Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences

by George, Alexander L.; Bennett, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780262572224
• ISBN10: 0262572222
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-15
• Publisher: The MIT Press

Summary

Winner of the 2006 Giovanni Sartori Book Award, given by the American Political Science Association's Qualitative Methods Section. The use of case studies to build and test theories in political science and the other social sciences has increased in recent years. Many scholars have argued that the social sciences rely too heavily on quantitative research and formal models and thus have attempted to develop and refine rigorous methods for using case studies. This text 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 it 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. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Scienceswill be particularly useful to graduate students and scholars in social science methodology and the philosophy of science, as well as to those designing new research projects, and will contribute greatly to the broader debate about scientific methods.

Author Biography

Alexander L. George was Graham H. Stuart Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Stanford University and the author or coauthor of many books, most recently Presidential Personality and Performance (1998).

Andrew Bennett is Associate Professor of Government at Georgetown University and the author of Condemned to Repetition? The Rise, Fall, and Reprise of Soviet-Russian Military Interventionism, 1973-1996 (MIT Press, 1999).

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Part I Case Studies and Social Science	1	(60)
Chapter 1 Case Studies and Theory Development	3	(34)
Chapter 2 Case Study Methods and Research on the Interdemocratic Peace	37	(24)
A Pedagogical Note to Parts II and III	61	(4)
Part II How to Do Case Studies	65	(60)
Chapter 3 The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison	67	(6)
Chapter 4 Phase One: Designing Case Study Research	73	(16)
Chapter 5 Phase Two: Carrying Out the Case Studies	89	(20)
Chapter 6 Phase Three: Drawing the Implications of Case Findings for Theory	109	(16)
Part III Alternative Methods and Select Issues	125	(162)
Chapter 7 Case Studies and the Philosophy of Science	127	(24)
Chapter 8 Comparative Methods: Controlled Comparison and Within-Case Analysis	151	(30)
Chapter 9 The Congruence Method	181	(24)
Chapter 10 Process-Tracing and Historical Explanation	205	(28)
Chapter 11 Integrating Comparative and Within-Case Analysis: Typological Theory	233	(30)
Chapter 12 Case Studies and Policy-Relevant Theory	263	(24)
Appendix: Studies That Illustrate Research Design	287	(40)
Index	327	(7)
About the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs	334