and Snyder found that many studies suffer from a deficient application of qualitative and quantitative methods. They argue that the combination of small-n and large-n analysis represents a viable method for promoting the production of knowledge. Recent ..."
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In a recent contribution to this journal, Munck and Snyder found that many studies suffer from a deficient application of qualitative and quantitative methods. They argue that the combination of small-n and large-n analysis represents a viable method for promoting the production of knowledge. Recently, Evan Lieberman proposed nested analysis as a rigorous approach for comparative research that builds on the complementary strengths of quan-titative and qualitative analysis. In this paper, the author examines the methodological potential of nested inference to advance comparative politi-cal analysis, arguing that the specific methodological problems of nested designs have not been fully appreciated. It is shown that, under certain cir-cumstances, nothing is gained from a nested analysis. On the contrary, one might lose more than one gains compared to single-method designs. The author suggests specific methodological principles that take these problems into account to make nested analysis fruitful for comparative studies.
More than method? A discussion of paradigm differences within mixed methods research
- Journal of Mixed Methods Research
, 2011
"... This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested a ..."
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This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested analysis, recently presented by the American political scientist Evan S. Lieberman, and praxeological knowledge, inspired by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. These strategies address two different epistemological problems, namely, the problem of causal inference and the problem of double hermeneutics. Consequently, the research designs as well as the understandings of the “qualitative component ” differ noticeably. Realizing such differences at the ontological, epistemological, and methodological level contributes to discussions on how to move forward MMR, embracing differences instead of imposing homogeneity. Keywords epistemology, research paradigms, nested analysis, praxeological knowledge The popularity of mixed methods research (MMR) is expanding (Bryman, 2006b; Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2010) and now also includes research areas that so far have not participated much in discussions on MMR, for example, political science and comparative politics. One result of this development is a growing pluralism in the way researchers conduct and justify MMR, and a variety of MMR typologies have therefore been suggested (e.g., Creswell & Plano Clark, 2008;
Single-Outcome Studies A Methodological Primer IS
"... abstract: Most methodological work on case studies understands this topic as a study of a case where the objective is to discover something about a broader population of cases. Yet, many case studies (so-called) do not assume this nomothetic goal; their aim is to investigate a bounded unit in an att ..."
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abstract: Most methodological work on case studies understands this topic as a study of a case where the objective is to discover something about a broader population of cases. Yet, many case studies (so-called) do not assume this nomothetic goal; their aim is to investigate a bounded unit in an attempt to elucidate a single outcome occurring within that unit. This is referred to as a single-outcome study to distinguish it from the usual genre of case study. In this article, the author discusses the utility of single-outcome studies and the different types of argumentation and causal logic that they embrace. The author proceeds to discuss the methodological components of the single-outcome study, which is understood according to three analytic angles: nested analysis (large-N cross-case analysis), most-similar analysis (small-N cross-case analysis) and within-case analysis (evidence drawn from the case of special interest). The article concludes with a discussion of a common difficulty encountered by single-outcome analysis, that is, reconciling cross-case and within-case evidence, both of which purport to explain the single outcome of interest.
Building a theory of learning in collaboratives: Evidence from the Everglades Restoration Program
- Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory
, 2011
"... Many of society’s most vexing problems must be solved through collaborative arrange-ments. Growing scholarly interest in collaboratives recognizes that the capacity for collective learning may play a critical role in their success. However, limited theoretical or empirical research exists to explain ..."
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Many of society’s most vexing problems must be solved through collaborative arrange-ments. Growing scholarly interest in collaboratives recognizes that the capacity for collective learning may play a critical role in their success. However, limited theoretical or empirical research exists to explain how learning occurs and the conditions that support learning in this context. In this article, we draw upon a wealth of literature, ranging from organization theory, policy process and change, and network analysis, to establish a framework of collective learning to guide inquiry in learning in collaborative governance settings. We apply our learning framework to a study of learning in a collaborative ecosystem restoration program in the Florida Everglades. We use the framework to guide a study of how learning processes and products are linked within a collaborative using a case-based, inductive approach at two levels of analysis—the larger program level and the subcase level of a learning product case. Our multilevel analysis draws upon survey and interview data to examine how the framework helps diagnose the specific types of learning processes and products that emerge in this setting, as well as the factors that influence these learning
