This course introduces research methods in the social sciences. The purpose of the course is to teach the theory behind and application of research methods. We will start with broad questions about fundamental principles that undergird any approaches to social inquiries, the basic research process and the measurement of rigor, and then proceed to the discussion of specific techniques in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies, such as case study, content analysis, survey research, and statistical analysis. As part of the course, students will learn how analytical tools and software assist data analysis. Students are expected to improve research capacities in analytical thinking, devising research questions, searching and reviewing literature, formulating hypotheses, selecting and performing appropriate tests, interpreting results, and drafting research proposals.
This book covers logical positivism; the problems of induction and confirmation; Karl Popper's theory of science; Thomas Kuhn and "scientific revolutions"; the views of Imre Lakatos, Larry Laudan, and Paul Feyerabend; and challenges to the field from sociology of science, feminism, and science studies. It then looks in more detail at some specific problems and theories, including scientific realism, the theory-ladeness of observation, scientific explanation, and Bayesianism. Finally, Godfrey-Smith defends a form of philosophical naturalism as the best way to solve the main problems in the field. He points out connections between philosophical debates and wider discussions about science in recent decades, such as the infamous "science wars."
This book provides an introduction to the topics and concerns of much of the exciting new research in the philosophy of the social sciences. To follow the text, it will help those new to the field to recognize a three-way distinction that philosophers make all the time, between ontology, epistemology, and methodology. Ontology is the study of what there is and of what ‘what there is’ is like. Epistemology is the study of what knowledge is and how we come to have it. Methodology is the study of methods. The new directions in the philosophy of the social sciences are also reflected in the topics taken up in this book.
This second edition provides an introduction to social science methodology relevant to the disciplines of anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. This book is organized into 4 parts. Part 1 introduces elements of the social science enterprise that are general in purview. Part 2 focuses on description, that is, on empirical propositions that answer what, how, when, whom or in what manner questions. Part 3 focuses on causation, that is, on empirical arguments that answer why questions. Part 4 concludes the book by discussing the problem of unity and diversity, as well as the setting of standards.
The purpose of this book is to represent the conception of scientific progress, the means by which scientific beliefs are produced, the scientific realism that says that science aims at truth and employs methods that achieve that aim, and the distinction between context of discovery and context of justification. The main idea of this book is that the pattern of scientific change exists in this way- normal science, crisis, extraordinary science, new phase of normal science. Normal science is built on and built by paradigms, which are exemplary instances of puzzle-solving in that discipline that provides a context and a model for future puzzle-solving. Extraordinary science is revolutionary.
This book explores what political science is and how political scientists should aspire to do their work. Part One explores the problem-method divide, and includes essays that describe the rift, reconceptualize it, and illustrate pathologies of both problem- and method-driven work. Part Two explores rational choice theory and attempts to defend it against attacks and reformulate it in response to those attacks. Part Three explores the possibilities for methodological pluralism, asking whether such a pluralism is possible or even advisable, what such a pluralism might look like, and the changes that pluralism would necessitate in the way scholars approach their own work.
This book demonstrates that qualitative and quantitative methods constitute different cultures, each internally coherent yet marked by contrasting norms, practices, and toolkits. They identify and discuss major differences between these two traditions that touch nearly every aspect of social science research, including design, goals, causal effects and models, concepts and measurement, data analysis, and case selection. Although focused on the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, Goertz and Mahoney also seek to promote toleration, exchange, and learning by enabling scholars to think beyond their own culture and see an alternative scientific worldview.
By employing rational-choice and game theory, the authors propose a way of extracting empirically testable, general hypotheses from particular cases. In their jointly written introduction, the authors frame their approach to the origins and evolution of political institutions. The individual essays that follow demonstrate the concept of the analytic narrative--a rational-choice approach to explain political outcomes--in case studies. In the process, these studies highlight the economic role of political organizations, the rise and deterioration of political communities, and the role of coercion, especially warfare, in political life. The results are both empirically relevant and theoretically sophisticated.
The Handbook provides comprehensive overviews of diverse methodological approaches, with an emphasis on three major themes. First, specific methodological tools should be at the service of improved conceptualization, comprehension of meaning, measurement, and data collection. They should increase analysts' leverage in reasoning about causal relationships and evaluating them empirically by contributing to powerful research designs. Second, the authors explore the many different ways of addressing these tasks: through case-studies and large-n designs, with both quantitative and qualitative data, and via techniques ranging from statistical modelling to process tracing. Finally, techniques can cut across traditional methodological boundaries and can be useful for many different kinds of researchers.
This book systematically investigates the past accomplishments and future agendas of contemporary comparative-historical analysis. Part One explores the extent of knowledge accumulation that has taken place across three substantive topics that have been a focus of much comparative historical research: social provision, revolutions, and democracy and authoritarianism. Part Two explores analytic tools that are of particular importance in comparative historical research. Part Three reflects on the choices that comparative historical analysts must make in their research, including choices about the use of a particular strategy of causal assessment or a specific theoretical framework.
By illuminating the conflict-resolving mechanisms inherent in the relationships between democracies, Bruce Russett explains one of the most promising developments of the modern international system: the striking fact that the democracies that it comprises have almost never fought each other. He argues that foreign policy for the post-Cold War world should be carried out collaboratively by all the rich nations and should rely heavily on international institutions, that democracy in many states may not prove stable and should be consolidated, and that the peace-promoting effect of shared democratic institutions is reinforced by economic interdependence.
This book presents a comprehensive analysis of research methods using case studies and examines the place of case studies in social science methodology. It argues that case studies, statistical methods, and formal models are complementary rather than competitive. The book explains how to design case study research that will produce results useful to policymakers and emphasizes the importance of developing policy-relevant theories. It offers three major contributions to case study methodology- an emphasis on the importance of within-case analysis, a detailed discussion of process tracing, and development of the concept of typological theories.
This book provides a logico-empirical study of the conditions under which political systems change or are transformed from one type to another, and a tightly-woven explanation of the conditions under which cultures that do not tolerate political opposition may be transformed into societies that do. The focus is upon the conditions under which Dahl designates as closed hegemonies, inclusive hegemonies, or competitive oligarchies are likely to develop into polyarchies, or intermediate variations thereof. Everything Dahl says can be applied in a fascinating way to the governing of any human enterprise involving more than one person—whether it is a nation-state, a political party, a business firm, or a university.
This book represents a collection of empirically-grounded theoretical discussions of a range of methodological techniques for the study of identities. It concerns the conceptual and methodological challenges associated with treating identity as a variable, offers a synthetic theoretical framework, and demonstrates the possibilities offered by various methods of measurement. Part One considers identity definition, conceptualization, and measurement alternatives. Part Two applying various measurement methods to definition of identity concentrates on surveys. Part Three uses content analysis to measure identity. Part Four illustrates how discourse analysis and ethnography can illuminate the measurement of identity. Part Five explores the possibility of employing the experimental method to study and measure social identities.
This book provides a broad and sophisticated view of the metaphysics of the causal relation. Special attention is given to counterfactual and related analyses of causation. Using a methodological principle based on the close examination of potential counterexamples, Paul and Hall clarify the central themes of the debate about causation, and cover questions about causation involving omissions or absences, preemption and other species of redundant causation, and the possibility that causation is not transitive. Along the way, Paul and Hall examine several contemporary proposals for analyzing the nature of causation and assess their merits and overall methodological cogency.
In addition to econometric essentials- linear regression for statistical control, instrumental variables methods for the analysis of natural experiments, and differences-in-differences methods that exploit policy changes, this book covers important new extensions- regression-discontinuity designs and quantile regression- as well as how to get standard errors right. Joshua Angrist and Jörn-Steffen Pischke explain why fancier econometric techniques are typically unnecessary and even dangerous. After two introductory chapters, the book presents core material on regression, instrumental variables, and differences-in-differences, as well as extensions from the core material. A glossary of acronyms and abbreviations and an index to empirical examples can be found at the back.
This book develops a unified approach to qualitative and quantitative research in political science, showing how the same logic of inference underlies both. Issues discussed are related to framing research questions, measuring the accuracy of data and the uncertainty of empirical inferences, discovering causal effects, and getting the most out of qualitative research. It addresses topics such as interpretation and inference, comparative case studies, constructing causal theories, dependent and explanatory variables, the limits of random selection, selection bias, and errors in measurement. The book only uses mathematical notation to clarify concepts, and assumes no prior knowledge of mathematics or statistics.
This book seeks to redirect ongoing discussions of methodology in political and social science. The original debate with King, Keohane, and Verba now updated remains central to this second edition. With innovative new chapters on process tracing, regression analysis, the new material illuminates evolving discussions of essential methodological tools. Thus, process tracing is often invoked as fundamental to qualitative analysis, but is rarely applied with precision. Pitfalls of regression analysis are sometimes noted, but often are inadequately examined. And the complex assumptions and trade-offs of natural experiments are poorly understood.
This book argues that the method known as process tracing is particularly well suited to developing and assessing theories about such mechanisms. The editors begin by establishing a philosophical basis for process tracing- one that captures mainstream uses while simultaneously being open to applications by interpretive scholars. Equally important, they go on to establish best practices for individual process-tracing accounts- how micro to go, when to start (and stop), and how to deal with the problem of equifinality. The contributors then explore the application of process tracing across a range of subfields and theories in political science.
This book examines the advances and distinctive contributions that CHA has made to theory generation and the explanation of large-scale outcomes that newer approaches often regard as empirically intractable. An introductory essay locates the sources of CHA's enduring influence in core characteristics that distinguish this approach, such as its attention to process and its commitment to empirically grounded, deep case-based research. Subsequent chapters explore broad research programs inspired by CHA work, new analytic tools for studying temporal processes and institutional dynamics, and recent methodological tools for analyzing sequences and for combining CHA work with other approaches.
This book is a collection of 15 essays by Clifford Geertz published between 1957 and the mid-1960s. In these essays, Geertz clarified the object of cultural study- not hidden subjectivities or whole ways of life but publicly available symbols. Other issues dealt with in these essays include the incompleteness of human nature without culture to organize action and experience, different conceptions of the continuity of human personality in different cultures, the resurgence of ethnic particularisms in the new nations, and the problem of when and why ritual practices break down or fail, etc.
This book, a study of American public opinion, discusses rural political consciousness and the resentment of the "liberal elite." Using Scott Walker and Wisconsin's prominent and protracted debate about the appropriate role of government, Cramer illuminates the contours of rural consciousness, showing how place-based identities profoundly influence how people understand politics, regardless of whether urban politicians and their supporters really do shortchange or look down on those living in the country. The book shows that rural resentment- no less than partisanship, race, or class- plays a major role in dividing America against itself.
This book is a comprehensive guide to the discovery, analysis, and evaluation of natural experiments- an increasingly popular methodology in the social sciences. Thad Dunning provides an introduction to key issues in causal inference, including model specification, and emphasizes the importance of strong research design over complex statistical analysis. Surveying many examples of standard natural experiments, regression-discontinuity designs, and instrumental-variables designs, Dunning highlights both the strengths and potential weaknesses of these methods, aiding researchers in better harnessing the promise of natural experiments while avoiding the pitfalls. Dunning also demonstrates the contribution of qualitative methods to natural experiments and proposes new ways to integrate qualitative and quantitative techniques.
Reflecting the rising popularity of research that combines qualitative and quantitative social science, this book provides a systematic guide to designing multi-method research. It argues that methods can be productively combined using the framework of integrative multi-method research, with one method used to carry out a final causal inference, and methods from other traditions used to test the key assumptions involved in that causal inference. In making this argument, Jason Seawright considers a wide range of statistical tools including regression, matching, and natural experiments. The book also discusses qualitative tools including process tracing, the use of causal process observations, and comparative case study research.
Using field-tested strategies, this book assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Using positive reinforcement, the book encourages readers to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs.
Originally published in 1988, this book critically analyzes the various styles and narrative conventions associated with written representations of culture. This is a book about the deskwork of fieldwork and the various ways culture is put forth in print. The core of the work is an extended discussion and illustration of three forms or genres of cultural representation- realist tales, confessional tales, and impressionist tales. The novel issues raised concern authorial voice, style, truth, objectivity, and point-of-view. In this second edition, Van Maanen's substantial new Epilogue charts and illuminates changes in the field since the book's first publication.
Using examples of great and gruesome modern prose, complemented by lists, cartoons, charts on diagramming sentences, while avoiding the scolding tone and Spartan tastes of the classic manuals, Pinker shows how the art of writing can be a form of pleasurable mastery and a fascinating intellectual topic in its own right. The book focuses on nonfiction, particularly genres that put a premium on clarity and coherence but the explanations should be useful to fiction writers as well, because many principles of style apply whether the world being written about is real or imaginary.
This book critically examines the methodological approach that dominates modern political science. Clarke and Primo argue that the field’s emphasis on model testing cannot be logically justified, that models should be seen as "objects" and thus regarded as neither true nor false, and that models should instead be evaluated for their usefulness for a particular purpose. Part One observes that current practice is not philosophy-free and rests on a number of questionable assumptions. Part Two focuses on the different ways that theoretical and statistical models can be useful, and closes with a defensible justification for integrating theoretical and statistical models.
This book reconsiders the design and execution of field research in the field of political science. First, it offers an empirical overview of fieldwork in the discipline based on a large-scale survey and extensive interviews. Good fieldwork takes diverse forms yet follows a set of common practices and principles. Second, the book demonstrates the analytic benefits of fieldwork, showing how it contributes to our understanding of politics. Finally, it provides intellectual and practical guidance, with chapters on preparing for field research, operating in the field and making analytic progress while collecting data, and on data collection techniques including archival research, interviewing, ethnography and participant observation, surveys, and field experiments.
This book was initially written as a methodology textbook for sociology courses, but has been increasingly used in the fields of psychology, public administration, urban studies, education, communications, social sciences, and political science. Part One examines the fundamental characteristics and issues that make science- defined as a method of inquiry by Babbie- different from other ways of knowing things. Part Two deals with the posing of proper scientific questions, the structuring of inquiry. Part Three presents various observational techniques available to social scientists. Part Four discusses the analysis of social research data and examines the steps that separate observation from the final reporting of findings.
This sixth edition provides a complete portal to the world of case study research. It consists of 6 chapters. Chapter 1 discusses how to know whether and when to use the case study as a research method. Chapter 2 focuses on identifying your cases and establishing the logic of your case study. Chapter 3 discusses what you need to do before starting to collect case study data. Chapter 4 discusses the principles you should follow in working with six sources of evidence. Chapter 5 discusses how to start your analysis, your analytic choices, and how they work. Chapter 6 focuses on how and what to compose when reporting case studies.
This book introduces ways of analyzing meaningful matter, texts, images, and voices. It is organized into 3 parts. Part 1 introduces the history of content analysis, discusses the definition of content analysis, and presents the ways in which content analysis has been applied. Part 2 outlines the procedures used in content analysis, beginning with their procedural logic and moving naturally from unitizing, sampling, recording/coding in terms of formal data languages and analytical constructs. Part 3 traces several paths through content analysis protocols, including analytical constructs, the use of computers and computational techniques, and the two principal criteria used in evaluating content analyses: reliability and validity.
This fourth edition presents the tools and concepts used in multivariate data analysis. It surveys the basic principles and emphasizes both exploratory and inferential statistics. It consists of 22 chapters divided in to 4 parts. All chapters include practical exercises that highlight applications in different multivariate data analysis fields: in quantitative financial studies, where the joint dynamics of assets are observed; in medicine, where recorded observations of subjects in different locations form the basis for reliable diagnoses and medication; and in quantitative marketing, where consumers’ preferences are collected in order to construct models of consumer behavior.
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