Although it’s been a while since I last taught Research Methods or Research Design, I am collaborating with my department’s working group on research methods. We are redesigning courses, syllabi and sequences, so I am always keen on reading and keeping up-to-date with methodological advances. Moreover, I’m an editor of a qualitative methods journal, which also forces me to stay on top of the literature.
While I would say that Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett’s book “Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences“, is neither a new book nor an old one (it was published in 2004), it is definitely a classic and a must-read. Moreover, I’m a comparativist, and someone who undertakes systematic case study comparisons, so George and Bennett’s book is definitely my go-to when I want to revise my research strategy.
For #BookLoversDay I will continue tweeting reading notes of books I like so here are my notes on Alexander George and @IRgetsreal (Andrew Bennett)’s Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. I have ALL my doctoral students read CSTDSS because it’s amazing. pic.twitter.com/tVmc01jCCi
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 9, 2018
Pedagogically, it will help students understand the rigour of case studies/process tracing. For researchers worldwide, it also helps understand the logic behind comparative case studies, process tracing and historical analysis.
Chapters 3 through 6 teach students how to carry out case studies using structured, focused comparison. Chapter 7 explains the implications of SFC for theory development and how causal mechanisms can be traced. This is the foundation of process tracing. pic.twitter.com/091KfO79Mm
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 9, 2018
As a comparativist, I swoon whenever I see clear, cogent, articulate explanations of how to do controlled comparison and within-case analysis. Obviously Alexander George and @IRgetsreal point is back to Collier and some of the foundational texts on comparative methods. pic.twitter.com/cyVbll9md6
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 9, 2018
Chapter 9 on the congruence method (theory-driven search for causal explanations) and Chapter 10 on historical explanations and process tracing are two of the best and most concise summaries of these methods. One could complement with Mahoney and Rueschmeyer on CHA. pic.twitter.com/tkZJafHPja
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 9, 2018
Overall, an outstanding volume that should be required reading in every research methods, research design and qualitative methods class. </thread>
— Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) August 9, 2018
Overall, I always recommend that my students and colleagues read this book if they want to go beyond Yin 1984 (the classic case study book). This is a systematically-designed, well-articulated, cogently-written volume that has both pedagogical value and analytical rigour.
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