BSSn4495:
Qualitative
research in
security
studies
Case selection and
generalization
April 18, 2024
Miriam Matejova, PhD
Agenda
• Cases and case study
• Generalization
Case
• “A spatially and temporally delimited
phenomenon of theoretical significance”
(Gerring 2017)
• States or state-like entities, organizations,
social groups, events, individuals
• Cases = units, with the added implication that
a case has a temporal boundary
Case study
• “the intensive (qualitative or quantitative)
analysis of a single unit or a small number of
units (the cases), where the researcher’s goal is
to understand a larger class of similar units (a
population of cases)” (Seawright and Gerring
2008)
• “the detailed examination of an aspect of a
historical episode to develop or test historical
explanations that may be generalizable to other
events” (George and Bennett 2005)
Types of
case study
–atheoretical,
–interpretive,
–hypothesis generating,
–theory testing
(confirming or
infirming),
– deviant case studies
Types of generalization
• Broader category of space
• Broader category of time
• Broader category of persons
• Broader category of substantive
phenomena
Specific vs. general knowledge
• SPECIFIC
– What caused the Rwandan civil war?
• Hutu-Tutsi hatred
• Belgian race policies
– Explains a case
• GENERAL
– What causes civil war?
• Ethnic diversity/hatred
• Colonial race policies
– Explains a phenomenon
SPECIFIC
EXPLANATION
GENERAL
EXPLANATION
→ A THEORY OF
CIVIL WAR
Specific to general
– MORE SPECIFIC: A cause of “increased welfare
spending”(E) in the US from 1960 to 2000 is
“whether the government is headed by a Left
Party”(C)
– MORE GENERAL: A cause of “increased welfare
spending”(E) in the advanced industrialized
countries in the post-war period is “whether the
government is headed by a Left Party”(C)
From specific to general, and back again
• Specific cases inspire hunches about general
phenomena
• General hunches tested against specific cases
– A few, or
– Lots
→ BUILDING AND TESTING THEORIES
• Understanding of general phenomenon can help
explain specific cases
Basis for generalization
• Two factors that limit our ability to generalize:
– Conditional effects: Whether C has an effect on E
may depend on a set of “background conditions”
that exist in certain contexts and not others (i.e.,
conjunctural causation)
– Conceptual stretching: Causes and effects may
mean different things in different contexts