Books in the Strategies for Social Inquiry series

A fresh programmatic statement about comparative-historical analysis, situating it within current broad debates in political science. Contributions include new theoretical and conceptual advances in the study of path dependence, critical junctures and institutional dynamics, and methodological tools for analyzing sequences and combining CHA with other approaches.

A wide-ranging discussion of factors that impede the cumulation of knowledge in the social sciences, including problems of transparency, replication, and reliability. Rather than focusing on individual studies or methods, this book examines how collective institutions and practices have (often unintended) impacts on the production of knowledge.

Reflecting the rising popularity of research that combines qualitative and quantitative social science, this book provides the first systematic guide to designing multi-method research. It considers a wide range of statistical and qualitative tools, and develops over a dozen multi-method designs to test key assumptions about social science causation.

There are a growing number of scholars who study politics by conducting rich empirical case studies. This book highlights process tracing - a method that plays a central role in organizing and measuring these empirics. Drawing upon numerous examples, it provides grounded, practical advice on conducting process tracing well.

This path-breaking book reconceptualizes field research in political science, explaining the practices that scholars employ and the principles that guide their work. It will equip students and researchers with the concepts and techniques they need to succeed in the field.

This ambitious book reveals how formal models are constructed in economics. Ranging across economics, philosophy, and social science methods, and drawing on examples, including the recent financial crisis, Behind the Model will be of interest to anyone who has wondered how economics works - and why it sometimes fails.

This book introduces 'pathway analysis', a systematic technique for case selection for small-N research and a means to relate small and large-N research to each other. This approach will be invaluable for researchers and graduate students using mixed-methods research to study causal mechanisms.

Thoroughly updated throughout, the new edition of this leading textbook provides an understanding of the case study method and specific tools for its successful implementation. It is an essential resource for a range of postgraduate courses in fields including political science, sociology, business, communications, education, anthropology and medicine.

A fresh programmatic statement about comparative-historical analysis, situating it within current broad debates in political science. Contributions include new theoretical and conceptual advances in the study of path dependence, critical junctures and institutional dynamics, and methodological tools for analyzing sequences and combining CHA with other approaches.

Democratization and Research Methods summarizes what researchers know about why countries become and remain democracies, and why they often do not. It also evaluates the various methods social scientists use to answer such questions. Michael Coppedge draws lessons that can be applied to any political phenomenon that is studied comparatively.

This book provides scholars and students with the first comprehensive guide to the use and evaluation of natural experiments - an increasingly popular methodology in the social sciences. It introduces the key issues in causal inference, including model specification, and emphasizes the importance of strong research design over complex statistical analysis.

An alternative approach to the two orthodoxies that dominate the study of comparative politics: detailed case studies and quantitative analysis. The Art and Craft of Comparison provides practical rules of thumb, and many examples, to help readers understand how they might compare even the most unlikely contexts.

There are a growing number of scholars who study politics by conducting rich empirical case studies. This book highlights process tracing - a method that plays a central role in organizing and measuring these empirics. Drawing upon numerous examples, it provides grounded, practical advice on conducting process tracing well.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the search for set relations. In virtually all social science fields, statements about social phenomena can be framed in terms of set relations, and using set-theoretic methods to investigate these statements is therefore highly valuable. This book guides readers through the basic principles of set theory and then on to the applied practices of QCA. It provides a thorough understanding of basic and advanced issues in set-theoretic methods together with tricks of the trade, software handling and exercises. Most arguments are introduced using examples from existing research. The use of QCA is increasing rapidly and the application of set-theory is both fruitful and still widely misunderstood in current empirical comparative social research. This book provides the comprehensive guide to these methods for researchers across the social sciences.

Gerring's exceptional textbook has been thoroughly revised in this second edition. It offers a one-volume introduction to social science methodology, relevant to disciplines across the social sciences. It covers both qualitative and quantitative methods and synthesizes the diverse field of methodology in a way that is clear, concise and comprehensive.