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Case Study Research
Principles and Practices
Case Study Research: Principles and Practices aims to provide a general
understanding of the case study method as well as specific tools for
its successful implementation. These tools can be utilized in all fields
where the case study method is prominent, including anthropology,
business, communications, economics, education, medicine, political
science, social work, and sociology. Topics covered include the definition
of a case study, the strengths and weaknesses of this distinctive
method, strategies for choosing cases, an experimental template for
understanding research design, and the role of singular observations in
case study research. It is argued that a diversity of approaches – experimental,
observational, qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic – may be
successfully integrated into case study research. This book breaks down
traditional boundaries between qualitative and quantitative, experimental
and nonexperimental, positivist and interpretivist.
John Gerring is currently associate professor of political science at
Boston University. His books include Party Ideologies in America,
1828–1996 (1998) and Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework
(2001).
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Case Study Research
Principles and Practices
JOHN GERRING
Boston University
iii
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
First published in print format
ISBN-13 978-0-521-85928-8
ISBN-13 978-0-521-67656-4
ISBN-13 978-0-511-26876-2
© John Gerring 2007
2006
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521859288
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
ISBN-10 0-511-26876-9
ISBN-10 0-521-85928-X
ISBN-10 0-521-67656-8
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
hardback
paperback
paperback
eBook (EBL)
eBook (EBL)
hardback
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For Liz, Kirk, Nicole, and Anthony,
who are hereby exempted from the usual familial obligation
to pretend to have read Uncle John’s latest book.
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Historical knowledge and generalization (i.e., classificatory and
nomothetic) knowledge . . . differ merely in the relative emphasis
they put upon the one or the other of the two essential and complementary
directions of scientific research: in both cases we find
a movement from concrete reality to abstract concepts and from
abstract concepts back to concrete reality – a ceaseless pulsation
which keeps science alive and forging ahead.
– Florian Znaniecki (1934: 25)
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Contents
Acknowledgments page ix
1. The Conundrum of the Case Study 1
part i: thinking about case studies 15
2. What Is a Case Study? The Problem of Definition 17
3. What Is a Case Study Good For? Case Study versus
Large-N Cross-Case Analysis 37
part ii: doing case studies 65
4. Preliminaries 68
5. Techniques for Choosing Cases (with Jason Seawright) 86
6. Internal Validity: An Experimental Template (with Rose
McDermott) 151
7. Internal Validity: Process Tracing (with Craig Thomas) 172
Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 187
Glossary 211
References 219
Name Index 257
Subject Index 263
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Acknowledgments
I began thinking seriously about this project while conducting a workshop
on case studies at Bremen University, sponsored by the Transformations
of the State Collaborative Research Center (CRC). I owe special thanks
to my hosts in Bremen: Ingo Rohlfing, Peter Starke, and Dieter Wolf. Subsequently,
the various parts of the project were presented at the Third
Congress of the Working Group on Approaches and Methods in Comparative
Politics, Liege, Belgium; at the annual meetings of the Institute
for Qualitative Research (IQRM), Arizona State University; at the Centro
de Investigaci´on y Docencia Econ´omicas (CIDE); and at the annual
meetings of the American Political Science Association. I am thankful for
comments and suggestions from participants at these gatherings.
The book evolved from a series of projects: articles in the American
Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, and International
Sociology; chapters in the Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics and
the Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology; and papers coauthored
with Rose McDermott, Jason Seawright, and Craig Thomas.1
I am grateful
to these coauthors, and to the publishers of these papers, for permission
to adapt these works for use in the present volume.
For detailed feedback on various drafts, I owe thanks to Andy
Bennett, Tom Burke, Melani Cammett, Kanchan Chandra, Renske
Doorenspleet, Colin Elman, Gary Goertz, Shareen Hertel, Staci Kaiser,
Bernhard Kittel, Ned Lebow, Jack Levy, Evan Lieberman, Jim Mahoney,
Ellen Mastenbroek, Devra Moehler, Howard Reiter, Kirsten Rodine,
1 See Gerring (2004b, 2006, 2007a, 2007b, 2007c); Gerring and McDermott (2005);
Gerring and Thomas (2005); Seawright and Gerring (2005).
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x Acknowledgments
Ingo Rohlfing, Richard Snyder, Peter Starke, Craig Thomas, Lily Tsai,
and David Woodruff. For clarification on various subjects, I am in debt
to Bear Braumoeller, Patrick Johnston, Jason Seawright, Jas Sekhon, and
Peter Spiegler.
This book also owes a large debt to a recent volume on the same subject,
Case Studies and Theory Development by Alexander George and Andrew
Bennett – cited copiously in footnotes on the following pages. I like to
think of these two books as distinct, yet complementary, explorations
of an immensely complex subject. Anyone who, upon finishing this text,
wishes further enlightenment should turn to George and Bennett.
My final acknowledgment is to the generations of scholars who have
written on this subject, whose ideas I appropriate, misrepresent, or warp
beyond recognition. (In academic venues, the first is recognized as a citation,
the second is known as a reinterpretation, and the third is called
original research.) The case study method has a long and largely neglected
history, beginning with Frederic Le Play (1806–1882) in France and the
so-called Chicago School in the United States, including such luminaries as
Herbert Blumer, Ernest W. Burgess, Everett C. Hughes, George Herbert
Mead, Robert Park, Robert Redfield, William I. Thomas, Louis Wirth,
and Florian Znaniecki. Arguably, the case study was the first method of
social science. Depending upon one’s understanding of the method, it may
extend back to the earliest historical accounts or to mythic accounts of
past events.2
Certainly, it was the dominant method of most of the social
science disciplines in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.3
Among
contemporary writers, the work of Donald Campbell, David Collier, and
Harry Eckstein has been particularly influential on my own thinking about
these matters. It is a great pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to
these scholars.
2 Bernard (1928); Jocher (1928: 203).
3 Glimpses of this early history can be found in Brooke (1970); Hamel (1993); and
in various studies conducted by members of the Chicago School (e.g., Bulmer 1984;
Hammersley 1989; Smith and White 1921). A good survey of the concept as it has been
used in twentieth-century sociology can be found in Platt (1992). Dufour and Fortin
(1992) provide an annotated bibliography, focusing mostly on sociology.
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Case Study Research
Principles and Practices
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1
The Conundrum of the Case Study
There are two ways to learn how to build a house. One might study
the construction of many houses – perhaps a large subdivision or even
hundreds of thousands of houses. Or one might study the construction of
a particular house. The first approach is a cross-case method. The second
is a within-case or case study method. While both are concerned with the
same general subject – the building of houses – they follow different paths
to this goal.
The same could be said about social research. Researchers may choose
to observe lots of cases superficially, or a few cases more intensively. (They
may of course do both, as recommended in this book. But there are usually
trade-offs involved in this methodological choice.)
For anthropologists and sociologists, the key unit is often the social
group (family, ethnic group, village, religious group, etc.). For psychologists,
it is usually the individual. For economists, it may be the individual,
the firm, or some larger agglomeration. For political scientists, the topic
is often nation-states, regions, organizations, statutes, or elections.
In all these instances, the case study – of an individual, group, organization
or event – rests implicitly on the existence of a micro-macro link in
social behavior.1
It is a form of cross-level inference. Sometimes, in-depth
knowledge of an individual example is more helpful than fleeting knowledge
about a larger number of examples. We gain better understanding
of the whole by focusing on a key part.
1 Alexander et al. (1987).
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2 Case Study Research
Two centuries after Frederic Le Play’s pioneering work, the various
disciplines of the social sciences continue to produce a vast number of
case studies, many of which have entered the pantheon of classic works.
The case study research design occupies a central position in anthropology,
archaeology, business, education, history, medicine, political science,
psychology, social work, and sociology.2
Even in economics and political
economy, fields not usually noted for their receptiveness to case-based
work, there has been something of a renaissance. Recent studies of economic
growth have turned to case studies of unusual countries such as
Botswana, Korea, and Mauritius.3
Debates on the relationship between
trade policy and growth have likewise combined cross-national regression
evidence with in-depth (quantitative and qualitative) case analysis.4
Work
on ethnic politics and ethnic conflict has exploited within-country variation
or small-N cross-country comparisons.5
By the standard of praxis,
2 For examples, surveys of the case study method in various disciplines and subfields,
see: anthropology/archeaology (Bernhard 2001; Steadman 2002); business, marketing,
organizational behavior, public administration (Bailey 1992; Benbasat, Goldstein, and
Mead 1987; Bock 1962; Bonoma 1985; Jensen and Rodgers 2001); city and state politics
(Nicholson-Crotty and Meier 2002); comparative politics (Collier 1993; George and
Bennett 2005: Appendix; Hull 1999; Nissen 1998); education (Campoy 2004; Merriam
1988); international political economy (Odell 2004; Lawrence, Devereaux, and Watkins
2005); international relations (George and Bennett 2005: Appendix; Maoz 2002; Maoz
et al. 2004; Russett 1970); medicine, public health (Jenicek 2001; Keen and Packwood
1995; Mays and Pope 1995; “Case Records from the Massachusetts General Hospital,”
a regular feature in the New England Journal of Medicine; Vandenbroucke 2001); psychology
(Brown and Lloyd 2001; Corsini 2004; Davidson and Costello 1969; Franklin,
Allison, and Gorman 1997; Hersen and Barlow 1976; Kaarbo and Beasley 1999; Kennedy
2005; Robinson 2001); social work (Lecroy 1998). For cross-disciplinary samplers, see
Hamel (1993) and Yin (2004). For general discussion of the methodological properties of
the case study (focused mostly on political science and sociology), see Brady and Collier
(2004); Burawoy (1998); Campbell (1975/1988); Eckstein (1975); Feagin, Orum, and
Sjoberg (1991); George (1979); George and Bennett (2005); Gomm, Hammersley, and
Foster (2000); Lijphart (1975); McKeown (1999); Platt (1992); Ragin (1987, 1997); Ragin
and Becker (1992); Stake (1995); Stoecker (1991); Van Evera (1997); Yin (1994); and the
symposia in Comparative Social Research 16 (1997). An annotated bibliography of works
(primarily in sociology) can be found in Dufour and Fortin (1992).
3 Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2003); Chernoff and Warner (2002); Rodrik (2003).
See also studies focused on particular firms or regions, e.g., Coase (1959, 2000) and
Libecap (1989).
4 Srinivasan and Bhagwati (1999); Stiglitz (2002, 2005); Vreeland (2003).
5 Abadie and Gardeazabal (2003); Chandra (2004); Miguel (2004); Posner (2004). For
additional examples of case-based work in political economy, see Abadie and Gardeazabal
(2003); Alston (2005); Bates et al. (1998); Bevan, Collier, and Gunning (1999); Chang and
Golden (in process); Fisman (2001); Huber (1996); Piore (1979); Rodrik (2003); Udry
(2003); and Vreeland (2003).
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 3
therefore, it would appear that the method of the case study is solidly
ensconced, perhaps even thriving. Arguably, we are witnessing a movement
in the social sciences away from a variable-centered approach to
causality and toward a case-based approach.6
Contributing to this movement is a heightened skepticism toward
cross-case econometrics.7
It no longer seems self-evident that nonexperimental
data drawn from nation-states, cities, social movements, civil
conflicts, or other complex phenomena should be treated in standard
regression formats. The complaints are myriad, and oft-reviewed.8
They
include: (a) the problem of arriving at an adequate specification of a
causal model, given a plethora of plausible models, and the associated
problem of modeling interactions among these covariates;9
(b) identification
problems (which cannot always be corrected by instrumental variable
techniques);10
(c) the problem of “extreme” counterfactuals (i.e., extrapolating
or interpolating results from a general model where the extrapolations
extend beyond the observable data points);11
(d) problems posed
by influential cases;12
(e) the arbitrariness of standard significance tests;13
(f) the misleading precision of point estimates in the context of “curvefitting”
models;14
(g) the problem of finding an appropriate estimator and
6 This classic distinction has a long lineage. See, e.g., Abbott (1990); Abell (1987); Bendix
(1963); Meehl (1954); Przeworski and Teune (1970: 8–9); Ragin (1987; 2004: 124); and
Znaniecki (1934: 250–1).
7 Of the cross-country growth regression, a standard technique in economics and political
science, a recent authoritative review notes: “The weight borne by such studies is remarkable,
particularly since so many economists profess to distrust them. The cross-sectional
(or panel) assumption that the same model and parameter set applies to Austria and
Angola is heroic; so too is the neglect of dynamics and path dependency implicit in the
view that the data reflect stable steady-state relationships. There are huge cross-country
differences in the measurement of many of the variables used. Obviously important
idiosyncratic factors are ignored, and there is no indication of how long it takes for the
cross-sectional relationship to be achieved. Nonetheless the attraction of simple generalizations
has seduced most of the profession into taking their results seriously” (Winters,
McCullock, and McKay 2004: 78).
8 For general discussion of the following points, see Achen (1986); Ebbinghaus (2005);
Freedman (1991); Kittel (1999, 2005); Kittel and Winner (2005); Manski (1993);
Winship and Morgan (1999); and Winship and Sobel (2004).
9 Achen (2002, 2005); Leamer (1983); Sala-i-Martin (1997).
10 Bartels (1991); Bound, Jaeger, and Baker (1995); Diprete and Gangl (2004); Manski
(1993); Morgan (2002a, 2002b); Reiss (2003); Rodrik (2005); Staiger and Stock
(1997).
11 King and Zeng (2004a, 2004b).
12 Bollen and Jackman (1985).
13 Gill (1999).
14 Chatfield (1995).
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4 Case Study Research
modeling temporal autocorrelation in pooled time-series datasets;15
(h)
the difficulty of identifying causal mechanisms;16
and, last but certainly
not least, (i) the ubiquitous problem of faulty data (measurement error).17
Many of the foregoing difficulties may be understood as the by-product
of causal variables that offer limited variation through time, cases that
are extremely heterogeneous, and “treatments” that are correlated with
many possible confounders.
A second factor militating in favor of case-based analysis is the development
of a series of alternatives to the standard linear/additive model
of cross-case analysis, thus establishing a more variegated set of tools to
capture the complexity of social behavior.18
Charles Ragin and associates
have explored ways of dealing with situations where different combinations
of factors lead to the same set of outcomes, a set of techniques
known as qualitative comparative analysis (QCA).19
Andrew Abbott has
worked out a method that maps causal sequences across cases, known as
optimal sequence matching.20
Bear Braumoeller, Gary Goertz, Jack Levy,
and Harvey Starr have defended the importance of necessary-condition
arguments in the social sciences, and have shown how these arguments
might be analyzed.21
James Fearon, Ned Lebow, Philip Tetlock, and others
have explored the role of counterfactual thought experiments in the
analysis of individual case histories.22
Andrew Bennett, Colin Elman,
and Alexander George have developed typological methods for analyzing
cases.23
David Collier, Jack Goldstone, Peter Hall, James Mahoney,
and Dietrich Rueschemeyer have worked to revitalize the comparative
and comparative-historical methods.24
And scores of researchers have
attacked the problem of how to convert the relevant details of a temporally
constructed narrative into standardized formats so that cases can be
meaningfully compared.25
While not all of these techniques are, strictly
15 Kittel (1999, 2005); Kittel and Winner (2005).
16 George and Bennett (2005).
17 Herrera and Kapur (2005).
18 On this topic, see the landmark volume edited by Brady and Collier (2004).
19 Drass and Ragin (1992); Hicks (1999: 69–73); Hicks et al. (1995); Ragin (1987, 2000);
several chapters by Ragin in Janoski and Hicks (1993); “Symposium: qualitative comparative
analysis (QCA)” (2004).
20 Abbott (2001); Abbott and Forrest (1986); Abbott and Tsay (2000).
21 Braumoeller and Goertz (2000); Goertz (2003); Goertz and Levy (forthcoming); Goertz
and Starr (2003).
22 Fearon (1991); Lebow (2000); Tetlock and Belkin (1996).
23 Elman (2005); George and Bennett (2005: Chapter 11).
24 Collier (1993); Collier and Mahon (1993); Collier and Mahoney (1996); Goldstone
(1997); Hall (2003); Mahoney (1999); Mahoney and Rueschemeyer (2003).
25 Abbott (1992); Abell (1987, 2004); Buthe (2002); Griffin (1993).
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 5
speaking, case study techniques (they sometimes involve a rather large
number of cases), they move us closer to a case-based understanding of
causation insofar as they aim to preserve the texture and detail of individual
cases, features that are often lost in large-N cross-case analyses.
A third factor inclining social scientists toward case-based methods
is the recent marriage of rational-choice tools with single-case analysis,
sometimes referred to as an analytic narrative.26
Whether the technique is
qualitative or quantitative, or some mix of both, scholars equipped with
economic models are turning to case studies in order to test the theoretical
predictions of a general model, to investigate causal mechanisms, and/or
to explain the features of a key case.
Finally, epistemological shifts in recent decades have enhanced the
attractiveness of the case study format. The “positivist” model of explanation,
which informed work in the social sciences through most of the
twentieth century, tended to downplay the importance of causal mechanisms
in the analysis of causal relations. Famously, Milton Friedman
argued that the only criterion for evaluating a model was to be found in
its accurate prediction of outcomes. The verisimilitude of the model, its
accurate depiction of reality, was beside the point.27
In recent years, this
explanatory trope has come under challenge from “realists,” who claim
(among other things) that causal analysis should pay close attention to
causal mechanisms.28
Within political science and sociology, the identification
of a specific mechanism – a causal pathway – has come to be seen
as integral to causal analysis, regardless of whether the model in question
is formal or informal or whether the evidence is qualitative or quanti-
tative.29
Given this newfound (or at least newly self-conscious) interest
in mechanisms, it is hardly surprising that social scientists would turn to
case studies as a mode of causal investigation.
The Paradox
For all the reasons just stated, one might suppose that the case study
holds an honored place among methods currently taught and practiced
26 The term, attributed to Walter W. Stewart by Friedman and Schwartz (1963: xxi), was
later popularized by Bates et al. (1998), and has since been adopted more widely (e.g.,
Rodrik 2003). See also Bueno de Mesquita (2000) and Levy (1990–91).
27 Friedman (1953). See also Hempel (1942) and Popper (1934/1968).
28 Bhaskar (1978); Bunge (1997); Glennan (1992); Harre (1970); Leplin (1984); Little
(1998); Sayer (1992); Tooley (1988).
29 Dessler (1991); Elster (1998); George and Bennett (2005); Hedstrom and Swedberg
(1998); Mahoney (2001); McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly (2001); Tilly (2001).
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6 Case Study Research
in the social sciences. But this is far from evident. Indeed, the case study
research design is viewed by most methodologists with extreme circumspection.
A work that focuses its attention on a single example of a
broader phenomenon is apt to be described as a “mere” case study, and is
often identified with loosely framed and nongeneralizable theories, biased
case selection, informal and undisciplined research designs, weak empirical
leverage (too many variables and too few cases), subjective conclusions,
nonreplicability, and causal determinism.30
To some, the term case
study is an ambiguous designation covering a multitude of “inferential
felonies.”31
Arguably, many of the practitioners of this method are prone to invoking
its name in vain – as an all-purpose excuse, a license to do whatever
a researcher wishes to do with a chosen topic. Zeev Maoz notes,
There is a nearly complete lack of documentation of the approach to data collection,
data management, and data analysis and inference in case study research. In
contrast to other research strategies in political research where authors devote considerable
time and effort to document the technical aspects of their research, one
often gets the impression that the use of case study [sic] absolves the author from
any kind of methodological considerations. Case studies have become in many
cases a synonym for free-form research where everything goes and the author does
not feel compelled to spell out how he or she intends to do the research, why a
specific case or set of cases has been selected, which data are used and which are
omitted, how data are processed and analyzed, and how inferences were derived
from the story presented. Yet, at the end of the story, we often find sweeping
generalizations and “lessons” derived from this case.32
To say that one is conducting a case study sometimes seems to imply
that normal methodological rules do not apply; that one has entered a
different methodological or epistemological (perhaps even ontological)
30 Achen and Snidal (1989); Geddes (1990, 2003); Goldthorpe (1997); King, Keohane, and
Verba (1994); Lieberson (1985: 107–15; 1992; 1994); Lijphart (1971: 683–4); Odell
(2004); Sekhon (2004); Smelser (1973: 45, 57). It should be underlined that these writers,
while critical of the case study format, are not necessarily opposed to case studies per se;
that is to say, they should not be classified as opponents of the case study. More than an
echo of current critiques can be found in earlier papers, e.g., Lazarsfeld and Robinson
(1940) and Sarbin (1943, 1944). In psychology, Kratochwill (1978: 4–5) writes: “Case
study methodology was typically characterized by numerous sources of uncontrolled
variation, inadequate description of independent, dependent variables, was generally
difficult to replicate. While this made case study methodology of little scientific value,
it helped to generate hypotheses for subsequent research. . . .” See also Hersen, Barlow
(1976: Chapter 1) and Meehl (1954).
31 Achen and Snidal (1989: 160).
32 Maoz (2002: 164–5).
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 7
zone. As early as 1934, Willard Waller described the case study approach
as an essentially artistic process.
Men who can produce good case studies, accurate and convincing pictures of
people and institutions, are essentially artists; they may not be learned men, and
sometimes they are not even intelligent men, but they have imagination and know
how to use words to convey truth.33
The product of a good case study is insight, and insight is
the unknown quantity which has eluded students of scientific method. That is
why the really great men of sociology had no “method.” They had a method; it
was the search for insight. They went “by guess and by God,” but they found out
things.34
Decades later, a methods textbook describes case studies as a product of
“the mother wit, common sense and imagination of person doing the case
study. The investigator makes up his procedure as he goes along.”35
The quasi-mystical qualities associated with the case study persist to
this day. In the field of psychology, a gulf separates “scientists” engaged
in cross-case research from “practitioners” engaged in clinical research,
usually focused on individual cases.36
In the fields of political science and
sociology, case study researchers are acknowledged to be on the soft side of
increasingly hard disciplines. And across fields, the persisting case study
orientations of anthropology, education, law, social work, and various
other fields and subfields relegate them to the nonrigorous, nonsystematic,
nonscientific, nonpositivist end of the academic spectrum.
Apparently, the methodological status of the case study is still highly
suspect. Even among its defenders there is confusion over the virtues and
vices of this ambiguous research design. Practitioners continue to ply their
trade but have difficulty articulating what it is they are doing, methodologically
speaking. The case study survives in a curious methodological
limbo.
33 Waller (1934: 296–7).
34 Ibid.
35 Simon (1969: 267), quoted in Platt (1992: 18).
36 Hersen and Barlow (1976: 21) write that in the 1960s, when this split developed, “clinical
procedures were largely judged as unproven, the prevailing naturalistic research was
unacceptable to most scientists concerned with precise definition of variables, cause-effect
relationships. On the other hand, the elegantly designed, scientifically rigorous group
comparison design was seen as impractical, incapable of dealing with the complexities,
idiosyncrasies of individuals by most clinicians.”
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8 Case Study Research
This leads to a paradox: although much of what we know about the
empirical world has been generated by case studies, and case studies continue
to constitute a large proportion of the work generated by the social
science disciplines (as demonstrated in the previous section), the case
study method is generally unappreciated – arguably, because it is poorly
understood.
How can we make sense of the profound disjuncture between the
acknowledged contributions of this genre to the various disciplines of
social science and its maligned status within these disciplines? If case
studies are methodologically flawed, why do they persist? Should they be
rehabilitated, or suppressed? How fruitful is this style of research?
Situating This Book
This book aims to provide a general understanding of the case study as
well as the tools and techniques necessary for its successful implementation.
The subtitle reflects my dual concerns with general principles as well
as with specific practices.
The first section explores some of the complexities embedded in the
topic. Chapter Two provides a definition of the case study and the logical
entailments of this definition. A great deal flows from this definition,
so this is not a chapter that should be passed over quickly. Chapter
Three addresses the methodological strengths and weaknesses of case
study research, as contrasted with cross-case research. Case studies are
useful in some research contexts, but not in all. We need to do better in
identifying these different circumstances.
The second section of the book addresses the practical question of how
one might go about constructing a case study. Chapter Four addresses preliminary
issues. Chapter Five outlines a variety of strategies for choosing
cases. Chapter Six proposes an experimental template for understanding
case study research design. Chapter Seven presents a rather different sort
of approach called process tracing. An epilogue provides a short discussion
of case studies whose purpose is to explain a single outcome, rather
than a class of outcomes. (This is understood as a single-outcome study,
to distinguish it from the garden-variety case study.) A glossary provides
a lexicon of key terms.
A number of differences between the book in your hands and other
books exploring the same general topic should be signaled at the outset.
First, unlike some texts, this one does not intend to provide a comprehensive
review of methodological issues pertaining to social science research.
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 9
My intention, rather, is to hone in on those issues that pertain specifically
to case study research. Issues that apply equally to single-case and crosscase
analysis are ignored, or are treated only in passing.37
Philosophyof-science
issues are almost entirely bypassed, except where they impinge
directly upon case study research.
Second, I focus on the role of case studies in facilitating causal analysis.
This is not intended to denigrate the interpretive case study or the
essentially descriptive task of gathering evidence – for example, through
ethnography, interviews, surveys, or primary and secondary accounts. If
I give these matters short shrift, it is only because they are well covered
by other authors.38
Third, rather than focusing on a single field or subfield of the social sciences,
I take a broad, cross-disciplinary view of the topic. My conviction is
that the methodological issues entailed by the case study method are general,
rather than field-specific. Moreover, by examining basic methodological
issues in widely varying empirical contexts we sometimes gain insights
into these issues that are not apparent from a narrower perspective. Examples
are drawn from all fields of the social sciences, and occasionally from
the natural sciences. To be sure, the discussion betrays a pronounced
tilt toward my own discipline, political science, and toward two subfields
where case studies have been particularly prominent – comparative
politics and international relations. However, the arguments should
be equally applicable to anthropology, business, economics, history, law,
medicine, organizational behavior, public health, social work, and sociology
– indeed, to any field in the social sciences.
The reader should be aware that the examples chosen for discussion in
this book often privilege work that has come to be understood as classic
or paradigmatic – that is, works that have elicited commentary from other
writers. The inclusion of an exemplar should not be taken as an indication
that I endorse the writer’s findings, or even her methodological choices.
37 I have assumed, for example, that the reader is aware of various injunctions such as the
following: (1) One’s use of sources – written, oral, or dataset – should be intelligent,
taking into account possible biases and omissions; (2) whatever procedures the writer
follows (qualitative or quantitative, library work or field research) should be described
in enough detail to be replicable; (3) the author should consider plausible alternatives
to the argument that she presents, those presented by the literature on a topic as well
as those that might suggest themselves to a knowledgeable reader. These standard-issue
topics are covered elsewhere, e.g., in Gerring (2001); King, Keohane, and Verba (1994);
and in numerous handbooks devoted to qualitative or quantitative research.
38 See text citations in Chapter Four as well as the extensive bibliography at the end of this
work.
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10 Case Study Research
It means only that a work serves as “a good example of X.” The point
of the example is thus to illustrate specific methodological issues, not to
portray the state of research in a given field.
Indeed, many of my examples will be familiar to readers of other
methodological texts, where these examples have been chewed over. The
replication of familiar examples should serve to enhance methodological
understanding of difficult points, as recurrence to familiar cases enhances
clarity and consensus in the law. A case-based method rests on an in-depth
knowledge of key cases, through which general points are elucidated and
evaluated. It is altogether fitting, I might add, that a book on the case
study method should assume a case-based heuristic.39
Foregrounding the Arguments
Although this purports to be a textbook on the case study, it is also
inevitably an argument about what the case study should be. All methods
texts have this two-faced quality, even if the writer is not explicit about
her arguments. I wish to be as explicit as possible. What follows, therefore,
is a brief r´esum´e of larger arguments that circulate throughout the
book.
Qualitative and Quantitative
Traditionally, the case study has been associated with qualitative methods
of analysis. Indeed, the notion of a case study is sometimes employed as
a broad rubric covering a host of nonquantitative approaches – ethnographic,
clinical, anecdotal, participant-observation, process-tracing, historical,
textual, field research, and so forth. I argue that this offhand
usage should be understood as a methodological affinity, not a definitional
entailment. To study a single case intensively need not limit an investigator
to qualitative techniques. Granted, large-N cross-case analysis is always
quantitative, since there are (by construction) too many cases to handle in
a qualitative way. Yet case study research may be either quant or qual, or
some combination of both, as emphasized in the following chapter and in
various examples sprinkled throughout the book. Moreover, there is no
reason that case study work cannot accommodate formal mathematical
39 I do not mean to suggest that cases written for teaching purposes (e.g., at the Harvard
Business School [Roberts 2002]), which are entirely descriptive (though they are intended
to allow students to reach specific conclusions), are similar to case studies written for
analytic purposes. This book is focused on the second, not the first.
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 11
models, which may help to elucidate the relevant parameters operative
within a given case.40
Consider that the purpose of a statistical sample is to reveal elements of
a broader population. “The fundamental idea of statistics,” writes Bradley
Efron, “is that useful information can be accrued from individual small
bits of data.”41
In this respect, the function of a sample is no different
from the function of a case study. If the within-case evidence drawn from
a case study can be profitably addressed with quantitative techniques,
these techniques must be assimilated into the case study method. Indeed,
virtually all case studies produced in the social sciences today include some
quantitative and qualitative components, and some of the most famous
case studies – including Middletown and Yankee City and the pioneering
family studies by Frederic Le Play – include a substantial portion of quantitative
analysis.42
The purely narrative case study, one with no numerical
analysis whatsoever, may not even exist. And I am quite sure that there is
no purely quantitative case study, utterly devoid of prose.
Therefore, this book endeavors to speak to audiences who are versed
in qualitative methods, as well as to those who are versed in quantitative
methods. This means finding a common vocabulary that will traverse these
estranged camps, and it means suggesting links across these two methodological
zones, wherever they may exist. This is more easily accomplished
in some situations than in others. I appeal to the reader’s forbearance in
dealing with contexts where our diverse lexicons do not match up neatly
or where qual/quant parallels are suggestive, but not exact.
Experimental and Observational
The virtues of the experimental method have been recognized by virtually
every methodological treatise since the time of Francis Bacon. However,
not much is made of this fact in the social sciences, where the ambit of truly
experimental methods has been quite limited (with the notable exception
of the discipline of psychology). This is beginning to change.43
But the
general assumption remains that because experimental work is impossible
40 See, e.g., Houser and Freeman (2001) and Pahre (2005).
41 Efron (1982: 341), quoted in King (1989: 12).
42 Brooke (1970); Lynd and Lynd (1929/1956); Warner and Lunt (1941).
43 For discussions of the experimental model of social science research, see Achen (1986);
Campbell (1988); Cook and Campbell (1979); Freedman (1991); Green and Gerber
(2001); McDermott (2002); Winship and Morgan (1999); and Winship and Sobel (2004).
The first person to advocate a quasi-experimental approach to case studies (to my knowledge)
was Eckstein (1975). See also Lee (1989).
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12 Case Study Research
in most research settings, the experimental ideal is of little consequence
for practicing anthropologists, economists, political scientists, and sociologists.
The pristine beauty of the true experiment is therefore regarded
as a utopian ideal that can hardly be preserved if the real work of social
science is to proceed.
I believe this dichotomization of research methods into experimental
and observational categories to be a mistake. Not only is the dichotomy
ambiguous, but it serves little purpose. There is no point in drawing a
sharp line between experimental and observational work, since both aim
(or ought to aim) toward the same methodological ideals and both face
the same obstacles in this quest. Indeed, we gain purchase on the tasks of
research design – all research designs – by integrating the criteria employed
in “experimental” work with the criteria applicable to “observational”
work. The virtues of the experimental method extend to all methods, in
varying degrees, and it is these degrees that ought to occupy the attention
of practitioners and methodologists.
I argue that many of the characteristic virtues and flaws of case study
research designs can be understood according to the degree to which
they conform to, or deviate from, the true experiment. The experiment
thus provides a useful template for discussion of methodological issues in
observational research, an ideal type against which to judge the utility of
all research designs. Often, the strongest defense of a case study is that it
is quasi-experimental in nature. This is because the experimental ideal is
often better approximated within a small number of cases that are closely
related to one another, or by a single case observed over time, than by a
large sample of heterogeneous units.
Case Studies and Cross-Case Studies
A final argument concerns the traditional dichotomy between single-case
and cross-case evidence. Often, these modes of analysis are conceptualized
as being in opposition to each other. Work is classified as case study or
large-N cross-case; researchers are lumped into one or the other school;
journals adopt one or the other profile. It is not surprising that a degree of
skepticism – and occasionally, outright hostility – has crept into relations
between these disparate approaches to the empirical world.
However, rather than thinking of these methodological options as
opponents, I suggest that we think of them as complements. Researchers
may do both and, arguably, must engage both styles of evidence. At the
very least, the process of case selection involves a consideration of the
cross-case characteristics of a group of potential cases. Cases chosen for
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The Conundrum of the Case Study 13
case study analysis are identified by their status (extreme, deviant, and so
forth) relative to an assumed population of cases. Thus, while we continue
to categorize studies as predominantly case-oriented or variable-oriented,
it is inappropriate to regard these two approaches as rival enterprises.44
My own experience in these matters is that reflection upon cross-case
patterns, far from being a hindrance to case study research, is, to the
contrary, a helpful tool. It helps one to formulate useful insights, to separate
those that are limited in range from those that might travel to other
regions. And it certainly helps one to select cases and to explain the significance
of those cases (see Chapter Five). The more one knows about the
population, the more one knows about the cases, and vice versa. Hence,
the virtue of cross-level research designs.45
By way of provocation, I shall insist there is no such thing as a case
study, tout court. To conduct a case study implies that one has also conducted
cross-case analysis, or at least thought about a broader set of
cases. Otherwise, it is impossible for an author to answer the defining
question of all case study research: what is this a case of? So framed,
this book should be of interest to scholars in both the “cross-case” and
“case study” camps. Indeed, my hope is that this book will contribute to
breaking down the rather artificial boundaries that have separated these
genres within the social sciences. Properly constituted, there is no reason
that case study results cannot be synthesized with results gained from
cross-case analysis, and vice versa.
44 This distinction is drawn from Ragin (1987; 2004: 124). It is worth noting that Ragin’s
distinctive method (QCA) is also designed to overcome this traditional dichotomy.
45 Achen and Shively (1995); Berg-Schlosser and De Meur (1997); Moaz and Mor (1999);
Wong (2002). For a skeptical view of cross-level research, see Lieberson (1985: 107–15).
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14
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part i
THINKING ABOUT CASE STUDIES
Narrow debates pertaining to specific methods can often be resolved by an
appeal to context (which method is appropriately applied in setting A?),
or by an investigation of the mathematical properties underlying different
statistical methods (e.g., which technique of modeling serial autocorrelation
is consistent with our understanding of a phenomenon and with the
evidence at hand?). Broader methodological debates, however, are always
and necessarily about concepts. How should we define key terms (e.g.,
“case,” “causation,” “process-tracing”)? What is the most useful way to
carve up the lexical terrain?1
It will be seen that these questions of definition are inextricable from
the broader questions of social science methodology. For it is with these
key terms that we make sense of the subject matter. Thus, while the first
part of the book is prefatory to the practical advice offered in Part Two,
it is certainly not incidental. It is impossible to conduct case studies without
also conceptualizing the case study and its place in the toolbox of
social research. In thinking this matter through, a degree of abstraction
is inevitable. I have endeavored to leaven the generalities with specific
examples, wherever possible.
Chapter Two asks what a case study is, and how it might be differentiated
from other styles of research. This chapter is definitional. It deals
with the various meanings that have been attached to, or are implied by,
the case study research design.
1 For discussion of concept formation in the social sciences see Adcock (2005); Collier and
Mahon (1993); Gerring (2001: Chapters 3–4); and Sartori (1984).
15
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16 I. Thinking about Case Studies
Building on this scaffolding, Chapter Three inquires into the strengths
and weaknesses of the case study method, as contrasted with cross-case
methods. Under what conditions is a case study approach most useful,
most revealing, or most suspect?
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2
What Is a Case Study?
The Problem of Definition
The key term of this book is, admittedly, a definitional morass. To refer
to a work as a “case study” might mean: (a) that its method is qualitative,
small-N,1
(b) that the research is holistic, thick (a more or less
comprehensive examination of a phenomenon),2
(c) that it utilizes a
particular type of evidence (e.g., ethnographic, clinical, nonexperimental,
non-survey-based, participant-observation, process-tracing, historical,
textual, or field research),3
(d) that its method of evidence gathering
is naturalistic (a “real-life context”),4
(e) that the topic is diffuse (case
and context are difficult to distinguish),5
(f) that it employs triangulation
(“multiple sources of evidence”),6
(g) that the research investigates the
properties of a single observation,7
or (h) that the research investigates
the properties of a single phenomenon, instance, or example.8
Evidently, researchers have many things in mind when they talk about
case study research. Confusion is compounded by the existence of a
1 Eckstein (1975); George and Bennett (2005); Lijphart (1975); Orum, Feagin, and Sjoberg
(1991: 2); Van Evera (1997: 50); Yin (1994).
2 Goode and Hart (1952: 331; quoted in Mitchell 1983: 191); Queen (1928: 226); Ragin
(1987, 1997); Stoecker (1991: 97); Verschuren (2003).
3 George and Bennett (2005); Hamel (1993); Hammersley and Gomm (2000); Yin (1994).
4 Yin (2003: 13).
5 Yin (1994: 123).
6 Ibid.
7 Campbell and Stanley (1963: 7); Eckstein (1975: 85).
8 This is probably the most common understanding of the term. George and Bennett (2005:
17), for example, define a case as “an instance of a class of events.” (Note that elsewhere
in the same chapter they infer that the analysis of that instance will be small-N, i.e.,
qualitative.) See also Odell (2001: 162) and Thies (2002: 353).
17
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18 I. Thinking about Case Studies
large number of near-synonyms – single unit, single subject, single case,
N=1, case-based, case-control, case history, case method, case record,
case work, within-case, clinical research, and so forth.9
As a result of this
profusion of terms and meanings, proponents and opponents of the case
study marshal a wide range of arguments but do not seem any closer to
agreement than when this debate was first broached several decades ago.
Jennifer Platt notes that “much case study theorizing has been conceptually
confused, because too many different themes have been packed into
the idea ‘case study.’”10
How, then, should the case study be understood? The first six options
enumerated above (a–f) seem inappropriate as general definitions of
the topic, since each implies a substantial shift in meaning relative to
established usage. One cannot substitute case study for qualitative, ethnographic,
process-tracing, holistic, naturalistic, diffuse, or triangulation
without feeling that something has been lost in translation. These terms
are perhaps better understood as describing certain kinds of case studies,
not the topic at large. A seventh option, (g), equates the case study with
the study of a single observation, the N = 1 research design. This is
logically impossible, as I will argue. The eighth option, (h), centering
on phenomenon, instance, or example as the key term, is correct as far
as it goes but also ambiguous. Imagine asking someone, “What is your
instance?” or “What is your phenomenon?” A case study presupposes a
relatively bounded phenomenon, an implication that none of these terms
captures.
Can this concept be reconstructed in a clearer, more productive
fashion? I begin this chapter by stipulating a series of definitions. I then
present a typology of research designs, understood according to the patterns
of spatial and temporal evidence that they draw upon. A final section
addresses a central definitional question, namely, whether case studies
should be understood as exclusively “small-N” analyses.
9 Davidson and Costello (1969); Franklin, Allison, and Gorman (1997); Hersen and
Barlow (1976); Kazdin (1982); Kratochwill (1978).
10 Platt (1992: 48). Elsewhere in this perceptive article, Platt (1992: 37) comments: “the
diversity of the themes which have been associated with the term, and the vagueness of
some of the discussion, causes some difficulty. . . . In practice, ‘case study method’ in its
heyday [in the interwar years] seems to have meant some permutation of the following
components: life history data collected by any means, personal documents, unstructured
interview data of any kind, the close study of one or a small number of cases whether
or not any attempt was made to generalize from them, any attempt at holistic study, and
non-quantitative data analysis. These components have neither a necessary logical nor a
regular empirical connection with each other.”
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What Is a Case Study? 19
Definitions
For purposes of methodological discussion, it is essential to develop a
vocabulary that is consistent and clear. In arriving at definitions for key
terms, I rely on ordinary usage (within the language region of social
science) as much as possible. However, because ordinary usage is often
ambiguous, encompassing a range of meanings for a given term (as we
have seen above for “case”), some concept reconstruction is unavoidable.
At the end of this discussion, I hope it will be clear why this particular way
of defining terms might be useful, at least for methodological purposes.11
Case connotes a spatially delimited phenomenon (a unit) observed at a
single point in time or over some period of time. It comprises the type of
phenomenon that an inference attempts to explain. Thus, in a study that
attempts to elucidate certain features of nation-states, cases are comprised
of nation-states (across some temporal frame); in a study that attempts
to explain the behavior of individuals, cases are comprised of individuals,
and so forth. Each case may provide a single observation or multiple
(within-case) observations.
For students of political science, the archetypal case is the dominant
political unit of our time, the nation-state. However, this is a matter of
convention. The study of smaller social and political units (regions, cities,
villages, communities, social groups, families) or specific institutions
(political parties, interest groups, businesses) is equally common in many
social science disciplines.12
In psychology, medicine, and social work the
notion of a case study is usually linked to clinical research, where individuals
are the preferred units of analysis.13
Whatever one’s chosen unit, the
methodological issues attached to the case study have nothing to do with
the size of the cases. A case may be created out of any phenomenon so long
as it has identifiable boundaries and comprises the primary object of an
inference.
Note that the spatial boundaries of a case are often more apparent
than its temporal boundaries. We know, more or less, where a country
begins and ends, while we may have difficulty explaining when a country
11 In the following analysis, I take a “minimal” approach to definition (Gerring 2001:
Chapter 4; Gerring and Barresi 2003). Scholars embedded in a particular research setting
may choose somewhat different terms and meanings.
12 For discussion of subnational studies in political science, see Snyder (2001).
13 Corsini (2004); Davidson and Costello (1969); Hersen and Barlow (1976); Franklin,
Allison, and Gorman (1997); Robinson (2001). For discussion of the meaning of the
term “case study,” see Benbasat, Goldstein, and Mead (1987: 371); Cunningham (1997);
Merriam (1988); and Verschuren (2003).
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20 I. Thinking about Case Studies
begins and ends. Yet some temporal boundaries must be assumed. This
is particularly important when cases consist of discrete events – crises,
revolutions, legislative acts, and so forth – within a single unit. Occasionally,
the temporal boundaries of a case are more obvious than its spatial
boundaries. This is true when the phenomena under study are eventful but
the unit undergoing the event is amorphous. For example, if one is studying
terrorist attacks it may not be clear how the spatial unit of analysis
should be understood, but the events themselves may be well bounded.
A case study may be understood as the intensive study of a single case
where the purpose of that study is – at least in part – to shed light on a
larger class of cases (a population). Case study research may incorporate
several cases, that is, multiple case studies. However, at a certain point it
will no longer be possible to investigate those cases intensively. At the point
where the emphasis of a study shifts from the individual case to a sample
of cases, we shall say that a study is cross-case. Evidently, the distinction
between case study and cross-case study is a matter of degree. The fewer
cases there are, and the more intensively they are studied, the more a work
merits the appellation “case study.” Even so, this proves to be a useful
distinction, and much follows from it. Indeed, the entire book rests upon
it. All empirical work may be classified as either case study (comprising
one or a few cases) or cross-case study (comprising many cases).
An additional implication of the term “case study” is that the unit(s)
under special focus is not perfectly representative of the population, or is
at least questionable. Unit homogeneity across the sample and the population
is not assured. If, for example, one is studying a single H20 molecule,
it may be reasonable to assume that the behavior of that molecule is identical
to that of all other H20 molecules. Under the circumstances, one
would not refer to such an investigation as a “case study,” regardless of
how intensive the investigation of that single molecule might be. In social
science settings one rarely faces phenomena of such consistency, so this
is not an issue of great practical significance. Nonetheless, intrinsic to the
concept is an element of doubt about the bias that may be contained in a
sample of one or several.
A few additional terms may now be formally defined.
An observation is the most basic element of any empirical endeavor.
Conventionally, the number of observations in an analysis is referred to
with the letter N. (Confusingly, N may also be used to designate the number
of cases in a study, a usage that is usually clear from context.) A single
observation may be understood as containing several dimensions, each
of which may be measured (across disparate observations) as a variable.
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What Is a Case Study? 21
Where the proposition is causal, these may be subdivided into dependent
(Y) and independent (X) variables. The dependent variable refers to
the outcome of an investigation. The independent variable refers to the
explanatory (causal) factor, that which the outcome is supposedly dependent
on.
A case may consist of a single observation (N=1). This would be true,
for example, in a cross-sectional analysis of multiple cases. In a case study,
however, the case under study always provides more than one observation.
These may be constructed diachronically (by observing the case or some
subset of within-case units over time) or synchronically (by observing
within-case variation at a single point in time), as discussed below.
This is a clue to the fact that case studies and cross-case studies usually
operate at different levels of analysis. The case study is typically focused
on within-case variation (if there is a cross-case component, it is probably
secondary in importance to the within-case evidence). The cross-case
study, as the name suggests, is typically focused on cross-case variation (if
there is also within-case variation, it is probably secondary in importance
to the cross-case evidence). They have the same object in view – the explanation
of a population of cases – but they go about this task differently.
A sample consists of whatever cases are subjected to formal analysis;
they are the immediate subject of a study or case study. (Confusingly,
the term “sample” may also refer to the observations under study. But
at present, we treat the sample as consisting of cases.) In a case study,
the sample is small, by definition, consisting of the single case or handful
of cases that the researcher has under her lens. Usually, however, when
one uses the term “sample” one is implying that the number of cases
is large. Thus, “sample-based work” will be understood as referring to
large-N cross-case methods – the opposite of case study work. To reiterate,
the feature distinguishing the case study format from a sample-based (or
“cross-case”) research design is the number of cases falling within the
sample – one or a few versus many – and the corresponding thoroughness
with which each case is studied. Case studies, like large-N samples, seek to
represent, in all ways relevant to the proposition at hand, a population of
cases. A series of case studies might therefore be referred to as a sample if
they are relatively brief and relatively numerous; it is a matter of emphasis
and of degree. The more case studies one has, the less intensively each one
is studied, and the more confident one is in their representativeness (of
some broader population), the more likely one is to describe them as a
sample rather than as a series of case studies. For practical reasons –
unless, that is, a study is extraordinarily long – the case study research
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22 I. Thinking about Case Studies
format is usually limited to a dozen cases or fewer. A single case is not
unusual.
Granted, in some circumstances a single study may combine the two
elements – an intensive case study and a more superficial analysis conducted
on a larger sample. These additional cases are often brought into
the analysis in a peripheral way – typically, in an introductory or concluding
section of the paper or the book. Often, these peripheral cases are
surveyed through a quick reading of the secondary literature or through
a statistical analysis. Sometimes, the status of these informal cases is left
implicit (they are not theorized as part of the formal research design).
This may be warranted in circumstances where the relevant comparison
or contrast between the formal case(s) under intensive study and the
peripheral cases is obvious. Thus, studies of American exceptionalism, in
enumerating features of the American experience, often assume that the
United States is different from European countries in relevant respects.14
In this situation, the additional cases – the UK, France, Germany, and
so on – provide the necessary background for whatever arguments are
being made about America. They are present, in the sense that they carry
an important burden in the analysis, but perhaps they are not formally
accounted for in the author’s research design. For our purposes, what is
significant is that most works combine case study and cross-case study
components, whether or not the latter are explicit. Methodologically,
these approaches are distinct, even though they may be integrated into
a single work. (Indeed, this is a good way of approaching many subjects.)
Continuing with our review of key terms, the sample of cases (large
or small) rests within a population of cases to which a given proposition
refers. The population of an inference is thus equivalent to the breadth
or scope of a proposition. (I use the terms proposition, hypothesis, inference,
and argument interchangeably.) Note that most samples are not
exhaustive; hence the use of the term “sample,” referring to sampling
from a larger population. Occasionally, however, the sample equals the
population of an inference; all potential cases are studied.
For those familiar with the rectangular form of a dataset, it may be helpful
to conceptualize observations as rows, variables as columns, and cases
as either groups of observations or individual observations. Several possibilities
are illustrated in the tables presented here: two cases (Table 2.1),
multiple cross-sectional cases (Table 2.2), and time-series cross-sectional
cases (Table 2.3).
14 Amenta (1991).
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table 2.1. Case study dataset with two cases
X1 X2 Y
Obs 1.1
Obs 1.2
Obs 1.3
Obs 1.4
Obs 1.5
Obs 1.6
Obs 1.7
Obs 1.8
Obs 1.9
Obs 1.10Case 1
Obs 1.11
Obs 1.12
Obs 1.13
Obs 1.14
Obs 1.15
Obs 1.16
Obs 1.17
Obs 1.18
Obs 1.19
Obs 1.20Population Sample
Obs 2.1
Obs 2.2
Obs 2.3
Obs 2.4
Obs 2.5
Obs 2.6
Obs 2.7
Obs 2.8
Obs 2.9
Obs 2.10Case 2
Obs 2.11
Obs 2.12
Obs 2.13
Obs 2.14
Obs 2.15
Obs 2.16
Obs 2.17
Obs 2.18
Obs 2.19
Obs 2.20
Population = 1; Sample = 1; Cases = 2; Observations (N) = 40; Variables = 3.
23
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table 2.2. Cross-case cross-sectional dataset with forty cases
X1 X2 Y
Case 1 Obs 1
Case 2 Obs 2
Case 3 Obs 3
Case 4 Obs 4
Case 5 Obs 5
Case 6 Obs 6
Case 7 Obs 7
Case 8 Obs 8
Case 9 Obs 9
Case 10 Obs 10
Case 11 Obs 11
Case 12 Obs 12
Case 13 Obs 13
Case 14 Obs 14
Case 15 Obs 15
Case 16 Obs 16
Case 17 Obs 17
Case 18 Obs 18
Case 19 Obs 19
Case 20 Obs 20Population Sample
Case 21 Obs 21
Case 22 Obs 22
Case 23 Obs 23
Case 24 Obs 24
Case 25 Obs 25
Case 26 Obs 26
Case 27 Obs 27
Case 28 Obs 28
Case 29 Obs 29
Case 30 Obs 30
Case 31 Obs 31
Case 32 Obs 32
Case 33 Obs 33
Case 34 Obs 34
Case 35 Obs 35
Case 36 Obs 36
Case 37 Obs 37
Case 38 Obs 38
Case 39 Obs 39
Case 40 Obs 40
Population = 1; Sample = 1; Cases = 40; Observations (N) = 40; Variables = 3.
24
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table 2.3. Time-series cross-sectional dataset
X1 X2 Y
Obs 1.1 (T1)
Obs 1.2 (T2)
Case 1 Obs 1.3 (T3)
Obs 1.4 (T4)
Obs 1.5 (T5)
Obs 2.1 (T1)
Obs 2.2 (T2)
Case 2 Obs 2.3 (T3)
Obs 2.4 (T4)
Obs 2.5 (T5)
Obs 3.1 (T1)
Obs 3.2 (T2)
Case 3 Obs 3.3 (T3)
Obs 3.4 (T4)
Obs 3.5 (T5)
Obs 4.1 (T1)
Obs 4.2 (T2)
Case 4 Obs 4.3 (T3)
Obs 4.4 (T4)
Obs 4.5 (T5)Population Sample
Obs 5.1 (T1)
Obs 5.2 (T2)
Case 5 Obs 5.3 (T3)
Obs 5.4 (T4)
Obs 5.5 (T5)
Obs 6.1 (T1)
Obs 6.2 (T2)
Case 6 Obs 6.3 (T3)
Obs 6.4 (T4)
Obs 6.5 (T5)
Obs 7.1 (T1)
Obs 7.2 (T2)
Case 7 Obs 7.3 (T3)
Obs 7.4 (T4)
Obs 7.5 (T5)
Obs 8.1 (T1)
Obs 8.2 (T2)
Case 8 Obs 8.3 (T3)
Obs 8.4 (T4)
Obs 8.5 (T5)
Population = 1; Sample = 1; Cases = 8; Observations (N) = 40; Time (T) = 1–5;
Variables = 3.
25
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26 I. Thinking about Case Studies
It must be appreciated that all these terms are definable only by reference
to a particular proposition and a corresponding research design.
A country may function as a case, an observation, or a population. It all
depends upon what one is arguing. In a typical cross-country time-series
regression analysis, cases are countries and observations are country-
years.15
However, shifts in the level of analysis of a proposition necessarily
change the referential meaning of all terms in the semantic field. If one
moves down one level of analysis, the new population lies within the old
population, the new sample within the old sample, and so forth. Population,
case, and observation are nested within each other. Since most social
science research occurs at several levels of analysis, these terms are generally
in flux. Nonetheless, they have distinct meanings within the context
of a single proposition and its associated research design.
Consider a survey-based analysis of respondents within a single country,
under several scenarios. Under the first scenario, the proposition of
interest pertains to individual-level behavior. It is about how individuals
behave. As such, cases are defined as individuals, and this is properly classified
as a cross-case study. Now, let us suppose that the researcher wishes
to use this same survey-level data drawn from a single country to elucidate
an inference pertaining to countries, rather than to individuals. Under
this scenario, each poll respondent constitutes a within-case observation.
If there is only one country, or a few countries, under investigation –
and the inference, as before, pertains to multiple countries – then this
study is properly classified as a case study. If many countries are under
study (with or without individual-level data), then it is properly classified
as a cross-case study. Again, the key questions are (a) how many cases are
studied and (b) how intensively are they studied – with the understanding
that a “case” embodies the unit of concern in the central inference.
To complicate matters further, the status of a work may change as it is
digested and appropriated by a community of scholars. A meta-analysis
is a systematic attempt to integrate the results of individual studies into a
quantitative analysis, pooling individual cases drawn from each study into
a single dataset (with various weightings and restrictions). The ubiquitous
literature review or case study survey aims at the same objective in a less
synoptic fashion. Both statistical meta-analyses and narrative literature
reviews assimilate a series of studies, treating them as case studies in
some larger project – whether or not this was the intention of the original
authors.16
15 See, e.g., Przeworski et al. (2000).
16 Lipsey and Wilson (2001); Lucas (1974).
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What Is a Case Study? 27
A Typology of Covariational Research Designs
In order to better understand what a case study is, one must comprehend
what it is not. The distinctiveness of the case study may be clarified by
placing it within a broader set of methodological options. Here, I shall
classify research designs according to (a) the number of cases that they
encompass (one, several, or many), (b) the kind of X/Y variation that they
exploit (spatial or temporal), and (c) the location of that variation (crosscase
or within-case). This produces a typology with ten possible cells, as
depicted in Table 2.4.
Variations on the case study format occupy five of these ten cells, designated
by the shaded regions in Table 2.4. Type 2 represents variation in a
single case over time (diachronic analysis). Type 3 represents within-case
variation at a single point in time (synchronic analysis). Type 4 combines
synchronic and diachronic analysis, and is perhaps the most common
approach in case study work. Thus, Robert Putnam’s classic study of
Italy, Making Democracy Work, exploits variation across regions and
over time in order to test the causal role of social capital.17
It is common to combine several cases in a single study. If the cases are
comprised of large territorial units, then this combination may be referred
to as the “comparative” method (if the variation of interest is primarily
synchronic) or the “comparative-historical” method (if the variation of
interest is both synchronic and diachronic).18
It should be pointed out
that these terms are used primarily within the subfield of comparative
politics. Other terms, such as “most-similar” and “most-different,” may
be used as well. Thus, while a case is always singular, a case study work
or research design often refers to a study that includes several cases.
The larger point is that the evidentiary basis upon which case studies
rely is plural, not singular. Indeed, there are five possible styles of
covariational evidence in a case study. Usually, they are intermingled –
different sorts of analysis will be employed at different stages of the analysis
– so that it is often difficult to categorize a study as falling neatly into
a single cell in Table 2.4.
The bottom half of Table 2.4 lays out various cross-case research
designs, where the most important element of the empirical analysis
involves comparisons across many cases (more than a handful). Cross-case
17 Putnam (1993).
18 On the comparative method see Collier (1993); Lijphart (1971, 1975); Przeworski and
Teune (1970); Richter (1969); and Smelser (1976). On the comparative-historical method
see Mahoney and Rueschemeyer (2003). On the history of the comparative method, a
term that harkens back to Bryce (1921), see Lasswell (1931).
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28 I. Thinking about Case Studies
table 2.4. Research designs: A covariational typology
Cases Spatial Variation Temporal Variation
No Yes
None 1. [Logically impossible]
One
Within-case 3.Single-case study
(synchronic)
4. Single-case study
(synchronic + diachronic)
Several
Cross-case &
within-case 5. Comparative method 6. Comparative-historical
Cross-case 7. Cross-sectional 8. Time-series cross-sectional
Many
Note: Shaded cells are case study research designs.
Cross-case&
within-case 9.Hierarchical 10. Hierarchical time-series
2. Single-case study
(diachronic)
analysis without any explicit temporal component (type 7) is usually classified
as cross-sectional, even though a temporal component is simulated
with independent variables that are assumed to precede the dependent
variable. An example was illustrated in Table 2.2. When an explicit temporal
component is included, we often refer to the analysis as time-series
cross-sectional (TSCS) or pooled time-series (type 8). This format was
illustrated in Table 2.3. When one examines across-case and within-case
variation in the same research design, one is said to be employing a hierarchical
model (type 9). Finally, when all forms of covariation are enlisted
in a single research design, the resulting method may be described as a
hierarchical time-series design (type 10).19
It bears repeating that I have listed the methods most commonly identified
with these research designs not with the intention of distinguishing
labels but rather with the intention of illustrating various types of causal
19 It will be noted that, like most case studies, hierarchical models involve a movement across
levels of analysis. However, while a case study moves down from the primary level of
analysis (to within-case cases), a hierarchical model moves up. Thus, if classrooms are
the primary unit of analysis in a study, one might employ a hierarchical model to control
for the effects of larger cases – schools, districts, regions, and so forth. But one would not
employ individual students as cases in such an analysis (not, that is, without changing
the unit of analysis for the entire study).
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What Is a Case Study? 29
evidence. The classification of a research design always depends upon
the particular proposition that a researcher intends to prove. Potentially,
each of the foregoing cross-case methods might also be employed in the
capacity of a case study. (That is, a case study may enlist cross-sectional,
time-series cross-sectional, hierarchical, or hierarchical time-series techniques.)
It all depends upon the proposition in question (i.e., what sort
of phenomena it is about, and hence what sort of phenomena constitutes
“cases”) and on the degree of analytic focus devoted to the individual
cases.
The N Question
Traditionally, the case study has been identified with qualitative methods
and cross-case analysis with quantitative methods. This is how Franklin
Giddings put the matter in his 1924 textbook, in which he contrasted two
fundamentally different procedures:
In the one we follow the distribution of a particular trait, quality, habit or other
phenomenon as far as we can. In the other we ascertain as completely as we
can the number and variety of traits, qualities, habits, or what not, combined in
a particular instance. The first of these procedures has long been known as the
statistical method. . . . The second procedure has almost as long been known as
the case method.20
In the intervening decades, this disjunction has become ever more ensconced:
a contrast between “stats” and “cases,” “quant” and “qual.”
Those who work with numbers are apt to distrust case study methods,
while those who work with narratives are likely to be favorably disposed.
I believe that this distinction is not intrinsic, that is, definitional. What
distinguishes the case study method from all other methods is its reliance
on evidence drawn from a single case and its attempt, at the same time,
to illuminate features of a broader set of cases. It follows from this that
the number of observations (N) employed by a case study may be either
small or large, and consequently may be evaluated in a qualitative or
quantitative fashion.21
20 Giddings (1924: 94). See also Meehl (1954); Rice (1928: Chapter 1); and Stouffer (1941:
349).
21 This section explains and elaborates on a theme first articulated by Lundberg (1941),
followed by Campbell (1975/1988) – itself a revision of Campbell’s earlier perspective
(Campbell and Stanley 1963). Historical ballast for this view may be garnered from
the field of experimental research in psychology, commonly dated to the publication of
Gustav Theodor Fechner’s Elemente der Psychophysik in 1860. In this work, Hersen and
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30 I. Thinking about Case Studies
In order to see why this might be so, let us consider how a case study
of a single event – say, the French Revolution – works. Intuitively, such
a study provides an N of 1 (France). If one were to broaden the analysis
to include a second revolution (e.g., the American Revolution), it would
be common to describe the study as comprising two observations. Yet
this is a gross distortion of what is really going on. The event known as
the French Revolution provides at least two observations, for it will be
observed over time to see what changed and what remained the same.
These patterns of covariation offer essential empirical clues. They also
construct multiple observations from an individual case. So N=2, at the
very least (e.g., before and after a revolution), in a case study of type 2
(in Table 2.4).
If, instead, there is no temporal variation – if, for example, the French
Revolution is examined at a single point in time – then the investigation is
likely to focus on cross-sectional covariational patterns within that case,
a case study of type 3 (in Table 2.4). If the primary unit of analysis is the
nation-state, then within-case cases might be constructed from provinces,
localities, groups, or individuals. The possibilities for within-case analysis
are, in principle, infinite. In their pathbreaking study of the International
Typographers Union, Lipset, Trow, and Coleman note the variety of
within-case evidence, which included union locals, union shops (within
each local), and individual members of the union.22
It is not hard to
see why within-case N often swamps cross-case N. This is bound to be
true wherever individuals comprise within-case observations. A single
national survey will produce a much larger sample than any conceivable
cross-country analysis. Thus, in many circumstances case studies of
type 3 comprise a larger N than cross-sectional analyses or time-series
Barlow (1976: 2–3) report, Fechner developed “measures of sensation through several
psychophysical methods. With these methods, Fechner was able to determine sensory
thresholds, just noticeable differences (JNDs) in various sense modalities. What is common
to these methods is the repeated measurement of a response at different intensities or
different locations of a given stimulus in an individual subject . . . It is interesting to note
that Fechner was one of the first to apply statistical methods to psychological problems.
Fechner noticed that judgments of [JNDs] in the sensory modalities varied somewhat
from trial to trial. To quantify this variation, or ‘error’ in judgment, he borrowed the
normal law of error, demonstrated that these ‘errors’ were normally distributed around
a mean, which then became the ‘true’ sensory threshold. This use of descriptive statistics
anticipated the application of these procedures to groups of individuals at the turn
of the century when traits of capabilities were also found to be normally distributed
around a mean.” Hersen and Barlow note that Fechner, the pioneer, “was concerned
with variability within the subject.” See also Queen (1928).
22 Lipset, Trow, and Coleman (1956: 422).
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What Is a Case Study? 31
cross-sectional analyses. For example, a recent review of natural resource
management studies found that the N of a study varies inversely with its
geographic scope. Specifically, case studies focused on single communities
tend to have large samples, since they often employ individual-level
observations; cross-case studies are more likely to treat communities as
comprising observations, and hence have a smaller N.23
This is a common
pattern.
Evidently, if a case study combines temporal and within-case variation,
as in case studies of type 4, then its potential N increases accordingly. And
if cross-case analysis is added to this, as in the comparative method or
the comparative-historical method (types 5 and 6 in Table 2.4), then one
realizes a further enlargement in potential observations.
These facts hold true regardless of whether the method is experimental
or nonexperimental. It is also true of counterfactual reasoning, which
typically consists of four observations – the actual (as it happened) before
and after observations, and the before and after observations as reconstructed
through counterfactual reasoning (i.e., with an imagined intervention).
In short, the case study does not preclude a large N. It simply
precludes a large cross-case N, by definition. Indeed, many renowned case
studies are data-rich and include extensive, and occasionally quite sophisticated,
quantitative analysis. Frederic Le Play’s work on working-class
families incorporated hundreds of case studies.24
Robert and Helen Lynd’s
study of Muncie, Indiana, featured surveys of hundreds of respondents
in “Middletown.”25
Yankee City, another pioneering community study,
included interviews with 17,000 people.26
What, then, of the infamous N=1 research design that haunts the
imaginations of social scientists everywhere?27
This hypothetical research
design occupies the empty cell in Table 2.4. The cell is empty because it
represents a research design that is not logically feasible. A single case
observed at a single point in time without the addition of within-case
observations offers no evidence whatsoever of a causal proposition. In
trying to intuit a causal relationship from this snapshot one would be
engaging in a truly random operation, since an infinite number of lines
might be drawn through that one data point. I do not think there are any
23 Poteete and Ostrom (2005: 11).
24 Brooke (1970).
25 Lynd and Lynd (1929/1956).
26 Warner and Lunt (1941).
27 Achen and Snidal (1989); Geddes (1990); Goldthorpe (1997); King, Keohane, and Verba
(1994); Lieberson (1985: 107–15; 1992, 1994).
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32 I. Thinking about Case Studies
examples of this sort of investigation in social science research. Thus, I
regard it as a myth rather than a method.28
The point becomes even clearer if we consider the case study in relation
to a time-series cross-section (TSCS) research design, as illustrated in
Table 2.3. Let us imagine that cases are comprised of countries and that
temporal units are years; hence, the unit of analysis is the country-year. In
Table 2.3, each case has five observations and thus represents a single
country observed over five years (T1–5). Now, consider the possibility
of constructing a case study from just one of these observations – a single
country at a single point in time. This seems an unlikely prospect, unless of
course there is significant within-case variation during that year. Perhaps
this country, during those twelve months, offers a critical juncture in which
the variables of theoretical interest undergo a significant change. Whether
the temporal era is short or long (and we can imagine much shorter and
much longer temporal periods), the significant feature of most case studies
is that they look at periods of change, and these periods of change
produce (or are regarded as producing) distinct observations – classically
“before” (pre-) and “after” (post-) observations. Alternatively, it may be
possible to exploit spatial (cross-sectional) evidence in that country at
that particular time – for example, with extensive documentary records
or a systematic survey. In these circumstances, one can easily imagine
a case study being constructed from a single observation in a time-series
cross-section research design. But this can be accomplished only by subdividing
the original observation into multiple observations. N is no longer
equal to 1.
The skeptical reader may regard this conclusion as a semantic quibble,
of little import to the real world of research. If so, she might consider
the following quite common research scenario. An ethnographic study
provides a thick description, in prose, of a particular setting which is
intended to uncover certain features of other settings (not studied). The
prose stretches for five hundred pages in a draft manuscript and is rather
28 The one possible exception is the deviant case that disproves a deterministic proposition.
However, the utility of the deviant case rests upon a broader population of cases that
lies in the background of a case study focused on a single case. Thus, the N of such a
study, I would argue, is greater than one – even if no within-case evidence is gathered.
The more important point is perhaps the following. No one has ever conducted a case
study analysis that consists of only a single observation. If the point of the case study is
to demonstrate that a single case of such-and-such a type exists (perhaps with the goal
of falsifying a deterministic proposition), then it is likely to take a good deal of work to
establish the facts of that case. This work consists of multiple within-case observations.
Again, the N is much higher than one.
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What Is a Case Study? 33
repetitive; certain patterns are repeated again and again. In an effort to
reduce the sheer volume of descriptive material, as well as to attain a more
synthetic analysis, the researcher begins to code the results of her labors
into standardized categories: she counts. Has she, by committing the act
of numeracy, now converted a case study into some other type of study?
(If so, what shall we call it?) Note that the object of her study does not
vary, even though the prose is now combined with some form of quantitative
analysis, which may be simple or sophisticated. The introduction
of statistical analysis does not – should not – disqualify a study as a “case
study.”
The Style of Analysis
To be sure, non–case study work is by definition quantitative (“statistical”)
in nature. This is so because whenever one is attempting to incorporate
a large number of cases into a single analysis, it will be necessary to
reduce the evidence to a small number of dimensions. One cannot explore
1,000 cases on their own terms (i.e., in detail). (One might simply accumulate
case study after case study in a compendious multivolume work.
However, in order to reach any meaningful conclusions about this pile of
data it will be necessary to reduce the informational overload, which is
why God gave us statistics.)
With case study evidence, the situation is evidently more complicated.
Case studies may employ a great variety of techniques – both quantitative
and qualitative – for the gathering and analysis of evidence. This is one of
the intriguing qualities of case-study research and lends that research its
characteristic flexibility. Thus, it seems fair to say that there is an elective
affinity between the case study format and qualitative, small-N work,
even though the latter is not definitionally entailed. Let us explore why
this might be so.
Case study research, by definition, is focused on a single, relatively
bounded unit. That single unit may, or may not, afford opportunities
for large-N within-case analysis. Within-case evidence is sometimes quite
extensive, as when individual-level variation bears upon a group-level
inference. But not always.
Consider the following classic studies, each of which focuses on the
attitudes and characteristics of American citizens. The American Voter, a
collaborative effort by Angus Campbell, Philip Converse, Warren Miller,
and Donald Stokes, examines public opinion on a wide range of topics
that are thought to influence electoral behavior through the instrument
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34 I. Thinking about Case Studies
of a nationwide survey of the general public.29
The People’s Choice, by
Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet, is a longitudinal
panel study focusing on 600 citizens living in Erie County, Ohio, who
were polled at monthly intervals during the 1940 presidential campaign
to determine what influences the campaign may have had on their choice
of candidates.30
Middletown, by Robert and Helen Lynd, examines life
in a midsized city, including such topics as earning a living, making a
home, training the young, using leisure, taking part in religious practices,
and taking part in community activities (these are the sections into
which the book is divided). The Lynds and their accomplices rely on a
great variety of evidence, including in-depth interviews, surveys, direct
observation, secondary accounts, registers of books checked out of the
library, and so forth.31
Political Ideology, by Robert Lane, attempts to
uncover the sources of political values in a subsection of the American
public, represented by fifteen subjects who are interviewed intensively by
the author. These subjects are male, white, married, fathers, between the
ages of twenty-five and fifty-four, working-class and white-collar, nativeborn,
of varying religions, and living in an (unnamed) city on the eastern
seaboard.32
A summary of some of the methodological features of these four studies
is contained in Table 2.5. Note that the first two studies (The American
Voter and The People’s Choice) are classified as cross-case and the second
pair (Middletown and Political Ideology) as case studies. What is it that
drives this distinction? Clearly, it is not the type of subjects under study
(all focus primarily on individuals), the number of observations (which
range from small-N to large-N), or the breadth of the population (all purport
to describe features of the same country). The style of analysis differs
in one respect: only in the case studies does qualitative analysis comprise a
significant portion of the research. This, in turn, is a product of the number
of cases under investigation. Where hundreds of individuals are being
studied at once, there is no opportunity to evaluate cases in a qualitative
29 Campbell et al. (1960).
30 Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet (1948). A larger poll, with 2,000 respondents, was
taken initially, as a way of establishing a baseline for the chosen panel of 600. In addition,
special attention was paid to those whose vote choice changed during the course of the
panel. These might be looked upon as a series of case studies nested within the larger
panel study. However, because this sort of analysis plays only a secondary role in the
overall analysis, it seems fair to characterize this research design as “cross-case.”
31 Lynd and Lynd (1929/1956).
32 Lane (1962).
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What Is a Case Study? 35
table 2.5. Case study and cross-case study research designs compared
Study Subjects Cases
Largest
Sample Analysis Population
The American Voter
(Campbell et al.,
1960)
Citizens of
the United
States
1,000+
(individuals) 1,000+ Quant Americans
Cross-
case
study
The People’s Choice
(Lazarsfeld 1948)
Citizens of
Erie County,
OH
600
(individuals)
2,000 Quant Americans
Middletown
(Lynd and Lynd.
1929/1956)
Citizens of
Muncie, IN
1
(cities)
300+
Quant
& Qual
American
cities
Case
study
Political Ideology
(Lane 1962)
Working men
of “Eastport”
15
(individuals)
15 Qual
American
working
class
All categories (subjects, cases, analysis, population) refer to the primary inferences produced by
the study in question.
manner. By contrast, where a single case (as in Middletown) or a small
number of cases (as in Political Ideology) is under study, qualitative analysis
is usually de rigueur – though it may be combined with quantitative
analysis (as in Middletown).
The reader will notice that subtle differences in the research objective
of a study can shift it from one category to another. If, for example,
Robert and Helen Lynd decided to treat their surveys as representative of
individuals in the general public (across the United States), rather than as
representative of cities in the United States, then Middletown would take
on the methodological features of The People’s Choice: it would become
a cross-case study. Indeed, this is a plausible reading of some portions of
that study.
Importantly, the technique of analysis employed in a case study is
not simply a function of the sheer number of within-case observations
available in that unit. It is, more precisely, a function of the number
of comparable observations available within that unit. Consider Robert
Lane’s intensive interviews. Clearly, lots of “data” was recovered from
these lengthy discussions. However, the respondents’ answers were not
coded so as to conform to standardized variables. Hence, they cannot
be handled within a dataset format, usually referred to as a “sample”
(although we have occasionally employed this term in a broader sense).
Of course, Lane could have chosen to recode these interviews to allow
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36 I. Thinking about Case Studies
for a quantitative analysis, reducing the diversity of the original information
in order to conform to uniform parameters. It is not clear that much
would have been gained by doing so. In the event, his study is limited to
qualitative forms of analysis.
This issue is treated at length in a later chapter. For the moment, note
the fact that case study research often provides a piece of evidence pertaining
to A, another piece of evidence pertaining to B, and a third pertaining
to C. There may be many observations (in total), and they may all be
relevant to a central causal argument, even though they are not directly
comparable to one another. These are referred to in Chapter Seven as
noncomparable observations.
In summary, large-N cross-case research is quantitative, by definition.
This much conforms to usual perceptions. However, case study research
may be either qualitative or quantitative, or both, depending upon the
sort of within-case evidence that is available and relevant to the question
at hand. Consequently, the traditional association of case study work with
qualitative methods is correctly regarded as a methodological affinity, not
a definitional entailment. It is true sometimes, but not all the time.
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3
What Is a Case Study Good For?
Case Study versus Large-N Cross-Case Analysis
In Chapter Two, I argued that the case study approach to research is most
usefully defined as an intensive study of a single unit or a small number of
units (the cases), for the purpose of understanding a larger class of similar
units (a population of cases). This was put forth as a minimal definition
of the topic.1
In this chapter, I proceed to discuss the nondefinitional
attributes of the case study – attributes that are often, but not invariably,
associated with the case study method. These will be understood
as methodological affinities flowing from our minimal definition of the
concept.2
The case study research design exhibits characteristic strengths and
weaknesses relative to its large-N cross-case cousin. These trade-offs
derive, first of all, from basic research goals such as (1) whether the study is
oriented toward hypothesis generating or hypothesis testing, (2) whether
internal or external validity is prioritized, (3) whether insight into causal
mechanisms or causal effects is more valuable, and (4) whether the scope
of the causal inference is deep or broad. These trade-offs also hinge on
the shape of the empirical universe, that is, on (5) whether the population
of cases under study is heterogeneous or homogeneous, (6) whether
1 My intention was to include only those attributes commonly associated with the case study
method that are always implied by our use of the term, excluding those attributes that are
sometimes violated by standard usage. For further discussion of minimal definitions, see
Gerring (2001: Chapter 4); Gerring and Barresi (2003); and Sartori (1976).
2 These additional attributes might also be understood as comprising an ideal-type
(“maximal”) definition of the topic (Gerring 2001: Chapter 4; Gerring and Barresi 2003).
Recent evaluations of the strengths and weaknesses of case study research can be found
in Flyvbjerg (2004); Levy (2002a); and Verschuren (2001).
37
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38 I. Thinking about Case Studies
table 3.1. Case study and cross-case research designs: considerations
Affinity
Case Study Cross-Case Study
Research goals
1. Hypothesis Generating Testing
2. Validity Internal External
3. Causal insight Mechanisms Effects
4. Scope of proposition Deep Broad
Empirical factors
5. Population of cases Heterogeneous Homogeneous
6. Causal strength Strong Weak
7. Useful variation Rare Common
8. Data availability Concentrated Dispersed
Additional factors
9. Causal complexity Indeterminate
10. State of the field Indeterminate
the causal relationship of interest is strong or weak, (7) whether useful
variation on key parameters within that population is rare or common,
and (8) whether available data is concentrated or dispersed. Along each
of these dimensions, case study research has an affinity for the first factor,
and cross-case research has an affinity for the second, as summarized in
Table 3.1.
I argue that other issues impinging upon the research format, such
as (9) causal complexity and (10) the state of research in a given field,
are indeterminate in their implications. Sometimes these factors militate
toward a case study research design; at other times, toward a cross-case
research design.
To reiterate, the eight trade-offs depicted in Table 3.1 represent methodological
affinities, not invariant laws. Exceptions can be found to each one.
Even so, these general tendencies are often noted in case study research
and have been reproduced in multiple disciplines and subdisciplines over
the course of many decades.
It should be stressed that each of these trade-offs carries a ceteris
paribus caveat. Case studies are more useful for generating new hypotheses,
all other things being equal. The reader must bear in mind that
nine additional factors also rightly influence a writer’s choice of research
design, and they may lean in the other direction. Ceteris is not always
paribus. One should not jump to conclusions about the research design
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 39
appropriate to a given setting without considering the entire range of
issues involved – some of which may be more important than others.
Hypothesis: Generating versus Testing
Social science research involves a quest for new theories as well as a testing
of existing theories; it is comprised of both “conjectures” and “refu-
tations.”3
Regrettably, social science methodology has focused almost
exclusively on the latter. The conjectural element of social science is usually
dismissed as a matter of guesswork, inspiration, or luck – a leap of
faith, and hence a poor subject for methodological reflection.4
Yet it will
readily be granted that many works of social science, including most of
the acknowledged classics, are seminal rather than definitive. Their classic
status derives from the introduction of a new idea or a new perspective
that is subsequently subjected to more rigorous (and refutable) analysis.
Indeed, it is difficult to devise a program of falsification the first time a new
theory is proposed. Path-breaking research, almost by definition, is protean.
Subsequent research on that topic tends to be more definitive insofar
as its primary task is limited to verify or falsify a preexisting hypothesis.
Thus, the world of social science may be usefully divided according to the
predominant goal undertaken in a given study, either hypothesis generating
or hypothesis testing. There are two moments of empirical research,
a “lightbulb” moment and a skeptical moment, each of which is essential
to the progress of a discipline.5
Case studies enjoy a natural advantage in research of an exploratory
nature. Several millennia ago, Hippocrates reported what were, arguably,
the first case studies ever conducted. They were fourteen in number.6
Darwin’s insights into the process of human evolution came after his
3 Popper (1963).
4 Karl Popper (quoted in King, Keohane, and Verba 1994: 14) writes: “there is no such thing
as a logical method of having new ideas. . . . Discovery contains ‘an irrational element,’ or
a ‘creative intuition.’” One recent collection of essays and interviews takes new ideas as
its special focus (Munck and Snyder 2006), though it may be doubted whether there are
generalizable results.
5 Gerring (2001: Chapter 10). The trade-off between these two styles of research is implicit
in Achen and Snidal (1989); the authors criticize the case study for its deficits in the latter
genre but also acknowledge the benefits of the case study along the former dimension (ibid.,
167–8). Reichenbach also distinguishes between a “context of discovery” and a “context
of justification.” Likewise, Peirce’s concept of abduction recognizes the importance of a
generative component in science.
6 Bonoma (1985: 199). Some of the following examples are discussed in Patton (2002:
245).
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40 I. Thinking about Case Studies
travels to a few select locations, notably Easter Island. Freud’s revolutionary
work on human psychology was constructed from a close observation
of fewer than a dozen clinical cases. Piaget formulated his theory
of human cognitive development while watching his own two children
as they passed from childhood to adulthood. Levi-Strauss’s structuralist
theory of human cultures built on the analysis of several North and South
American tribes. Douglass North’s neoinstitutionalist theory of economic
development was constructed largely through a close analysis of a handful
of early developing states (primarily England, the Netherlands, and
the United States).7
Many other examples might be cited of seminal ideas
that derived from the intensive study of a few key cases.
Evidently, the sheer number of examples of a given phenomenon does
not, by itself, produce insight. It may only confuse. How many times did
Newton observe apples fall before he recognized the nature of gravity?
This is an apocryphal example, but it illustrates a central point: case
studies may be more useful than cross-case studies when a subject is being
encountered for the first time or is being considered in a fundamentally
new way. After reviewing the case study approach to medical research,
one researcher finds that although case reports are commonly regarded as
the lowest or weakest form of evidence, they are nonetheless understood
to comprise “the first line of evidence.” The hallmark of case reporting,
according to Jan Vandenbroucke, “is to recognize the unexpected.” This
is where discovery begins.8
The advantages that case studies offer in work of an exploratory nature
may also serve as impediments in work of a confirmatory/disconfirmatory
nature. Let us briefly explore why this might be so.9
Traditionally, scientific methodology has been defined by a segregation
of conjecture and refutation. One should not be allowed to contaminate
the other.10
Yet in the real world of social science, inspiration is often
associated with perspiration. “Lightbulb” moments arise from a close
engagement with the particular facts of a particular case. Inspiration is
more likely to occur in the laboratory than in the shower.
The circular quality of conjecture and refutation is particularly apparent
in case study research. Charles Ragin notes that case study research
7 North and Weingast (1989); North and Thomas (1973).
8 Vandenbroucke (2001: 331).
9 For discussion of this trade-off in the context of economic growth theory, see Temple
(1999: 120).
10 Geddes (2003); King, Keohane, and Verba (1994); Popper (1934/1968).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 41
is all about “casing” – defining the topic, including the hypothesis(es) of
primary interest, the outcome, and the set of cases that offer relevant information
vis-`a-vis the hypothesis.11
A study of the French Revolution may
be conceptualized as a study of revolution, of social revolution, of revolt,
of political violence, and so forth. Each of these topics entails a different
population and a different set of causal factors. A good deal of authorial
intervention is necessary in the course of defining a case study topic, for
there is a great deal of evidentiary leeway. Yet the subjectivity of case
study research allows for the generation of a great number of hypotheses,
insights that might not be apparent to the cross-case researcher who works
with a thinner set of empirical data across a large number of cases and with
a more determinate (fixed) definition of cases, variables, and outcomes.
It is the very fuzziness of case studies that grants them an advantage in
research at the exploratory stage, for the single-case study allows one to
test a multitude of hypotheses in a rough-and-ready way. Nor is this an
entirely conjectural process. The relationships discovered among different
elements of a single case have a prima facie causal connection: they are all
at the scene of the crime. This is revelatory when one is at an early stage
of analysis, for at that point there is no identifiable suspect and the crime
itself may be difficult to discern. The fact that A, B, and C are present
at the expected times and places (relative to some outcome of interest) is
sufficient to establish them as independent variables. Proximal evidence
is all that is required. Hence, the common identification of case studies as
“plausibility probes,” “pilot studies,” “heuristic studies,” “exploratory”
and “theory-building” exercises.12
A large-N cross-case study, by contrast, generally allows for the testing
of only a few hypotheses but does so with a somewhat greater degree of
confidence, as is appropriate to work whose primary purpose is to test
an extant theory. There is less room for authorial intervention because
evidence gathered from a cross-case research design can be interpreted
in a limited number of ways. It is therefore more reliable. Another way
of stating the point is to say that while case studies lean toward Type
1 errors (falsely rejecting the null hypothesis), cross-case studies lean
toward Type 2 errors (failing to reject the false null hypothesis). This
explains why case studies are more likely to be paradigm-generating, while
cross-case studies toil in the prosaic but highly structured field of normal
science.
11 Ragin (1992b).
12 Eckstein (1975); Ragin (1992a, 1997); Rueschemeyer and Stephens (1997).
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42 I. Thinking about Case Studies
I do not mean to suggest that case studies never serve to confirm or
disconfirm hypotheses. Evidence drawn from a single case may falsify a
necessary or sufficient hypothesis, as will be discussed. Additionally, case
studies are often useful for the purpose of elucidating causal mechanisms,
and this obviously affects the plausibility of an X/Y relationship. However,
general theories rarely offer the kind of detailed and determinate predictions
on within-case variation that would allow one to reject a hypothesis
through pattern matching (without additional cross-case evidence). Theory
testing is not the case study’s strong suit. The selection of “crucial”
cases is at pains to overcome the fact that the cross-case N is minimal (see
Chapter Five). Thus, one is unlikely to reject a hypothesis, or to consider
it definitively proved, on the basis of a single case.
Harry Eckstein himself acknowledged that his argument for case studies
as a form of theory confirmation was largely hypothetical. At the time
of writing, several decades ago, he could not point to any social science
study where a crucial case study had performed the heroic role assigned
to it.13
I suspect that this is still more or less true. Indeed, it is true even of
experimental case studies in the natural sciences. “We must recognize,”
note Donald Campbell and Julian Stanley,
that continuous, multiple experimentation is more typical of science than onceand-for-all
definitive experiments. The experiments we do today, if successful,
will need replication and cross-validation at other times under other conditions
before they can become an established part of science. . . . [E]ven though we recognize
experimentation as the basic language of proof . . . we should not expect
that ‘crucial experiments’ which pit opposing theories will be likely to have clearcut
outcomes. When one finds, for example, that competent observers advocate
strongly divergent points of view, it seems likely on a priori grounds that both
have observed something valid about the natural situation, and that both represent
a part of the truth. The stronger the controversy, the more likely this is.
Thus we might expect in such cases an experimental outcome with mixed results,
or with the balance of truth varying subtly from experiment to experiment. The
more mature focus . . . avoids crucial experiments and instead studies dimensional
relationships and interactions along many degrees of the experimental variables.14
A single case study is still a single-shot affair – a single example of a larger
phenomenon.
The trade-off between hypothesis generating and hypothesis testing
helps us to reconcile the enthusiasm of case study researchers and the
skepticism of case study critics. They are both right, for the looseness of
13 Eckstein (1975).
14 Campbell and Stanley (1963: 3).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 43
case study research is a boon to new conceptualizations just as it is a bane
to falsification.
Validity: Internal versus External
Questions of validity are often distinguished according to those that are
internal to the sample under study and those that are external (i.e., applying
to a broader – unstudied – population). The latter may be conceptualized
as a problem of representativeness between sample and population.
Cross-case research is always more representative of the population of
interest than case study research, so long as some sensible procedure of
case selection is followed (presumably some version of random sampling,
as discussed in Chapter Five). Case study research suffers problems of representativeness
because it includes, by definition, only a small number of
cases of some more general phenomenon. Are the men chosen by Robert
Lane typical of white, immigrant, working-class American males?15
Is
Middletown representative of other cities in America?16
These sorts of
questions forever haunt case study research. This means that case study
research is generally weaker with respect to external validity than its crosscase
cousin.
The corresponding virtue of case study research is its internal validity.
Often, though not invariably, it is easier to establish the veracity of a
causal relationship pertaining to a single case (or a small number of cases)
than for a larger set of cases. Case study researchers share the bias of
experimentalists in this respect: they tend to be more disturbed by threats
to within-sample validity than by threats to out-of-sample validity. Thus,
it seems appropriate to regard the trade-off between external and internal
validity, like other trade-offs, as intrinsic to the cross-case/single-case
choice of research design.
Causal Insight: Causal Mechanisms versus Causal Effects
A third trade-off concerns the sort of insight into causation that a
researcher intends to achieve. Two goals may be usefully distinguished.
The first concerns an estimate of the causal effect; the second concerns
the investigation of a causal mechanism (i.e., a pathway from X to Y).
15 Lane (1962).
16 Lynd and Lynd (1929/1956).
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44 I. Thinking about Case Studies
When I say “causal effect,” I refer to two things: (a) the magnitude of a
causal relationship (the expected effect on Y of a given change in X across
a population of cases) and (b) the relative precision or uncertainty of that
point estimate.17
Evidently, it is difficult to arrive at a reliable estimate
of causal effects across a population of cases by looking at only a single
case or a small number of cases. (The one possible exception would be an
experiment in which a given case can be tested repeatedly, returning to
a virgin condition after each test. But here one faces inevitable questions
about the representativeness of that much-studied case.)18
Thus, the estimate
of a causal effect is almost always grounded in cross-case evidence.
It is now well established that causal arguments depend not only on
measuring causal effects, but also on the identification of a causal mech-
anism.19
That is, X must be connected with Y in a plausible fashion;
otherwise, it is unclear whether a pattern of covariation is truly causal in
nature, or what the causal interaction might be. Moreover, without a clear
understanding of the causal pathway(s) at work in a causal relationship,
it is impossible to specify the model accurately, to identify possible instruments
for the regressor of interest (if there are problems of endogeneity),
or to interpret the results.20
Thus, causal mechanisms are presumed in
every estimate of a mean (average) causal effect.
In the task of investigating causal mechanisms, cross-case studies are
often not so illuminating. It has become a common criticism of large-N
cross-national research – for example, into the causes of growth, democracy,
civil war, and other national-level outcomes – that such studies
demonstrate correlations between inputs and outputs without clarifying
the reasons for those correlations (i.e., clear causal pathways). We learn,
17 The correct estimation of a causal effect rests upon the optimal choice among possible
estimators. It therefore follows from the previous discussion that sample-based analyses
are also essential for choosing among different estimators – as judged by their relative
efficiency and bias, among other desiderata. See Kennedy (2003) for a discussion of these
issues.
18 Note that the intensive study of a single unit may be a perfectly appropriate way to
estimate causal effects within that unit. Thus, if one is interested in the relationship
between welfare benefits and work effort in the United States, one might obtain a more
accurate assessment by examining data drawn from the United States alone, rather than
cross-nationally. However, since the resulting generalization does not extend beyond the
unit in question, this is not a case study in the usual sense.
19 Achen (2002); Dessler (1991); Elster (1998); George and Bennett (2005); Gerring (2005);
Hedstrom and Swedberg (1998); Mahoney (2001); Tilly (2001).
20 In a discussion of instrumental variables in two-stage least squares analysis, Angrist and
Krueger (2001: 8) note that “good instruments often come from detailed knowledge of
the economic mechanism, institutions determining the regressor of interest.”
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 45
for example, that infant mortality is strongly correlated with state fail-
ure;21
but it is quite another matter to interpret this finding, which is consistent
with a number of different causal mechanisms. Sudden increases in
infant mortality might be the product of famine, of social unrest, of new
disease vectors, of government repression, and of countless other factors,
some of which might be expected to impact the stability of states, and
others of which are more likely to be a result of state instability.
Case studies, if well constructed, may allow one to peer into the box of
causality to locate the intermediate factors lying between some structural
cause and its purported effect. Ideally, they allow one to “see” X and
Y interact – Hume’s billiard ball crossing the table and hitting a second
ball.22
Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss point out that in field work
“general relations are often discovered in vivo; that is, the field worker
literally sees them occur.”23
When studying decisional behavior, case study
research may offer insight into the intentions, the reasoning capabilities,
and the information-processing procedures of the actors involved in a
given setting. Thus, Dennis Chong uses in-depth interviews with a very
small sample of respondents in order to better understand the process by
which people reach decisions about civil liberties issues. Chong comments:
One of the advantages of the in-depth interview over the mass survey is that it
records more fully how subjects arrive at their opinions. While we cannot actually
observe the underlying mental process that gives rise to their responses, we can
witness many of its outward manifestations. The way subjects ramble, hesitate,
stumble, and meander as they formulate their answers tips us off to how they are
thinking and reasoning through political issues.24
Similarly, the investigation of a single case may allow one to test the
causal implications of a theory, thus providing corroborating evidence
for a causal argument. This is sometimes referred to as pattern matching
(see Chapter Seven).
One example of case study evidence calling into question a general
theoretical argument on the basis of an investigation of causal mechanisms
concerns the theory of rational deterrence. Deterrence theory, as
21 Goldstone et al. (2000).
22 This has something to do with the existence of process-tracing evidence, a matter to
be discussed later. But it is not necessarily predicated on this sort of evidence. Sensitive
time-series data, another specialty of the case study, is also relevant to the question of
causal mechanisms.
23 Glaser and Strauss (1967: 40).
24 Chong (1993: 868). For other examples of in-depth interviewing, see Hochschild (1981)
and Lane (1962).
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46 I. Thinking about Case Studies
it was understood in the 1980s, presupposes a number of key assumptions,
namely, that “actors have exogenously given preferences and choice
options, and [that] they seek to optimize preferences in light of other
actors’ preferences and options . . . , [that] variation in outcomes is to
be explained by differences in actors’ opportunities . . . , and [that] the
state acts as if it were a unitary rational actor.”25
A generation of case
studies, however, suggests that, somewhat contrary to theory, (a) international
actors often employ “shortcuts” in their decision-making processes
(i.e., they do not make decisions de novo, based purely on an analysis of
preferences and possible consequences); (b) a strong cognitive bias exists
because of “historical analogies to recent important cases that the person
or his country has experienced firsthand” (e.g., “Somalia = Vietnam”);
(c) “accidents and confusion” are often manifest in international crises;
(d) a single important value or goal often trumps other values (in a hasty
and ill-considered manner); and (e) actors’ impressions of other actors
are strongly influenced by their self-perceptions (information is highly
imperfect). In addition to these cognitive biases, there is a series of psychological
biases.26
In sum, while the theory of deterrence may still hold,
the causal pathways contained in this theory seem to be considerably more
variegated than previous work based on cross-case research had led us to
believe. In-depth studies of particular international incidents have been
helpful in uncovering these complexities.27
Dietrich Rueschemeyer and John Stephens offer a second example of
how an examination of causal mechanisms may call into question a general
theory based on cross-case evidence. The thesis of interest concerns
the role of British colonialism in fostering democracy among post-colonial
regimes. In particular, the authors investigate the diffusion hypothesis,
that democracy was enhanced by “the transfer of British governmental
and representative institutions and the tutoring of the colonial people in
the ways of British government.” On the basis of in-depth analysis of
several cases, the authors report:
We did find evidence of this diffusion effect in the British settler colonies of North
America and the Antipodes; but in the West Indies, the historical record points
to a different connection between British rule and democracy. There the British
colonial administration opposed suffrage extension, and only the white elites were
25 Achen and Snidal (1989: 150).
26 Jervis (1989: 196). See also George and Smoke (1974).
27 George and Smoke (1974: 504). For another example of case study work that tests
theories based upon predictions about causal mechanisms, see McKeown (1983).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 47
‘tutored’ in the representative institutions. But, critically, we argued on the basis of
the contrast with Central America, British colonialism did prevent the local plantation
elites from controlling the local state and responding to the labor rebellion
of the 1930s with massive repression. Against the adamant opposition of that
elite, the British colonial rulers responded with concessions which allowed for the
growth of the party-union complexes rooted in the black middle and working
classes, which formed the backbone of the later movement for democracy and
independence. Thus, the narrative histories of these cases indicate that the robust
statistical relation between British colonialism and democracy is produced only in
part by diffusion. The interaction of class forces, state power, and colonial policy
must be brought in to fully account for the statistical result.28
Whether or not Rueschemeyer and Stephens are correct in their conclusions
need not concern us here. What is critical, however, is that any
attempt to deal with this question of causal mechanisms is heavily reliant
on evidence drawn from case studies. In this instance, as in many others,
the question of causal pathways is simply too difficult, requiring too
many poorly measured or unmeasurable variables, to allow for accurate
cross-sectional analysis.29
To be sure, causal mechanisms do not always require explicit attention.
They may be quite obvious. And in other circumstances, they may
be amenable to cross-case investigation. For example, a sizeable literature
addresses the causal relationship between trade openness and the
welfare state. The usual empirical finding is that more open economies
are associated with greater social welfare spending. The question then
28 Rueschemeyer and Stephens (1997: 62).
29 A third example of case study analysis focused on causal mechanisms concerns policy
delegation within coalition governments. Michael Thies (2001) tests two theories about
how parties delegate power. The first, known as ministerial government, supposes that
parties delegate ministerial portfolios in toto to one of their members (the party whose
minister holds the portfolio). The second theory, dubbed managed delegation, supposes
that members of a multiparty coalition delegate power, but also actively monitor the
activity of ministerial posts held by other parties. The critical piece of evidence used to
test these rival theories is the appointment of junior ministers (JMs). If JMs are from the
same party as the minister, we can assume that the ministerial government model is in
operation. If the JMs are from different parties, Thies infers that a managed delegation
model is in operation, where the JM is assumed to perform an oversight function regarding
the activity of the bureau in question. This empirical question is explored across
four countries – Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands – providing a series of case
studies focused on the internal workings of parliamentary government. (I have simplified
the nature of the evidence in this example, which extends not only to the simple presence
or absence of cross-partisan JMs but also to a variety of additional process-tracing
clues.) Other good examples of within-case research that shed light on a broader theory
can be found in Canon (1999); Martin (1992); Martin and Swank (2004); and Young
(1999).
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48 I. Thinking about Case Studies
becomes why such a robust correlation exists. What are the plausible
interconnections between trade openness and social welfare spending?
One possible causal path, suggested by David Cameron,30
is that increased
trade openness leads to greater domestic economic vulnerability to external
shocks (due, for instance, to changing terms of trade). If that is true,
one should find a robust correlation between annual variations in a country’s
terms of trade (a measure of economic vulnerability) and social welfare
spending. As it happens, the correlation is not robust, and this leads
some commentators to doubt whether the putative causal mechanism proposed
by David Cameron and many others is actually at work.31
Thus, in
instances where an intervening variable can be effectively operationalized
across a large sample of cases, it may be possible to test causal mechanisms
without resorting to case study investigation.32
Even so, the opportunities for investigating causal pathways are generally
more apparent in a case study format. Consider the contrast between
formulating a standardized survey for a large group of respondents and
formulating an in-depth interview with a single subject or a small set of
subjects, such as that undertaken by Dennis Chong in the previous example.
In the latter situation, the researcher is able to probe into details that
would be impossible to delve into, let alone anticipate, in a standardized
survey. She may also be in a better position to make judgments as to the
veracity and reliability of the respondent. Tracing causal mechanisms is
about cultivating sensitivity to a local context. Often, these local contexts
are essential to cross-case testing. Yet the same factors that render case
studies useful for micro-level investigation also make them less useful for
measuring mean (average) causal effects. It is a classic trade-off.
Scope of Proposition: Deep versus Broad
The utility of a case study mode of analysis is in part a product of the scope
of the causal argument that a researcher wishes to prove or demonstrate.
Arguments that strive for great breadth are usually in greater need of crosscase
evidence; causal arguments restricted to a small set of cases can more
plausibly subsist on the basis of a single-case study. The extensive/intensive
trade-off is fairly commonsensical.33
A case study of France probably
30 Cameron (1978).
31 Alesina, Glaeser, and Sacerdote (2001).
32 For additional examples of this nature, see Feng (2003); Papyrakis and Gerlagh (2003);
and Ross (2001).
33 Eckstein (1975: 122).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 49
offers more useful evidence for an argument about Europe than for an
argument about the whole world. Propositional breadth and evidentiary
breadth generally go hand in hand.
Granted, there are a variety of ways in which single-case studies can
credibly claim to provide evidence for causal propositions of broad reach –
for example, by choosing cases that are especially representative of the
phenomenon under study (“typical” cases) or by choosing cases that represent
the most difficult scenario for a given proposition and are thus
biased against the attainment of certain results (“crucial” cases), as discussed
in Chapter Five. Even so, a proposition with a narrow scope is
more conducive to case study analysis than a proposition with a broad
purview, all other things being equal. The breadth of an inference thus
constitutes one factor, among many, in determining the utility of the case
study mode of analysis. This is reflected in the hesitancy of many case
study researchers to invoke determinate causal propositions with great
reach – “covering laws,” in the idiom of philosophy of science.
By the same token, one of the primary virtues of the case study method
is the depth of analysis that it offers. One may think of depth as referring
to the detail, richness, completeness, wholeness, or the degree of variance
in an outcome that is accounted for by an explanation. The case study
researcher’s complaint about the thinness of cross-case analysis is well
taken; such studies often have little to say about individual cases. Otherwise
stated, cross-case studies are likely to explain only a small portion of
the variance with respect to a given outcome. They approach that outcome
at a very general level. Typically, a cross-case study aims only to explain
the occurrence/nonoccurrence of a revolution, while a case study might
also strive to explain specific features of that event – why it occurred
when it did and in the way that it did. Case studies are thus rightly
identified with “holistic” analysis and with the “thick” description of
events.34
Whether to strive for breadth or depth is not a question that can
be answered in any definitive way. All we can safely conclude is that
researchers invariably face a choice between knowing more about less, or
less about more. The case study method may be defended, as well as criticized,
along these lines.35
Indeed, arguments about the “contextual sensitivity”
of case studies are perhaps more precisely (and fairly) understood
as arguments about depth and breadth. The case study researcher who
34 My use of the term “thick” is somewhat different from the usage in Geertz (1973).
35 See Ragin (2000: 22).
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50 I. Thinking about Case Studies
feels that cross-case research on a topic is insensitive to context is usually
not arguing that nothing at all is consistent across the chosen cases. Rather,
the case study researcher’s complaint is that much more could be said –
accurately – about the phenomenon in question with a reduction in inferential
scope.36
Indeed, I believe that a number of traditional issues related to case
study research can be understood as the product of this basic trade-off.
For example, case study research is often lauded for its holistic approach
to the study of social phenomena in which behavior is observed in natural
settings. Cross-case research, by contrast, is criticized for its construction
of artificial research designs that decontextualize the realm of
social behavior by employing abstract variables that seem to bear slight
relationship to the phenomena of interest.37
These associated congratulations
and critiques may be understood as a conscious choice on the part
of case study researchers to privilege depth over breadth.
The Population of Cases: Heterogeneous versus Homogeneous
The choice between a case study and cross-case style of analysis is driven
not only by the goals of the researcher, as just reviewed, but also by
the shape of the empirical universe that the researcher is attempting to
understand. Consider, for starters, that the logic of cross-case analysis is
premised on some degree of cross-unit comparability (unit homogeneity).
Cases must be similar to each other in whatever respects might affect
the causal relationship that the writer is investigating, or such differences
must be controlled for. Uncontrolled heterogeneity means that cases are
“apples and oranges”; one cannot learn anything about underlying causal
processes by comparing their histories. The underlying factors of interest
mean different things in different contexts (conceptual stretching), or the
X/Y relationship of interest is different in different contexts (unit hetero-
geneity).
Case study researchers are often suspicious of large-sample research,
which, they suspect, contains heterogeneous cases whose differences cannot
easily be modeled. “Variable-oriented” research is said to involve
unrealistic “homogenizing assumptions.”38
In the field of international
36 Ragin (1987: Chapter 2). Herbert Blumer’s (1969: Chapter 7) complaints, however, are
more far-reaching.
37 Orum, Feagin, and Sjoberg (1991: 7).
38 Ragin (2000: 35). See also Abbott (1990); Bendix (1963); Meehl (1954); Przeworski and
Teune (1970: 8–9); Ragin (1987; 2004: 124); Znaniecki (1934: 250–1).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 51
relations, for example, it is common to classify cases according to whether
they are deterrence failures or deterrence successes. However, Alexander
George and Richard Smoke point out that “the separation of the dependent
variable into only two subclasses, deterrence success and deterrence
failure,” neglects the great variety of ways in which deterrence can fail.
Deterrence, in their view, has many independent causal paths (causal equifinality),
and these paths may be obscured when a study lumps heterogeneous
cases into a common sample.39
Another example, drawn from clinical work in psychology, concerns
heterogeneity among a sample of individuals. Michel Hersen and David
Barlow explain:
Descriptions of results from 50 cases provide a more convincing demonstration of
the effectiveness of a given technique than separate descriptions of 50 individual
cases. The major difficulty with this approach, however, is that the category in
which these clients are classified most always becomes unmanageably heterogeneous.
‘Neurotics,’ [for example], . . . may have less in common than any group
of people one would choose randomly. When cases are described individually,
however, a clinician stands a better chance of gleaning some important information,
since specific problems and specific procedures are usually described in more
detail. When one lumps cases together in broadly defined categories, individual
case descriptions are lost and the ensuing report of percentage success becomes
meaningless.40
Under circumstances of extreme case-heterogeneity, the researcher may
decide that she is better off focusing on a single case or a small number
of relatively homogeneous cases. Within-case evidence, or cross-case evidence
drawn from a handful of most-similar cases, may be more useful
than cross-case evidence, even though the ultimate interest of the investigator
is in a broader population of cases. Suppose one has a population
of very heterogeneous cases, one or two of which undergo quasiexperimental
transformations. Probably, one gains greater insight into
causal patterns throughout the population by examining these cases in
detail than by undertaking a large-N cross-case analysis. By the same
token, if the cases available for study are relatively homogeneous, then
the methodological argument for cross-case analysis is correspondingly
strong. The inclusion of additional cases is unlikely to compromise the
results of the investigation, because these additional cases are sufficiently
similar to provide useful information.
39 George and Smoke (1974: 514).
40 Hersen and Barlow (1976: 11).
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52 I. Thinking about Case Studies
The issue of population heterogeneity/homogeneity may be understood,
therefore, as a trade-off between N (observations) and K (variables).
If, in the quest to explain a particular phenomenon, each potential
case offers only one observation and also requires one control variable (to
neutralize heterogeneities in the resulting sample), then one loses degrees
of freedom with each additional case. There is no point in using cross-case
analysis or in extending a two-case study to further cases. If, on the other
hand, each additional case is relatively cheap – if no control variables are
needed, or if the additional case offers more than one useful observation
(through time) – then a cross-case research design may be warranted.41
To
put the matter more simply, when adjacent cases are unit-homogeneous,
the addition of more cases is easy, for there is no (or very little) heterogeneity
to model. When adjacent cases are heterogeneous, additional
cases are expensive, for every added heterogeneous element must be correctly
modeled, and each modeling adjustment requires a separate (and
probably unverifiable) assumption. The more background assumptions
are required in order to make a causal inference, the more tenuous that
inference is. This is not simply a question of attaining statistical significance.
The ceteris paribus assumption at the core of all causal analysis is
brought into question (see Chapter 6). In any case, the argument between
case study and cross-case research designs is not about causal complexity
per se (in the sense in which this concept is usually employed), but rather
about the trade-off between N and K in a particular empirical realm,
and about the ability to model case-heterogeneity through statistical
legerdemain.42
Before concluding this discussion, it is important to point out that
researchers’ judgments about case comparability are not, strictly speaking,
matters that can be empirically verified. To be sure, one can look –
and ought to look – for empirical patterns among potential cases. If those
patterns are strong, then the assumption of case comparability seems
reasonably secure; and if they are not, then there are grounds for doubt.
However, debates about case comparability usually concern borderline
instances. Consider that many phenomena of interest to social scientists
are not rigidly bounded. If one is studying democracies, there is always
41 Shalev (1998).
42 To be sure, if adjacent cases are identical, the phenomenon of interest is invariant. In that
case the researcher gains nothing at all by studying more examples of a phenomenon,
for the results obtained with the first case will simply be replicated. However, virtually
all phenomena of interest to social scientists has some degree of heterogeneity (cases
are not identical), some stochastic element. Thus, the theoretical possibility of identical,
invariant cases is rarely met in practice.
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 53
a question of how to define a democracy, and therefore of determining
how high or low the threshold for inclusion in the sample should be.
Researchers have different ideas about this, and these ideas can hardly
be tested in a rigorous fashion. Similarly, there are long-standing disputes
about whether it makes sense to lump poor and rich societies together in a
single sample, or whether these constitute distinct populations. Again, the
borderline between poor and rich (or “developed” and “undeveloped”) is
blurry, and the notion of hiving off one from the other for separate analysis
questionable, and unresolvable on purely empirical grounds. There is
no safe (or “conservative”) way to proceed. A final sticking point concerns
the cultural/historical component of social phenomena. Many case study
researchers feel that to compare societies with vastly different cultures and
historical trajectories is meaningless. Yet many cross-case researchers feel
that to restrict one’s analytic focus to a single cultural or geographic region
is highly arbitrary, and equally meaningless. In these situations, it is evidently
the choice of the researcher how to understand case homogeneity/
heterogeneity across the potential populations of an inference. Where do
like cases end and unlike cases begin?
Because this issue is not, strictly speaking, empirical, it may be referred
to as an ontological element of research design. An ontology is a vision
of the world as it really is, a more or less coherent set of assumptions
about how the world works, a research Weltanschauung analogous to a
Kuhnian paradigm.43
While it seems odd to bring ontological issues into
a discussion of social science methodology, it may be granted that social
science research is not a purely empirical endeavor. What one finds is
contingent upon what one looks for, and what one looks for is to some
extent contingent upon what one expects to find. Stereotypically, case
study researchers tend to have a “lumpy” vision of the world; they see
countries, communities, and persons as highly individualized phenomena.
Cross-case researchers, by contrast, have a less differentiated vision of
the world; they are more likely to believe that things are pretty much the
same everywhere, at least as respects basic causal processes. These basic
assumptions, or ontologies, drive many of the choices made by researchers
when scoping out appropriate ground for research.
Causal Strength: Strong versus Weak
Regardless of whether the population is homogeneous or heterogeneous,
relationships are easier to study if the true causal effect is strong, rather
43 Gutting (1980); Hall (2003); Kuhn (1962/1970); Wolin (1968).
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54 I. Thinking about Case Studies
than weak. Causal “strength” refers here to the magnitude and consistency
of X’s effect on Y across a population of cases. (It involves both the
shape of the evidence at hand and whatever priors might be relevant to
an interpretation of that evidence.) Where X1 has a strong effect on Y it
will be relatively easy to study this relationship. Weak relationships, by
contrast, are often difficult to discern. This much is commonsensical, and
applies to all research designs.
For our purposes, what is significant is that weak causal relationships
are particularly opaque when encountered in a case study format. Thus,
there is a methodological affinity between weak causal relationships and
large-N cross-case analysis, and between strong causal relationships and
case study analysis.
This point is clearest at the extremes. The strongest species of causal
relationships may be referred to as deterministic, where X is assumed to be
necessary and/or sufficient for Y’s occurrence. A necessary and sufficient
cause accounts for all of the variation on Y. A sufficient cause accounts for
all of the variation in certain instances of Y. A necessary cause accounts,
by itself, for the absence of Y. In all three situations, the relationship is
usually assumed to be perfectly consistent, that is, invariant. There are no
exceptions.
It should be clear why case study research designs have an easier time
addressing causes of this type. Consider that a deterministic causal proposition
can be disproved with a single case.44
For example, the reigning theory
of political stability once stipulated that only in countries that were
relatively homogeneous, or where existing heterogeneity was mitigated
by cross-cutting cleavages, would social peace endure.45
Arend Lijphart’s
case study of the Netherlands, a country with reinforcing social cleavages
and very little social conflict, disproved this deterministic theory on
the basis of a single case.46
(One may dispute whether the original theory
is correctly understood as deterministic. However, if it is, then it has
been decisively refuted by a single case study.) Proving an invariant causal
argument generally requires more cases. However, it is not nearly as complicated
as proving a probabilistic argument, for the simple reason that
one assumes invariant relationships; consequently, the single case under
study carries more weight. Stochastic variation is ruled out.
44 Dion (1998).
45 Almond (1956); Bentley (1908/1967); Lipset (1960/1963); Truman (1951).
46 Lijphart (1968); see also Lijphart (1969). For additional examples of case studies disconfirming
general propositions of a deterministic nature, see Allen (1965); Lipset, Trow,
and Coleman (1956); Njolstad (1990); and the discussion in Rogowski (1995).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 55
Magnitude and consistency – the two components of causal strength –
are usually matters of degree. It follows that the more tenuous the connection
between X and Y, the more difficult it will be to address in a
case study format. This is because the causal mechanisms connecting X
with Y are less likely to be detectable in a single case when the total
impact is slight or highly irregular. It is no surprise, therefore, that the
case study research design has, from the very beginning, been associated
with causal arguments that are deterministic, while cross-case research
has been associated with causal arguments that are assumed to be slight
and highly probabilistic.47
(Strictly speaking, magnitude and consistency
are independent features of a causal relationship. However, because they
tend to covary, and because we tend to conceptualize them in tandem, I
treat them as components of a single dimension.)
Now, let us consider an example drawn from the other extreme. There
is generally assumed to be a weak relationship between regime type
and economic performance. Democracy, if it has any effect on economic
growth at all, probably has only a slight effect over the near to medium
term, and this effect is probably characterized by many exceptions (cases
that do not fit the general pattern). This is because many things other
than democracy affect a country’s growth performance, and because there
may be a significant stochastic component in economic growth (factors
that cannot be modeled in a general way). Because of the diffuse nature
of this relationship it will probably be difficult to gain insight by looking
at a single case. Weak relationships are difficult to observe in one
instance. Note that even if there seems to be a strong relationship between
democracy and economic growth in a given country, it may be questioned
whether this case is typical of the larger population of interest, given that
we have already stipulated that the typical magnitude of this relationship
is diminutive and irregular. Of course, the weakness of democracy’s
presumed relationship to growth is also a handicap in cross-case analysis.
A good deal of criticism has been directed toward studies of this
type, where findings are rarely robust.48
Even so, it seems clear that if
there is a relationship between democracy and growth, it is more likely
to be perceptible in a cross-case setting. The positive hypothesis, as well
as the null hypothesis, is better approached in a sample rather than in a
case.
47 Znaniecki (1934). See also the discussion in Robinson (1951).
48 Kittel (1999, 2005); Kittel and Winner (2005); Levine and Renelt (1992); Temple
(1999).
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56 I. Thinking about Case Studies
Useful Variation: Rare versus Common
When analyzing causal relationships, we must be concerned not only with
the strength of an X/Y relationship but also with the distribution of evidence
across available cases. Specifically, we must be concerned with the
distribution of useful variation – understood as variation (temporal or
spatial) on relevant parameters that might yield clues about a causal relationship.
It follows that where useful variation is rare – that is, limited
to a few cases – the case study format recommends itself. Where, on the
other hand, useful variation is common, a cross-case method of analysis
may be more defensible.
Consider a phenomenon like social revolution, an outcome that occurs
very rarely. The empirical distribution on this variable, if we count each
country-year as an observation, consists of thousands of nonrevolutions
and just a few revolutions. Intuitively, it seems clear that the few “revolutionary”
cases are of great interest. We need to know as much as possible
about them, for they exemplify all the variation that we have at our disposal.
In this circumstance, a case study mode of analysis is difficult to
avoid, though it might be combined with a large-N cross-case analysis. As
it happens, many outcomes of interest to social scientists are quite rare,
so the issue is by no means trivial.49
By way of contrast, consider a phenomenon like turnover, understood
as a situation where a ruling party or coalition is voted out of office.
Turnover occurs within most democratic countries on a regular basis, so
the distribution of observations on this variable (incumbency/turnover)
is relatively even across the universe of country-years. There are lots
of instances of both outcomes. Under these circumstances a cross-case
research design seems plausible, for the variation across cases is evenly
distributed.
Another sort of variation concerns that which might occur within a
given case. Suppose that only one or two cases within a large population
exhibit quasi-experimental qualities: the factor of special interest (X)
49 Consider the following topics and their – extremely rare – instances of variation: early
industrialization (England, the Netherlands); fascism (Germany, Italy); the use of nuclear
weapons (United States); world war (World War I, World War II); single nontransferable
vote electoral systems (Jordan, Taiwan, Vanuatu, pre-reform Japan); electoral system
reforms within established democracies (France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand).
The problem of “rareness” is less common where parameters are scalar rather than
dichotomous. But there are still plenty of examples of phenomena whose distributions
are skewed by a few outliers, e.g., population (China, India); personal wealth (Bill Gates,
Warren Buffett); ethnic heterogeneity (Papua New Guinea).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 57
varies, and there is no corresponding change in other factors that might
affect the outcome. (The quasi-experimental qualities of the case may be
the result of a manipulated treatment or a treatment that occurs naturally.
These issues are explored in Chapter Six.) Clearly, we are likely to learn a
great deal from studying this particular case – perhaps a lot more than we
might learn from studying hundreds of additional cases that deviate from
the experimental ideal. But again, if many cases have this experimental
quality, there is little point in restricting ourselves to a single example; a
cross-case research design may be justified.
A final sort of variation concerns the characteristics exhibited by a case
relative to a particular theory that is under investigation. Suppose that a
case provides a “crucial” test for a theory: it fits that theory’s predictions
so perfectly and so precisely that no other explanation could plausibly
account for the performance of the case. If no other crucial cases present
themselves, then an intensive study of this particular case is de rigueur.
Of course, if many such cases lie within the population, then it may be
possible to study them all at once (with some sort of numeric reduction
of the relevant parameters).
The general point here is that the distribution of useful variation across
a population of cases matters a great deal in the choice between case study
and cross-case research designs. (Many of the issues discussed in Chapters
Five and Six are relevant to this discussion of what constitutes “useful
variation.” Thus, I have touched upon these issues only briefly in this
section.)
Data Availability
I have left the most prosaic factor for last. Sometimes, one’s choice of
research design is driven by the quality and quantity of information that
is currently available, or could easily be gathered, on a given question.
This is a practical matter and is separate from the actual shape of the
empirical universe. It concerns, rather, what we know about the former
at a given point in time.50
The question of evidence may be posed as
follows: how much do we know about the cases at hand that might
be relevant to the causal question of interest, and how precise, certain,
and case-comparable is that data? An evidence-rich environment is one
where all relevant factors are measurable, where these measurements are
50 Of course, what we know about the potential cases is not independent of the underlying
reality; it is, nonetheless, not entirely dependent on that reality.
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58 I. Thinking about Case Studies
relatively precise, where they are rendered in comparable terms across
cases, and where one can be relatively confident that the information is
indeed accurate. An evidence-poor environment is the opposite.
The question of available evidence impinges upon choices in research
design when one considers its distribution across a population of cases. If
relevant information is concentrated in a single case, or if it is contained in
incommensurable formats across a population of cases, then a case study
mode of analysis is almost unavoidable. But if it is evenly distributed
across the population – that is, if we are equally well-informed about
all cases – and is case-comparable, then there is little to recommend a
narrow focus. (I employ data, evidence, and information as synonyms in
this section.)
Consider the simplest sort of example, where information is truly limited
to one or a few cases. Accurate historical data on infant mortality
and other indices of human development are currently available for
only a handful of countries (these include Chile, Egypt, India, Jamaica,
Mauritius, Sri Lanka, the United States, and several European coun-
tries).51
This data problem is not likely to be rectified in future years,
as it is exceedingly difficult to measure infant mortality except by public
or private records. Consequently, anyone studying this general subject is
likely to rely heavily on these cases, where in-depth analysis is possible
and profitable. Indeed, it is not clear whether any large-N cross-case analysis
is possible prior to the twentieth century. Here, a case study format
is virtually prescribed, and a cross-case format proscribed.
Other problems of evidence are more subtle. Let us dwell for the
moment on the question of data comparability. In their study of social
security spending, Mulligan, Gil, and Sala-i-Martin note that
although our spending and design numbers are of good quality, there are some
missing observations and, even with all the observations, it is difficult to reduce
the variety of elderly subsidies to one or two numbers. For this reason, case studies
are an important part of our analysis, since those studies do not require numbers
that are comparable across a large number of countries. Our case study analysis
utilizes data from a variety of country-specific sources, so we do not have to reduce
‘social security’ or ‘democracy’ to one single number.52
Here, the incommensurability of the evidence militates in favor of a case
study format. In the event that the authors (or subsequent analysts) discover
a coding system that provides reasonably valid cross-case measures
51 Gerring (2006c).
52 Mulligan, Gil, Sala-i-Martin (2002: 13).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 59
of social security, democracy, and other relevant concepts, then our state
of knowledge about the subject is changed, and a cross-case research
design is rendered more plausible.
Importantly, the state of evidence on a topic is never entirely fixed.
Investigators may gather additional data, recode existing data, or discover
new repositories of data. Thus, when discussing the question of evidence,
one must consider the quality and quantity of evidence that could be
gathered on a given question, given sufficient time and resources. Here it
is appropriate to observe that collecting new data, and correcting existing
data, is usually easier in a case study format than in a large-N cross-case
format. It will be difficult to rectify data problems if one’s cases number
in the hundreds or thousands. There are simply too many data points to
allow for this.
One might consider this issue in the context of recent work on democracy.
There is general skepticism among scholars with respect to the
viability of extant global indicators intended to capture this complex
concept (e.g., the data gathered by Freedom House and by the Polity
dataset).53
Measurement error, aggregation problems, and questions of
conceptual validity are rampant. When dealing with a single country or
a single continent, it is possible to overcome some of these faults by manually
recoding the countries of interest.54
The case study format often
gives the researcher an opportunity to fact check, to consult multiple
sources, to go back to primary materials, and to overcome whatever biases
may affect the secondary literature. Needless to say, this is not a feasible
approach for an individual investigator if one’s project encompasses
every country in the world. The best one can usually manage, under the
circumstances, is some form of convergent validation (by which different
indices of the same concept are compared) or small adjustments in
the coding intended to correct for aggregation problems or measurement
error.55
For the same reason, the collection of original data is typically more
difficult in cross-case analysis than in case study analysis, involving greater
expense, greater difficulties in identifying and coding cases, learning foreign
languages, traveling, and so forth. Whatever can be done for a set of
cases can usually be done more easily for a single case.
53 Bollen (1993); Bowman, Lehoucq, and Mahoney (2005); Munck and Verkuilen (2002);
Treier and Jackman (2005).
54 Bowman, Lehoucq, and Mahoney (2005).
55 Bollen (1993); Treier and Jackman (2005).
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60 I. Thinking about Case Studies
It should be kept in mind that many of the countries of concern to
anthropologists, economists, historians, political scientists, and sociologists
are still terra incognita. Outside the OECD, and with the exception
of a few large countries that have received careful attention from scholars
(e.g., India, Brazil, China), most countries of the world are not well covered
by the social science literature. Any statement that one might wish to
make about, say, Botswana will be difficult to verify if one has recourse
only to secondary materials. And these – very limited – secondary sources
are not necessarily of the most reliable sort. Thus, if one wishes to say
something about political patterns obtaining in roughly 90 percent of
the world’s countries, and if one wishes to go beyond matters that can
be captured in standard statistics collected by the World Bank and the
IMF and other agencies (and these can also be very sketchy when lesserstudied
countries are concerned), one is more or less obliged to conduct a
case study. Of course, one could, in principle, gather similar information
across all relevant cases. However, such an enterprise faces formidable
logistical difficulties. Thus, for practical reasons, case studies are sometimes
the most defensible alternative when the researcher is faced with an
information-poor environment.
However, this point is easily turned on its head. Datasets are now
available to study many problems of concern to the social sciences. Thus,
it may not be necessary to collect original information for one’s book,
article, or dissertation. Sometimes in-depth single-case analysis is more
time-consuming than cross-case analysis. If so, there is no informational
advantage to a case study format. Indeed, it may be easier to utilize existing
information for a cross-case analysis, particularly when a case study
format imposes hurdles of its own – travel to distant climes, risk of personal
injury, expense, and so forth. It is interesting to note that some
observers consider case studies to be “relatively more expensive in time
and resources.”56
Whatever the specific logistical hurdles, it is a general truth that the
shape of the evidence – that which is currently available and that which
might feasibly be collected by an author – often has a strong influence
on an investigator’s choice of research design. Where the evidence for
particular cases is richer and more accurate, there is a strong prima facie
argument for a case study format focused on those cases. Where, by
contrast, the relevant evidence is equally good for all potential cases, and is
56 Stoecker (1991: 91).
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 61
comparable across those cases, there is no reason to shy away from crosscase
analysis. Indeed, there may be little to gain from case study formats.
Causal Complexity
Not all factors that impinge upon the choice of research designs have
clear affinities to case study or cross-case study research. Others are indeterminate
in their implications. Whether these factors favor the focused
analysis of a few cases or a relatively superficial analysis of many cases
depends upon issues that are difficult to generalize about.
Let us begin with the vexed question of causal complexity. Case study
researchers often laud their favored method for its better grasp of complex
causes,57
while critics claim that the more complex the causal relationship,
the more necessary is cross-case evidence.58
Intuitively, both
positions seem plausible, and much evidently depends upon the interpretation
of “complexity,” which might refer to probabilistic (rather than
invariant) causal patterns, necessary and/or sufficient causes, nonlinear
relationships, multiple causes (“equifinality”), nonadditive causal interrelationships,
causal sequences (where causal order affects the outcome
of interest), a large number of plausible causes (the problem of overdetermination),
and many other things besides. Indeed, “complexity,” as
the term is used in social science circles, seems to refer to any feature of
a causal problem that does not fit snugly with standard assumptions of
linearity, additivity, and independence. As such, it is a red herring, for it
has no determinate meaning.
Some kinds of causal complexity, like necessary and sufficient conditions,
may militate in favor of a case study research design, as argued
earlier in this chapter (see the section on causal strength). Others, I will
argue, are indeterminate. That is, sometimes complex causal relationships
are rendered visible in case study research, and we are able to parse out
the independent causal effects of each factor (which may depend on their
position in an extended causal chain). This is what case study research
does, if it is done well and if the chosen case is amenable to that style of
research. But oftentimes, this is simply not feasible. Similarly, sometimes
one is able to model complex causal relationships in a cross-case setting,
and sometimes not. In short, it all depends.
57 Abbott (1990); George and Bennett (2005); Ragin (1987: 54; 2000: Chapter 4);
Rueschemeyer (2003).
58 Goldthorpe (1997); King, Keohane, and Verba (1994); Lieberson (1985).
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62 I. Thinking about Case Studies
Let us explore an example. Suppose one is interested in the influence
of fiscal pressures on social revolution – the idea that as governments
get more strapped for cash, they are likely to seek to raise taxes, which,
in turn, may spark revolt. A nice (confirming) case study would show
precisely that, without any interfering (confounding) factors. It would be
eventful, in a quasi-experimental way (see Chapter Six). An intervention
(treatment) would occur – increasing budget deficits, followed by increasing
taxes – and the result could be observed. However, a bad (confirming)
case would show that lots of things were happening at the same time that
could also have caused revolution. As it happens, lots of things do tend
to happen together during critical junctures like revolutions, and so it is
often quite difficult to tease out real and spurious causal effects. In statistical
terms, this may be understood as a problem of collinearity. Now,
let us suppose that you have at your disposal 100 countries, with annual
measurements of fiscal pressure, tax instruments, as well as various confounders
(controls). Collinearity is still a formidable problem. But with a
great deal of cross-case evidence, there is at least a fighting chance that it
can be overcome, while there is little chance of overcoming it in most case
study settings. (Indeed, some statisticians have looked upon the problem
of collinearity as a problem of data insufficiency.)
The general point remains. “Complexity,” by itself (keeping in mind
that complexity can mean many things), does not favor either a case study
or a cross-case approach to causal analysis.
The State of the Field
Another sort of contextual consideration concerns the state of research
on a given topic within a field. Social scientists are accustomed to the idea
that research occurs within the context of an ongoing tradition. All work
is dependent for the identification of topic, argument, and evidence on this
research tradition. What we need to know, and hence ought to study, is to
some extent contingent upon what is already known. It follows from this
that the utility of case study research relative to non–case study research
is to some extent the product of the state of research within a given field.
A field dominated by case studies may have little need for another case
study. A field where cross-case studies are hegemonic may be desperately
in need of in-depth studies focused on understudied cases.
Indeed, much of the debate over the utility of the case study method has
little to do with the method itself and more to do with the state of current
research in a particular field. If both case study and cross-case methods
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What Is a Case Study Good For? 63
have much to recommend them (an implicit assumption of this book),
then both ought to be pursued – perhaps not in equal measure, but at
least with equal diligence and respect. There is no virtue, and potentially
great harm, in pursuing one approach to the exclusion of the other, or in
ghettoizing the practitioners of the minority approach. The triangulation
essential to social scientific advance demands the employment of a variety
of (viable) methods, including the case study. But there is little that we
can say about this desideratum in general, since it depends on the shape
of an individual field or subfield.
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64
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part ii
DOING CASE STUDIES
In the opening pages of this book, I highlighted the rather severe disjuncture
that has opened up between an often-maligned methodology and a
heavily practiced method. The case study is disrespected, but nonetheless
regularly employed. Indeed, it remains the workhorse of most disciplines
and subfields in the social sciences, as demonstrated in Chapter One.
How, then, can one make sense of this discrepancy between methodological
theory and methodological praxis? This was the question animating
Part One of the book.
The torment of the case study begins with its definitional penumbra,
as described in Chapter Two. Frequently, this key term is conflated with a
disparate set of methodological traits that are not definitionally entailed.
Our first task, therefore, was to craft a narrower and more useful concept
for purposes of methodological discussion. The case study, I argued, is best
defined as an intensive study of a single case (or a small set of cases) with
an aim to generalize across a larger set of cases of the same general type.
If the inference pertains to nation-states, then a case study would focus
on one or several nation-states (while a cross-case study would focus on
many nation-states at once). If the inference pertains to individuals, then
a case study would focus on one or several individuals (while a cross-case
study would focus on many individuals at once). And so forth.
It follows from this definition that case studies may be small- or large-N
(since a single case may provide few or many observations), qualitative or
quantitative, experimental or observational, synchronic or diachronic. It
also follows that the case study research design comports with any macrotheoretical
framework or paradigm – for example, behavioralism, rational
choice, institutionalism, or interpretivism. It is not epistemologically
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66 II. Doing Case Studies
distinct.1
What differentiates the case study from the cross-case study is
simply its way of defining observations, not its analysis of those observations
or its method of modeling causal relations. The case study research
design constructs its observations from a single case or a small number
of cases, while cross-case research designs construct observations across
multiple cases. Cross-case and case study research operate, for the most
part, at different levels of analysis.
In other respects, the predicament of the case study is not merely definitional
but inheres in the method itself. To study a single case with
intent to shed light upon other cases brings in its train several methodological
ambiguities. First, the concept of a case study is dependent upon
the particular proposition that one has in mind, a proposition that may
change through time (as the study is digested by the academic community)
or even within a given study (as the author changes her level of
analysis). Second, the boundaries of a case are sometimes – despite the
researcher’s best efforts – open-ended. This is particularly true of temporal
boundaries, which may extend into the future and into the past in rather
indefinite ways. Third, case studies usually build upon a variety of covariational
evidence; there is no single type of case study, but rather five (see
Table 2.4).
The travails of the case study are rooted, additionally, in an insufficient
appreciation of the methodological trade-offs that this method calls forth,
as discussed in Chapter Three. At least eight characteristic strengths and
weaknesses must be considered (see Table 3.1). Ceteris paribus, case studies
are more useful when the purpose of research is hypothesis generating
rather than hypothesis testing, when internal validity is given preference
over external validity, when insight into causal mechanisms is prioritized
over insight into causal effects, when propositional depth is prized over
breadth, when the population is heterogeneous rather than homogeneous,
when causal relationships are strong rather than weak, when useful variation
on key parameters is rare rather than commonplace, and when
good-quality evidence is concentrated rather than dispersed. Causal complexity
and the existing state of a field of research may also influence a
researcher’s choice to adopt a single-case or cross-case research design,
though their methodological implications are equivocal.
The objective of the first section of the book was to restore a sense of
meaning, purpose, and integrity to the case study method. It is hoped that
1 Epistemological differences between case study and cross-case work are a theme in Orum,
Feagin, and Sjoberg (1991: 22).
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II. Doing Case Studies 67
by offering a more carefully bounded definition of the method it might be
rescued from some of its ambiguities. It is also hoped that the characteristic
strengths of this method, as well as its limitations, will be more apparent
to producers and consumers of case study research. The case study is a
useful tool for some research objectives and in some research settings, but
not all.
In the second section of the book, I turn to practical questions of
research design. How does one employ the intensive study of a single
case, or a small number of cases, to shed light on a broader class of cases?
Chapter Four addresses preliminary issues pertaining to this quest.
Chapter Five examines the problem of case selection. Chapter Six examines
the problem of internal validity through the prism of experimental
research designs. Chapter Seven approaches the problem of internal validity
through the use of a rather different approach called process tracing.
The epilogue addresses research design elements of single-outcome studies
– where a single outcome, rather than a broader class of outcomes, is
of primary interest.
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4
Preliminaries
Before entering into a discussion of specific research design techniques,
it is important to insert a preliminary discussion of several factors that
overshadow all research design issues in case study work. These include
evidence-gathering techniques, the formulation of a hypothesis, degrees of
falsifiability, the tension between particularizing and generalizing objectives
in a case study, the identification of a population that the case
study purports to represent, and the importance of cross-level research.
Although these six issues affect all empirical work in the social sciences,
they are particularly confusing in the context of case study work, and
consequently merit our close attention.
The Evidence
The case study, I argued in Chapter Two, should not be defined by
a distinctive method of data collection but rather by the goals of the
research relative to the scope of the research terrain. Evidence for a case
study may be drawn from an existing dataset or set of texts or may
be the product of original research by the investigator. Written sources
may be primary or secondary. Evidence may be quantitative, qualitative,
or a mixture of both – as when qualitative observations are coded
numerically so as to create a quantitative variable.1
Evidence may be
drawn from experiments (discussed in Chapter Six), from “ethnographic”
1 Kritzer (1996); Stoker (2003); Theiss-Morse et al. (1991).
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Preliminaries 69
field research,2
from unstructured interviews, or from highly structured
surveys.3
In short, there are many ways to collect evidence (“data”), and none
of these methods is unique to the case study. Techniques differ greatly
from discipline to discipline, subfield to subfield, and topic to topic – and
rightly so. To be sure, the more intensive the evidence-gathering method,
the more difficult it will be to implement that technique across multiple
cases. In this respect, ethnographic research is rightly identified as a case
study method. Even so, there is no theoretical limit to the number of
ethnographies that may be conducted by an individual, or by a group of
individuals (perhaps working on a subject over several generations). Once
that number has extended beyond the point where qualitative analysis is
possible, some form of mathematical reduction is more or less required if
an integrative approach to the population is desired. Where, for example,
a great deal of textual data exists, analysts usually have recourse to content
or discourse analysis.4
Getting the facts right is essential to doing good case study research.
However, since the methods of data collection are legion, there is little
that one can say, in general, about this problem.5
One issue deserves emphasis, however. All data requires interpretation,
and in this respect all techniques of evidence gathering are interpretive.6
2 The literature on ethnography (including participant observation and field research) is
immense. For a brief discussion of early work in this genre, see Hamel (1993). Contemporary
works in the social sciences include Becker (1958); Burawoy, Gamson, and Burton
(1991); Denzin and Lincoln (2000); Emerson (1981, 2001); Fenno (1978: 249–93;
1986; 1990); Hammersley and Atkinson (1983); Jessor, Colby, and Shweder (1996); Patton
(2002: 339–428); and Smith and Kornblum (1989). The technique known as ethnomethodology
is laid out in Garfinkel (1967). Helper (2000) discusses the potential
of field research in economics. Examples of ethnographic research in the “hard science”
fields of criminology, medical science, and psychology include Athens (1997); Bosk (1981);
Estroff (1985); and Katz (1999) – all cited in Rosenbaum (2004: 3). Practical advice on
the conduct of field research, with special attention to foreign locations, can be found in
Barrett and Cason (1997) and Lieberman, Howard, and Lynch (2004).
3 A general introduction to survey research is provided by Dillman (1994). Gubrium and
Holstein (2002) offers a comprehensive treatment of interview research.
4 Discussion of various techniques can be found in Coulthard (1992); Hart (1997); Krippendorff
(2003); Laver et al. (2003); Neuendorf (2001); Phillips and Hardy (2002 ); and
Silverman (2001). See also “Symposium: Discourse, Content Analysis” (2004).
5 For research on primary and secondary documents, see Thies (2002). See also Bloch
(1941/1953); Elton (1970); George and Bennett (2005); Lustick (1996); Thompson
(1978); Trachtenberg (2005); and Winks (1969).
6 Interpretivist (a.k.a. hermeneutic or Verstehen) methods refer broadly to evidencegathering
techniques that are focused on the intentions and subjective meanings contained
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70 II. Doing Case Studies
Rarely, if ever, does the evidence speak for itself. There may be such things
as “brute facts” – for example, Caesar crossed the Rubicon in 51b.c.7
However, in a study oriented toward the discovery of general causes one
is required to invest such acts with meaning. And this requires judgment
on the part of the investigator.
Note that the social sciences are defined by their focus on decisional
behavior – actions by human beings and humanly created institutions that
are not biologically programmed. Thus, any social scientific explanation
involves assumptions about why people do what they do or think what
they think, a matter of intentions and motivations. Social science is, of
necessity, an interpretive act.
In many settings, actor-centered meanings are more or less self-evident.
When people behave in apparently self-interested ways, the researcher
may not feel compelled to investigate the intentions of the actors.8
Buying
low and selling high is intentional behavior, but it probably does not
require detailed ethnographic research in situations where we know (or
can intuit) what is going on. On the other hand, if one is interested in why
markets work differently in different cultural contexts, or why persons in
some cultures give away their accumulated goods, or why in some other
circumstances people do not buy low and sell high (when it would appear
to be in their interest to do so), one is obliged to move beyond readily
apprehensible (“obvious”) motivations such as self-interest.9
In these
situations – encompassing many of the events that social scientists have
interested themselves in – careful attention to meaning, as understood by
the actors themselves, is essential.10
Howard Becker explains:
To understand an individual’s behaviour, we must know how he perceives the
situation, the obstacles he believed he had to face, the alternatives he saw
in social actions. See Gadamer (1975); Geertz (1973, 1979a, 1979b); Gibbons (1987);
Hirsch (1967); Hirschman (1970); Hoy (1982); MacIntyre (1971); Rabinow and Sullivan
(1979); Taylor (1985); von Wright (1971); Winch (1958); and Yanow and Schwartz-Shea
(2006).
7 The term originates with Anscombe (1958), though her usage is somewhat different from
my own. For a similar use of the term, see Neta (2004).
8 To be sure, self-interested behavior (beyond the level of self-preservation) is also, on some
level, socially constructed. Yet if we are interested in understanding the effect of pocketbook
voting on election outcomes, there is little to be gained by investigating the origins
of money and material goods as a motivating force in human behavior. Some things we
can afford to take for granted. For a useful discussion, see Abrami and Woodruff (2004).
9 Geertz (1978).
10 Davidson (1963); Ferejohn (2004); Rabinow and Sullivan (1979); Stoker (2003); Taylor
(1970).
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Preliminaries 71
opening up to him. We cannot understand the effects of the range of possibilities,
delinquent subcultures, social norms and other explanations of behaviour
which are commonly invoked, unless we consider them from the actor’s point of
view.11
This is the interpretivist’s quest – to understand behavior from the actor’s
point of view – and it is an enlightening quest wherever the actor’s point
of view does not correspond to common sense.
Thus, evidence in a social-scientific study often involves an act of interpretation.
But this is not unique, or even distinct, to the case study format.
The Hypothesis
It is impossible to pose questions of research design until one has at least
a general idea of what one’s research question is. There is no such thing as
case selection or case analysis in the abstract. A research design must have
a purpose, and that purpose is defined by the inference that it is intended
to demonstrate or prove.
In this book I am concerned primarily with causal inference, rather than
inferences that are descriptive or predictive in nature. Thus, all hypotheses
involve at least one independent variable (X) and one dependent variable
(Y). For convenience, I shall label the causal factor of special theoretical
interest X1, and the control (background) variable, or vector of controls
(if there are any), X2.
If a writer is concerned to explain a puzzling outcome, but has no
preconceptions about its causes, then the research will be described as
Y-centered. If a researcher is concerned to investigate the effects of a
particular cause, with no preconceptions about what these effects might
be, the research will be described as X-centered. If a researcher is concerned
to investigate a particular causal relationship, the research will be
described as X1/Y-centered, for it connects a particular cause with a particular
outcome.12
X- or Y-centered research is exploratory; its purpose
is to generate new hypotheses. X1/Y-centered research, by contrast, is
confirmatory/disconfirmatory; its purpose is to test an existing hypothesis.
Note that to pursue an X1/Y-centered analysis does not imply that the
writer is attempting to prove or disprove a monocausal or deterministic
11 Becker (1970: 64), quoted in Hamel (1993: 17).
12 This expands on Mill (1843/1872: 253), who wrote of scientific inquiry as twofold:
“either inquiries into the cause of a given effect or into the effects or properties of a given
cause.”
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72 II. Doing Case Studies
argument. The presumed causal relationship between X1 and Y may be
of any sort. X1 may explain only a small amount of variation in Y. The
X1/Y relationship may be probabilistic. X1 may refer either to a single
variable or to a vector of causal factors. This vector may be an interrelationship
(e.g., an interaction term). The only distinguishing feature of
X1/Y-centered analysis is that a specific causal factor(s), a specific outcome,
and some pattern of association between the two are stipulated.
Thus, X1/Y-centered analysis presumes a particular hypothesis – a proposition.
Y- or X-centered analysis, by contrast, is much more open-ended.
Here, one is “soaking and poking” for causes or effects.13
Invoking a
contrast that was introduced in Chapter Three, we may say that Y- or
X-centered analysis is hypothesis-generating, while X1/Y-centered analysis
is hypothesis-testing.
As a rule, the more specific and operational a causal hypothesis is, the
easier it will be to identify a set of relevant cases. Naturally, the researcher’s
operating hypothesis may change in the course of her research. Indeed, the
exploratory nature of much case-based research is one of the strengths of
this research design, as observed in Chapter Three. It would be a mistake
to suppose that hypotheses can be immaculately conceived, in isolation
from the contaminating influences of the data. This piece of positivist
dogma we would do well to forget. It is often preached, but rarely practiced
– and, when practiced, rarely to good effect. Usually, a hypothesis
arises from an open-ended conversation between a researcher and her evidence.
Indeed, one may have only a rough idea of an argument until one
has carried out considerable research. Social scientific study is often motivated
by a suspicion – the researcher’s qualified hunch – that something
“funny” is going on here or there. Puzzles are good points of departure.
Even so, issues of research design cannot be fully addressed until that
initial hunch is formulated as a specific hypothesis.
A quick glance at the real world of social science reveals that few studies
are innocently Y- or X-centered. Researchers usually have some presuppositions
about what causes Y or about what X causes. In most circumstances,
the researcher is well advised to strive for a more fully elaborated
hypothesis, one that encompasses both sides of the causal equation. Yand
X-centered analyses are problematic points of departure. They are
hard to pin down precisely because one side of the causal equation is
open-ended.
13 Fenno (1978).
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Preliminaries 73
Recall, also, that the testing of a single hypothesis (yours or someone
else’s) cannot be conducted in isolation. There are always competitors,
even if these competing theories are difficult to identify. (You may have to
construct them yourself if the field of inquiry is relatively undeveloped.)
A good research design is one that distinguishes the effects of one causal
factor from others that might have contributed to a result. If the theory
at issue is broader than a single, obvious causal factor (if it can be operationalized
in a variety of ways), then a good research design is one that
confirms that theory, while disconfirming others – or at least showing
that they cannot account for a specific set of results.14
A good research
design eliminates rival explanations. Thus, in thinking through issues of
research design, it is helpful to ask oneself the following question: is there
an alternative way to explain this set of outcomes?
Finally, one must keep in mind that all causal arguments presume a
causal mechanism, or a set of mechanisms.15
A mechanism is that which
explains the putative relationship between X1 and Y. It is the causal pathway,
or connecting thread, between X1 and Y. A specific and determinate
causal pathway is the smoking gun of causal analysis. Of course, causal
pathways in social research are usually considerably more ambiguous than
the smoking gun metaphor suggests. This is why research designs often
focus on this difficult, but essential, task. That is to say, in testing rival
theories one is also, necessarily, testing rival causal mechanisms, not just
the covariational pattern between X1 and Y. Indeed, we have observed
that one of the strengths of the case study is that it often sheds light on
causal mechanisms that remain obscure in cross-case analysis (Chapter
Three).
Thus, in thinking through research design issues, it is helpful to ask
oneself what causal mechanisms a theory stipulates, and whether they
are multiple, conjunctural, or take some other complex form. If you are
researching in an exploratory mode these same questions must be asked,
though in a more open-ended fashion. In either case, evidence drawn
14 Testing really big, abstract theories such as deterrence and realism (both from the political
science subfield of international relations) is much more complicated than testing specific
hypotheses. The main problem is that macro-theories (a.k.a. frameworks, paradigms) can
be operationalized in so many different ways. They are, therefore, difficult to falsify –
or, for that matter, to confirm. In this book I am interested only in the testing of fairly
specific hypotheses.
15 Granted, it is possible to make a strong argument for a causal relationship on the basis of
covariational evidence alone, particularly if the covariational evidence is experimental.
However, that argument will be even stronger if the researcher can also specify a causal
mechanism. For further discussion, see Chapter 3.
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74 II. Doing Case Studies
from the case study should be enlisted to prove, or disprove, the theory
at hand. That is, predictions or expectations about causal mechanisms
may influence the choice of cases to be studied. “Black boxes” should be
replaced with “smoking guns,” wherever possible.
Degrees of Falsifiability
Karl Popper sought to classify all scientific propositions according to their
degree of falsifiability – that is, the ease with which a proposition could be
proven false.16
This, in turn, may be thought of as a matter of “riskiness.”
A risky proposition is one that issues multiple precise and determinate
empirical predictions, predictions that could not easily be explained by
other causal factors (external to the theory of interest) and hence may be
interpreted as strong corroborating evidence for the theory at hand.
Falsifiability/riskiness will be discussed in greater detail in the following
chapter. For the moment, let us observe that there is a wide range of
variation on this dimension. Some case studies generate (or test) propositions
that are highly risky. Others are pitched in such abstract or ambiguous
terms that they can hardly fail when tested against a larger population
of cases (other than the case under intensive study). For example,
E. P. Thompson’s renowned history The Making of the English Working
Class (1963) provides a case study of class formation in one national setting
(England). This suggests a very general purview, perhaps applicable
to all countries in the modern era. Thompson does not offer a specific theory
of class formation, aside from the rather hazy notion that the working
class participates in its own development. Thus, unless we intuit a great
deal (creating a general theory where there is only a suggestion of one), we
can derive relatively little that might be applicable to a broader population
of cases.
Many case studies examine a loosely defined general topic – war, revolution,
gender relations – in a particular setting. Indeed, the narrowest terrains
sometimes claim the broadest extensions. Studies of a war are studies
of war; studies of a farming community are studies of farming communities
everywhere; studies of individuals are studies of leadership or of
human nature, and so forth. But such studies may refrain from adopting
general theories of war, farming, leadership, or human nature. This
would be true, for example, of most case study work in the interpretivist
16 Popper (1934/1968; 1963).
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Preliminaries 75
tradition.17
Similarly, case studies that carry titles like “Ideas Matter,”
“Institutions Matter,” or “Politics Matters” do not generally culminate
in risky predictions. They tell us about an instance in which ideas mattered
(“ideas mattered here”), but do not produce generalizable propositions
about the role of ideas. Most work based on the organizing tool of critical
junctures and path-dependent sequences is also of this nature, since the
path in question is unique while the fact of its being a path applies, in some
very general sense, across cases.18
What all these theoretical frameworks
have in common (indeed, about the only thing they have in common) is
that they are both broad and vague. They offer a framework which may
be used to shed light on a particular case, but not a falsifiable proposition
that could be applied to other cases.
By contrast, some case study work moves beyond the analysis of
ambiguous causal frameworks to specific propositions. X1 is said to cause
Y across some range of cases and with some set of background conditions.
A good example is Ben Reilly’s study of the role of electoral systems in ethnically
divided societies. Reilly argues, on the basis of several case studies,
that single-transferable-vote (STV) electoral systems have a moderating
effect on group conflict relative to first-past-the-post (FPP) electoral sys-
tems.19
This sort of case study is risky insofar as it proposes a specific
causal hypothesis that can be tested – and potentially falsified – across a
broader range of cases.20
17 Clifford Geertz (1973: 26), echoing the suspicion of most historians and anthropologists –
of all those, presumably, who hold an interpretivist view of the social science
enterprise – describes generalizing across cases as clinical inference. “Rather than beginning
with a set of observations, attempting to subsume them under a governing law, such
inference begins with a set of (presumptive) signifiers, attempts to place them within an
intelligible frame. Measures are matched to theoretical predictions, but symptoms (even
when they are measured) are scanned for theoretical peculiarities – that is, they are diagnosed.”
For a brief overview of interpretivism, see Gerring (2004a). This genre of case
study may be referred to as interpretivist, idiographic, or “contrast of contexts” (Skocpol
and Somers 1980).
18 Collier and Collier (1991/2002); Pierson (2000, 2004).
19 Reilly (2001). For other examples see Eaton (2003); Elman (1997); Lijphart (1968); and
Stratmann and Baur (2002). This is the style of case study analysis associated with David
Collier (1993); Harry Eckstein (1975); Alexander George and Andrew Bennett (George
and Bennett 2005; George and Smoke 1974); Arend Lijphart (1975); Skocpol and Somers
(1980); and Robert Yin (1994). It is probably the dominant style in economics, political
science, and sociology.
20 Arguably, case studies are riskier than cross-case studies if, and insofar as, a theory is
generated in the absence of knowledge about a broader set of cases. In this respect, case
study work is commendable, from a Popperian perspective. However, I don’t advise this
sort of “blind” case study work, and doubt that it ever really occurs.
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76 II. Doing Case Studies
The Particular and the General
I have stipulated that the concept of a case study is, at least to some extent,
generalizing. A case study, strictly speaking, must generalize across a set
of cases (see Chapter Two).21
However, the breadth of an inference is
obviously a matter of many degrees. No case study (so-called) denies the
importance of the case under special focus, and no case study forswears
the generalizing impulse altogether. So the particularizing/generalizing distinction
is rightly understood as a continuum, not a dichotomy. Case studies
typically partake of both worlds. They are studies both of something
particular and of something more general.
This tension is apparent in Graham Allison’s well-known study – whose
subtitle, Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, invokes a narrow topic,
while the title, Essence of Decision, suggests a much larger topic (government
decision making). Evidently, different propositions within this same
work apply to different subjects, a complication that is noted explicitly by
the author. The particularizing/generalizing distinction helps to categorize
different studies or different moments within the same study.
Not surprisingly, one finds a good deal of disputation about the appropriate
scope of inferences generated by case study research. Jack Goldstone
argues that case studies are “aimed at providing explanations for
particular cases, or groups of similar cases, rather than at providing general
hypotheses that apply uniformly to all cases in a suspected case-
universe.”22
Alexander George and Richard Smoke advise the use of
case studies for the formulation of what they call “contingent generalizations”
– “if circumstances A then outcome O.”23
Like many case
study researchers, they lean toward a style of analysis that investigates
differences across cases or across subtypes, rather than commonalities.
Harry Eckstein, on the other hand, envisions case studies that confirm
(or disconfirm) hypotheses as broad as those provided by cross-case
studies.24
Sometimes, the particularizing or generalizing quality of a case study
is driven by the concerns of the investigator. It is said that some analysts
would prefer to explain 90 percent of the variance in a single case,
while others would rather explain 10 percent of the variance across
21 In French, the connotation is quite different. L’Analyse de cas is understood to mean a
single-event study, not a case study of some broader phenomenon.
22 Goldstone (1997: 108).
23 George and Smoke (1974: 96). See also George and Bennett (2005: 30–1).
24 Eckstein (1975).
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Preliminaries 77
100 cases. There are lumpers (generalizers) and splitters (particularizers).
Economists, political scientists, and sociologists are usually more interested
in generalizing than in particularizing, while anthropologists and
historians are nowadays more interested in explaining particular contexts.
We have already discussed the trade-off between depth and breadth
(Chapter Three).
The particularizing/generalizing tug-of-war is also conditioned by the
shape of the empirical phenomena. With respect to the topic of social
mobility, John Goldthorpe and Robert Erikson note that while some patterns
are well explained by cross-case (general) models, others are resistant
to those general explanations.
Our analyses pointed . . . to the far greater importance of historically formed
cultural or institutional features or political circumstances which could not be
expressed as variable values except in a quite artificial way. For example, levels
of social fluidity were not highly responsive to the overall degree of educational
inequality within nations, but patterns of fluidity did often reflect the distinctive,
institutionally shaped character of such inequality in particular nations, such as
Germany or Japan. Or again, fluidity was affected less by the presence of a state
socialist regime per se than by the significantly differing policies actually pursued
by the Polish, Hungarian or Czechoslovak regimes on such matters as the collectivization
of agriculture or the recruitment of the intelligentsia. In such instances,
then, it seemed to us that the retention of proper names and adjectives in our
explanatory accounts was as unavoidable as it was desirable, and that little was
to be gained in seeking to bring such historically specific effects within the scope
of theory of any kind.25
This empirical field offers a good example of how a single phenomenon
(social mobility) may exhibit features that are both uniform and unique
across the chosen cases.
Statistical researchers will be familiar with the technique of “fixed
effects,” which incorporate a unique intercept for each unit in a timeseries
cross-section model. This is another way of capturing the notion
of diversity-within-uniformity – case specificity coexisting with case
generality.
Case study research format generally occupies an in-between methodological
zone that is part “idiographic” and part “nomothetic” (I use
these terms with extreme circumspection, since they contain so many different
meanings). Some studies lean toward the former, others toward the
latter.
25 Goldthorpe (1997: 17).
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78 II. Doing Case Studies
Indeed, a degree of ambiguity is inherent in the enterprise of the case
study. Avner Greif offers the following caveat at the conclusion of his
analytic narrative of late medieval Genoa:
This study demonstrates the complexity of investigating self-enforcing political
systems. Such an investigation requires a detailed examination of the particularities
of the time and place under consideration, utilizing a coherent, context-specific
model. Thus it may be premature to attempt to generalize based on this study
regarding the sources and implications of self-enforcing political systems.26
Here a researcher steeped in the nomothetic tradition of economics comes
to terms with the fact that generalizations based on his own case study
work are highly speculative. It is not clear how far they might extend.27
Indeed, it is difficult to write a study of a single case that does not also
function as a case study, and vice versa. Nor is it always easy to neatly
separate the single-case and cross-case components of a work. The reason
for this structural ambiguity is that the utility of the case study rests on its
double function. One wishes to know both what is particular to that unit
and what is general about it, and these elements are often unclear. Thus,
in her study of multilateral economic sanctions, Lisa Martin confesses to
her readers that
although I have chosen the cases to allow testing the hypotheses [of theoretical
interest], other factors inevitably appear that seem to have had a significant influence
on cooperation in particular cases. Because few authors have focused on the
question of cooperation in cases of economic sanctions, I devote some attention to
these factors when they arise, rather than keeping my analysis within the bounds
of the hypotheses outlined in [the theory chapter].28
26 Greif (1998: 59). Weingast (1998: 153), in the same volume, notes that his case study
“does not afford general tests on a series of other cases.” See also the introductory and
concluding chapters to this influential volume (Bates et al. 1998: 11, 231, 234). On the
other hand, Levi elsewhere (1997: 6) insists that “analytic narrative combines detailed
research of specific cases with a more general model capable of producing hypotheses
about a significant range of cases outside the sample of the particular project.”
27 George and Smoke (1974: 105) offer parallel reflections on their own case studies, focused
on deterrence in international relations. “These case studies are of twofold value. First,
they provide an empirical base for the theoretical analysis. . . . But second, the case studies
are intended to stand in their own right as historical explanations of the outcomes of
many of the major deterrence efforts of the Cold War period. They are ‘historical’ in
the sense that they are, of course, retrospective. However, they are also analytical in the
sense that we employ a variety of tools, concepts in attempting to explain the reasons
behind a particular outcome in terms of the inner logic of the deterrence process [a logic
that presumably extends across past, present and future]. They are therefore as much
‘political science’ as they are ‘history.’ ”
28 Martin (1992: 97).
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Preliminaries 79
It should be kept in mind that case studies often tackle subjects about
which little was previously known or about which existing knowledge is
fundamentally flawed. The case study typically presents original research
of some sort. Indeed, it is the opportunity to study a single case in great
depth that constitutes one of the primary virtues of the case study method
(see Chapter Three).
Consider that if a researcher were to restrict herself only to elements of
the case that were generalizable (i.e., if she rigorously maintains a nomothetic
mode of analysis), a reader might justifiably complain. Such rigor
would clarify the population of the primary inference, but it would also
constitute a considerable waste of scholarly energy. Imagine a study of
economic growth that focuses on Mauritius as a case study yet refuses
to engage causal questions unless they are clearly applicable to other
countries (since this work is supposed to function as a case study of a
more general phenomenon, growth). No mention of factors specific to
the Mauritian case is allowed; all proper nouns are converted into common
nouns.29
Imagine that the fruit of an anthropologist’s ten-year study
of a remote tribe, never heretofore visited, culminates in the analysis of a
particular causal relationship deemed to be generalizable, but at the cost
of ignoring all other features of tribal life in the resulting study. One can
only suppose that colleagues, mentors, and funding agencies would be
unhappy with an ethnography so tightly focused on a general (cross-case)
causal issue. Studies of the foregoing sort do not exist, because they are
unduly general.
Since it is often difficult to tell which of the many features of a given
case are typical of a larger set of cases (and hence fodder for generalizable
inferences) and which are particular to the case under study, the appropriate
expedient is for the writer to report all facts and hypotheses that
might be relevant – in short, to overreport. Much of the detail provided
by the typical case study may be regarded as “field notes” of plausible
utility for future researchers, perhaps having rather different agendas.
In sum, it seems justifiable for case studies to function on two levels
simultaneously, the case itself and some broader class of (perhaps
difficult-to-specify) cases. The defining characteristic of the case study
is its ability to infer a larger whole from a much smaller part. Yet both
retain some importance in the final product. Thus, all case studies are to a
certain extent betwixt and between. They partake of two worlds: they are
29 Przeworski and Teune (1970).
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80 II. Doing Case Studies
particularizing and generalizing. (Note that one portion of this book – the
epilogue – is focused on work that is strongly particularizing, i.e., where
the intent of the author is to elucidate a single outcome rather than a class
of outcomes. Elsewhere, I am concerned primarily with the generalizing
component of case study research.)
Specifying a Population
Given the structural conflict between the two moments of the case study,
it is absolutely crucial that case study writers be as clear as possible
about which of their propositions are intended to describe the case under
intensive investigation, and which are intended to apply to a broader set
of cases. Each inference must have a clear breadth, domain, scope, or
population (terms that I use more or less interchangeably).
Regrettably, these matters are often left ambiguous. Studies focused on
some element of politics in the United States often frame their analysis as
a study of politics – by implication, politics in general (everywhere and
always).30
One is left to wonder whether the study pertains only to American
politics, to all contemporary polities, or in varying degrees to both.
Indeed, the slippage between study and case study may account for much
of the confusion that we encounter when reading single-case analyses.
Ongoing controversies over the validity of Theda Skocpol’s analysis of
social revolution, Michael Porter’s analysis of industrial competitiveness,
Alexander George and Richard Smoke’s study of deterrence failure, as
well as many other case-based studies, rest in part on the failure of these
authors to clarify the scope of their inferences.31
It is not clear what these
studies are about. At any rate, it is open to dispute. If, at the end of a study,
the population of the primary inference remains ambiguous, so does the
hypothesis. It is not falsifiable. Clarifying an inference may involve some
sacrifice in narrative flow, but it is rightly regarded as the entry price of
social science.
Caution is evidently required when specifying the population of an
inference. One does not wish to claim too much. Nor does one wish to
claim too little. Mistakes can be made in either direction, as we have
observed. In this discussion I shall emphasize the virtues of breadth, for
it is my impression that many case study researchers lean toward narrow
30 See e.g., Campbell et al. (1960).
31 Skocpol (1979); Porter (1990); George and Smoke (1974). See also discussion in Collier
and Mahoney (1996); Geddes (1990); and King, Keohane, and Verba (1994).
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Preliminaries 81
propositions – which seem more modest, more conservative – without
realizing the costs of doing so.
In discussion of two extraordinarily influential works of comparative
history – Barrington Moore’s Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy
and Theda Skocpol’s States and Social Revolutions – Skocpol and
Margaret Somers declare that these studies, and others like them, “cannot
be readily generalized beyond the cases actually discussed,” for they
are inductive rather than deductive exercises in causal analysis. Thus, any
attempt to project the arguments in these works onto future revolutions,
or onto revolutions outside the class of specified outcomes, is foolhardy.
The authors defend this limited scope by likening case-based research to
a map. “No matter how good the maps were of, say, North America, the
pilot could not use the same map to fly over other continents.”32
The map metaphor is apt for some phenomena, but not for others. It
betrays the authors’ general assumption that most phenomena of interest
to social science are highly variable across contexts, like the roadways and
waterways of a continent. Consider the causes of revolutions, as explored
by Skocpol in her path-breaking work. Skocpol carefully bounds her conclusions,
which are said to apply only to states that are wealthy and independent
(through their history) of colonial rule – and hence exclude other
revolutionary cases such as Mexico (1910), Bolivia (1952), and Cuba
(1959).33
One’s willingness to accept this scope restriction is contingent
upon accepting an important premise, namely, that the causes of revolution
in poor countries, or in countries with colonial legacies, are different
from the causes of revolution in other countries. One must accept the
assumption of unit homogeneity among the chosen cases and unit heterogeneity
among the class of excluded cases. This is a plausible claim, but it
is not beyond question. (Were the causes of revolution really so different
in Cuba and Russia?)
Evidently, the plausible scope of an argument depends on the particular
argument and on judgments about various cases, inside and outside of the
proposed population. When a researcher restricts an inference to a small
population of cases, or to the population that she has studied (which may
be large or small), she is open to the charge of gerrymandering – establishing
a domain on no other basis than that certain cases seem to fit the inference
under study. Donald Green and Ian Shapiro call this an “arbitrary
32 Skocpol and Somers (1980: 195). See also Goldthorpe (2003: 47) and Skocpol (1994).
33 Skocpol (1979). See also Collier and Mahoney (1996: 81) and George and Bennett (2005:
120).
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82 II. Doing Case Studies
domain restriction.”34
The breadth of an inference must make sense; there
must be an explicable reason for including some cases and excluding others.
If the inference is about oranges, then all oranges – but no apples –
should be included in the population. If it is about fruit, then both apples
and oranges must be included. Defining the population – as, for example,
(a) oranges or (b) fruit – is thus critical to defining the inference.
The same goes for temporal boundaries. If an inference is limited to
a specific period, it is incumbent upon the writer to explain why that
period is different from others. It will not do for writers to hide behind
the presumption that social science cannot predict the future. Theoretical
arguments cannot opt out of predicting future events if the future is like
the present in ways that are relevant to the theory. Indeed, if future evidence
were deemed ineligible for consideration in judging the accuracy of
already-existing theories, then writers would have effectively side-stepped
any out-of-sample tests (given that, in their construction, many social scientific
theories have already exhausted all possible evidence that is currently
available).
Ceteris paribus, social science gives preference to broad inferences over
narrow inferences. There are several reasons for this disciplinary preference.
First, the scope of an inference usually correlates directly with its
theoretical significance. Broad empirical propositions are theory-building;
narrow propositions usually have less theoretical significance (unless they
are subsumable within some larger theoretical framework). Second, broad
empirical propositions usually have greater policy relevance, particularly
if they extend into the future. They help us to design effective institutions
and policies. Finally, the broader the inference, the greater its falsifiability,
for the relevant evidence that might be interrogated to establish the
truth or falsehood of the inference is multiplied. For all these reasons,
hypotheses should be extended as far as is logically justifiable.
Of course, no theory is infinitely extendable. Indeed, the notion of a
“universal covering law” is deceptive, since even the most far-reaching
social scientific theory has limits. The issue, then, is how to determine
the appropriate boundaries of a given proposition. An arbitrary scope
condition is one that cannot be rationally justified: there is no reason to
suppose that the theory might extend to a specified temporal or spatial
boundary but no further – or nearer. A theory of revolution that pertains
to the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, but not to the
34 Green and Shapiro (1999).
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Preliminaries 83
twenty-first century, must justify this temporal exclusion. It must also justify
the decision to lump three quite diverse centuries together in one single
population. Similarly, a theory of revolution that pertains to Africa but
not to Asia must justify this spatial exclusion. And a theory of revolution
that pertains to the whole world must justify this spatial inclusion. It is
not clear that the phenomenon of revolution is similar in all cultural and
geopolitical arenas.
My point is a simple one: scope conditions may be arbitrarily large,
as well as arbitrarily small. The researcher should not “define out,” or
“define in,” temporal or spatial cases that do not fit the prescribed pattern
unless she can think of good reasons why this might be so. All populations
must not only be specified, but also justified. Upon this justification hinges
the plausibility of the theory as well as the identification of a workable
research design.
If, after much cogitation, the scope of an inference still seems ineradicably
ambiguous, the writer may adopt the following expedient. Usually,
it is possible to specify a limited set of cases that a given proposition must
cover if it is to make any sense at all – presumably, the set of cases that are
most similar to the case(s) under study. At the same time, it is often possible
to identify a larger population of cases that may be included in the
circumference of the inference, though their inclusion is more speculative –
presumably because they share fewer characteristics with the case(s) under
study. If the researcher distinguishes carefully between these two populations,
readers will have a clear idea of the manifest scope, and the potential
scope, of a given inference.
Cross-Level Reasoning
The case study (by definition) attempts to tell us about something broader
than the immediate subject of investigation. It is a synecdochic style of
investigation, studying the whole through intensive focus on one (or several)
of its parts. While this inferential step from sample to population is
characteristic of all empirical investigations (leaving aside the relatively
rare instance of investigations that are able to encompass the whole population
of interest), it is particularly problematic wherever the sample is
limited to one or several, for reasons explored in the following chapter.
The wide gap between sample and population, while posing an inferential
danger, also offers a unique opportunity. In particular, it affords
the opportunity for a different style of causal inference, one resting at
a lower level of analysis. This means that case study research is, almost
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84 II. Doing Case Studies
invariably, cross-level research. It operates at the level of the principal
units of analysis (the cases) as well as within selected cases (within-case
evidence). By way of conclusion to this chapter I want to emphasize the
ceaseless back-and-forth, cross-level nature of case study research.
Whatever the field, and whatever the tools, case studies and cross-case
studies should be viewed as partners in the iterative task of causal investigation.
Cross-case arguments draw on within-case assumptions, and
within-case arguments draw on cross-case assumptions. Neither works
very well when isolated from the other. In most circumstances, therefore,
it is advisable to conduct both types of analysis. Each is made stronger by
the other.
Christopher Udry testifies to the utility of this interplay in his own area
of expertise, development economics.
The hallmark of this work is that it engages the researcher in an interactive process
of detailed observation, construction of economic models, data collection, and
empirical testing. An initial hypothesis is refined and clarified through detailed
observation, which informs the collection of appropriate data. As the economic
environment is clarified during the course of fieldwork, the data-collection procedure
can be adjusted in response. Finally, the research proceeds to formal statistical
analysis and, one hopes, to new hypotheses. . . . The relatively small scale of the
research facilitates this iterative process, particularly with respect to the ability of
the researcher to quickly modify data collection.35
Ideally, the case study researcher should think carefully about crosscase
evidence before conducting the time-consuming effort of an in-depth
study focused on a single case. One should have at least a preliminary idea
of how one’s results are likely to fit into a broader set of cases. In any event,
all case studies should at some point be generalized. That is, the author
should clarify how the intensively studied case represents some broader
population of cases. In many instances case study research results in a new
proposition (or a significant modification of an existing proposition), one
not previously tested in a cross-case sample. If so, it is imperative that
the case study researcher reveal, or at the very least suggest, how this new
proposition might be operationalized across other cases, what the breadth
of the inference is, and what a reasonable cross-case test might consist of.
The exploratory case study should culminate in cross-case confirmatory
analysis.
Granted, the case study researcher may feel that in light of the in-depth
knowledge she has of her case and her comparative ignorance of other
35 Udry (2003: 107).
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Preliminaries 85
cases, it would be unreasonable and irresponsible to speculate on the latter.
Misgivings are understandable. However, if properly framed – as a hunch
rather than a conclusion – there is no need to refrain from cross-case
speculation. These hunches are vital signposts for future research. They
bring greater clarity to the inference of primary interest and point the way
to a cumulative research agenda. No case study research should be allowed
to conclude without at least a nod to how one’s case might be situated
in a broader universe of cases. Without this cross-case generalization, the
case study sits alone. Its insights, regardless of their brilliance, cannot be
integrated into a broader field of study.
The larger point, then, is that cross-case analysis is presumed in all
case study analysis. The case study is, by definition, a study of some phenomenon
broader than the unit under investigation. The more one knows
about this broader population of cases, the easier it will be to choose
cases and to understand their significance. Similarly, the more one knows
about individual cases, the easier it will be to interpret causal patterns
that extend across a population of cases, and to construct appropriate
causal models.36
Cross-case and within-case analysis are interdependent.
It is difficult to imagine cross-case research that does not draw upon case
study work, or case study work that disregards adjacent cases. They are
distinct, but synergistic, tools in the analysis of social life.37
36 Gordon and Smith (2004).
37 The same point was made many decades ago by L. L. Bernard (1928: 310), and again by
Samuel Stouffer (1941: 357).
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5
Techniques for Choosing Cases
Case study analysis focuses on a small number of cases that are expected
to provide insight into a causal relationship across a larger population
of cases. This presents the researcher with a formidable problem of case
selection. Which cases should be chosen?
In large-sample research, case selection is usually handled by some
version of randomization. If a sample consists of a large enough number
of independent random draws, the selected cases are likely to be
fairly representative of the overall population on any given variable.
Furthermore, if cases in the population are distributed homogeneously
across the ranges of the key variables, then it is probable that some
cases will be included from each important segment of those ranges,
thus providing sufficient leverage for causal analysis. (For situations in
which cases with theoretically relevant values of the variables are rare, a
stratified sample that oversamples some subset of the population may be
employed.)
A demonstration of the fact that random sampling is likely to produce
a representative sample is shown in Figure 5.1, a histogram of the mean
values of 500 random samples, each consisting of 1,000 cases. For each
case, one variable has been measured: a continuous variable that falls
somewhere between zero and one. In the population, the mean value of
this variable is 0.5. How representative are the random samples? One
good way of judging this is to compare the means of each of the 500
random samples to the population mean. As can be seen in the figure, all
of the sample means are very close to the population mean. So random
sampling was a success, and each of the 500 samples turns out to be fairly
representative of the population.
86
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 87
0.0
020406080100
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Numberofsamples
Mean value of X
figure 5.1. Sample means of large-sample draws. A histogram showing the
mean values of one variable in 500 samples of 1,000 cases each. Population
mean = 0.5.
However, in case study research the sample is small (by definition),
and this makes randomization problematic. Consider what would happen
if the sample size were changed from 1,000 cases to only 5 cases.
The results are shown in Figure 5.2. On average, these small-N random
samples produce the right answer, so the procedure culminates in
results that are unbiased. However, many of the sample means are rather
far from the population mean, and some are quite far indeed. Hence,
even though this case-selection technique produces representative samples
on average, any given sample may be wildly unrepresentative. In
statistical terms, the problem is that small sample sizes tend to produce
estimates with a great deal of variance – sometimes referred to
as a problem of precision. For this reason, random sampling is unreliable
in small-N research. (Note that in this chapter “N” refers to
cases, not observations.) Moreover, there is no guarantee that a few
cases, chosen randomly, will provide leverage into the research question
that animates an investigation. The sample might be representative, but
uninformative.
If random sampling is inappropriate as a selection method in case
study research, how, then, is one to choose a sample comprised of
one or several cases? Keep in mind that the goals of case selection
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88 II. Doing Case Studies
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Mean value of X
200406080100
Numberofsamples
figure 5.2. Sample means of small-sample draws. A histogram showing the mean
values of one variable in 500 samples of 5 cases each. Population mean = 0.5.
remain the same regardless of the size of the chosen sample. Large-N
cross-case analysis and case study analysis both aim to identify cases that
reproduce the relevant causal features of a larger universe (representativeness)
and provide variation along the dimensions of theoretical interest
(causal leverage). In case study research, however, these goals must be
met through purposive (nonrandom) selection procedures. These may be
enumerated according to nine techniques, from which we derive nine case
study types: typical, diverse, extreme, deviant, influential, crucial, pathway,
most-similar, and most-different.
Table 5.1 summarizes each type, including its general definition, a technique
for identifying it within a population of potential cases, its uses,
and its probable representativeness. While each of these techniques is
normally practiced on one or several cases (the diverse, most-similar, and
most-different methods require at least two), all may employ additional
cases – with the proviso that, at some point, they will no longer offer an
opportunity for in-depth analysis and will thus no longer be case studies
in the usual sense.
The main point of this chapter is to show how case-selection procedures
rest, at least implicitly, upon an analysis of a larger population of potential
cases. The case(s) identified for intensive study is chosen from a population,
and the reasons for this choice hinge upon the way in which it is
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 89
table 5.1. Techniques of case-selection
1. Typical
r Definition: Cases (one or more) are typical examples of some cross-case
relationship.
r Cross-case technique: A low-residual case (on-lier).
r Uses: Hypothesis testing.
r Representativeness: By definition, the typical case is representative.
2. Diverse
r Definition: Cases (two or more) illuminate the full range of variation on X1, Y,
or X1/Y.
r Cross-case technique: Diversity may be calculated by (a) categorical values of
X1 or Y (e.g., Jewish, Catholic, Protestant), (b) standard deviations of X1 or Y
(if continuous), or (c) combinations of values (e.g., based on cross-tabulations,
factor analysis, or discriminant analysis).
r Uses: Hypothesis generating or hypothesis testing.
r Representativeness: Diverse cases are likely to be representative in the minimal
sense of representing the full variation of the population (though they might
not mirror the distribution of that variation in the population).
3. Extreme
r Definition: Cases (one or more) exemplify extreme or unusual values on X1 or
Y relative to some univariate distribution.
r Cross-case technique: A case lying many standard deviations away from the
mean of X1 or Y.
r Uses: Hypothesis generating (open-ended probe of X1 or Y).
r Representativeness: Achievable only in comparison to a larger sample of cases.
4. Deviant
r Definition: Cases (one or more) deviate from some cross-case relationship.
r Cross-case technique: A high-residual case (outlier).
r Uses: Hypothesis generating (to develop new explanations of Y).
r Representativeness: After the case study is conducted, it may be corroborated
by a cross-case test, which includes a general hypothesis (a new variable) based
on the case study research. If the case is now an on-lier, it may be considered
representative of the new relationship.
5. Influential
r Definition: Cases (one or more) with influential configurations of the
independent variables.
r Cross-case technique: Hat matrix or Cook’s distance.
r Uses: Hypothesis testing (to verify the status of cases that may influence the
results of a cross-case analysis).
r Representativeness: Not pertinent, given the goals of the influential-case study.
6. Crucial
r Definition: Cases (one or more) are most- or least-likely to exhibit a given
outcome.
r Cross-case technique: Qualitative assessment of relative crucialness.
(continued)
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90 II. Doing Case Studies
table 5.1 (continued)
r Uses: Hypothesis testing (confirmatory or disconfirmatory).
r Representativeness: Assessable by reference to prior expectations about the
case and the population.
7. Pathway
r Definition: Cases (one or more) where X1, and not X2, is likely to have caused
a positive outcome (Y=1).
r Cross-case technique: Cross-tab (for categorical variables) or residual analysis
(for continuous variables).
r Uses: Hypothesis testing (to probe causal mechanisms).
r Representativeness: May be tested by examining residuals for the chosen cases.
8. Most-similar
r Definition: Cases (two or more) are similar on specified variables other than
X1 and/or Y.
r Cross-case technique: Matching.
r Uses: Hypothesis generating or hypothesis testing.
r Representativeness: May be tested by examining residuals for the chosen cases.
9. Most-different
r Definition: Cases (two or more) are different on specified variables other than
X1 and Y.
r Cross-case technique: The inverse of the most-similar method of large-N case
selection (see above).
r Uses: Hypothesis generating or hypothesis testing (eliminating deterministic
causes).
r Representativeness: May be tested by examining residuals for the chosen cases.
situated within that population. This is the origin of the terminology just
listed – typical, diverse, extreme, and so on. It follows that case-selection
procedures in case study research may build upon prior cross-case analysis
and depend, at the very least, upon certain assumptions about a broader
population. This, in turn, reinforces a central perspective of the book:
case study analysis does not exist, and is impossible to conceptualize, in
isolation from cross-case analysis.
To be sure, the sort of cross-case analysis that might be possible in a
given research context rests on how large the population of potential cases
is, on how much information one has about these cases, on what sort of
general model might be constructed, and with what degree of confidence
that model might be applied. In order for most quantitative (statistical)
case-selection techniques to be fruitful, several caveats must be satisfied.
First, the inference must pertain to more than several cases; otherwise,
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 91
statistical analysis is usually problematic. Second, relevant data must be
available for that population, or a significant sample of that population,
on key variables, and the researcher must feel reasonably confident in
the accuracy and conceptual validity of these variables. Third, all the
standard considerations of statistical research (e.g., identification, specification,
robustness) must be carefully considered and, wherever possible,
investigated. I shall not dilate further on these familiar issues except to
warn the researcher against the unthinking use of statistical techniques.1
When these requirements are not met, the researcher must employ a
qualitative approach to case selection. Thus, the point of this chapter is
not to insist upon quantitative techniques of case selection in case study
research. My purpose, rather, is to elucidate general principles that might
guide the process of case selection in case study research, whether the technique
is quantitative or qualitative. Some of these principles are already
widely known and widely practiced. Others are less common, or less
well understood. Most of these methods are viable – indeed, are virtually
identical – in qualitative and quantitative contexts. Hence, the statistical
sections of this chapter usually simply reformulate the logic of qualitative
case-selection procedures as they might be applied to large populations
where the foregoing caveats apply.
Typical Case
In order for a focused case study to provide insight into a broader phenomenon,
it must be representative of a broader set of cases. It is in this
context that one may speak of a typical-case approach to case selection.
The typical case exemplifies what is considered to be a typical set of values,
given some general understanding of a phenomenon. By construction, the
typical case is also a representative case; I employ these two terms syn-
onymously.2
(The antonym, deviance, is discussed in a later section.)
Some typical cases serve an exploratory role. Here, the author chooses
a case based upon a set of descriptive characteristics and then probes for
causal relationships. Robert and Helen Lynd selected a single city “to be
1 Gujarati (2003); Kennedy (2003). Interestingly, the potential of cross-case statistics in
helping to choose cases for in-depth analysis is recognized in some of the earliest discussions
of the case study method (e.g., Queen 1928: 226).
2 The latter term is often employed in the psychological literature (e.g., Hersen and Barlow
1976: 24).
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92 II. Doing Case Studies
as representative as possible of contemporary American life.” Specifically,
they were looking for a city with
1) a temperate climate; 2) a sufficiently rapid rate of growth to ensure the presence
of a plentiful assortment of the growing pains accompanying contemporary social
change; 3) an industrial culture with modern, high-speed machine production;
4) the absence of dominance of the city’s industry by a single plant (i.e., not a
one-industry town); 5) a substantial local artistic life to balance its industrial
activity . . . ; and 6) the absence of any outstanding peculiarities or acute local
problems which would mark the city off from the midchannel sort of American
community.3
After examining a number of options, the Lynds decided that Muncie,
Indiana, was more representative than, or at least as representative as,
other midsized cities in America, thus qualifying as a typical case.
This is an inductive approach to case selection. Note that typicality
may be understood according to the mean, median, or mode on a particular
dimension; there may be multiple dimensions (as in the foregoing
example); and each may be differently weighted (some dimensions may be
more important than others). Where the selection criteria are multidimensional
and a large sample of potential cases is in play, some form of factor
analysis may be useful in identifying the most-typical case(s). Although
the Lynds did not employ a statistical model to evaluate potential cases,
it is easy to see how they might have done so, at least along the first five
criteria. (The final criteria would be difficult to operationalize in a large
sample, since it involves “peculiarities” of any sort.)
However, the more common employment of the typical-case method
involves a causal model of some phenomenon of theoretical interest. Here,
the researcher has identified a particular outcome (Y), and perhaps a
specific X1/Y hypothesis, which she wishes to investigate. In order to do
so, she looks for a typical example of that causal relationship. Intuitively,
one imagines that a case selected according to the mean values of all
parameters must be a typical case relative to some causal relationship.
However, this is by no means assured.
Suppose that the Lynds were primarily interested in explaining feelings
of trust/distrust among members of different social classes (one of the
implicit research goals of the Middletown study). This outcome is likely
to be affected by many factors, only some of which are included in their
six selection criteria. So choosing cases with respect to a causal hypothesis
3 Lynd and Lynd (1929/1956), quoted in Yin (2004: 29–30).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 93
involves, first of all, identifying the relevant variables. It involves, secondly,
the selection of a case that has “typical” values relative to the overall
causal model; it is well explained.
Note that cases with atypical scores on a particular dimension (e.g.,
very high or very low) may still be typical examples of a causal relationship.
Indeed, they may be more typical than cases whose values lie close
to the mean.
Note also that because the typical case embodies a typical value on
some set of variables, the variance of interest to the researcher must lie
within that case. Specifically, the typical case of some phenomenon may
be helpful in exploring causal mechanisms and in solving identification
problems (e.g., endogeneity between X1 and Y, an omitted variable that
may account for X1 and Y, or some other spurious causal association).
Depending upon the results of the case study, the author may confirm
an existing hypothesis, disconfirm that hypothesis, or reframe it in a way
that is consistent with the findings of the case study.
Cross-Case Technique
How might one identify a typical case from a large population of potential
cases? If the causal relationship involves only a single independent
variable and if the relationship is quite strong, it may be possible to
identify typical cases simply by eyeballing the evidence. A strong positive
association between X1 and Y means that a case with similar (high,
low, or middling) values on X1 and Y is probably a typical case. However,
there are few bivariate causal relationships in social science. Usually,
more than one causal factor must be evaluated, even if the additional variables
serve only as controls. Moreover, without some overall assessment
of the cross-case evidence it may be difficult to say whether the general
relationship is positive or negative, strong or weak. Thus, in any large-N
sample (i.e., whenever the number of potential cases is great) it is advisable
to perform a formal cross-case analysis in order to identify “typical”
cases.
Suppose that an arbitrary case in the population, denoted as case i,
has a known score on each of several relevant variables. For the sake
of economy of language, let the variables involved in the relationship be
labeled yi and x1,i, . . . xK,i, where yi is the score of case i on one variable and
each of the xK,i’s is the score of case i on one of the K other variables under
consideration. Thus, the relationship involves a total of K + 1 variables.
K can be any integer greater than or equal to 1.
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94 II. Doing Case Studies
With these symbols, the established relationships among the variables
can be expressed mathematically. The idea is to find a function, f(), such
that the average score of y for cases with some specific set of scores on
x1 . . . xK is equal to f(x1, . . . xK). Thus, the function f() should be chosen
to capture the key ideas about the relationship of interest. A familiar
example may make this discussion clearer.
Often, researchers choose an additive (linear) function to play the role
of f(). Using traditional statistical notation, in which the average score of
yi across infinite repetitions of case i is denoted by its expectation, E(yi),
a linear function represents a relationship in which:
E(yi ) = β0 + β1x1,i + · · · + βKxK,i (5.1)
Each of the βK’s in this equation represents an unknown constant. Regression
analysis allows researchers to use known information about the y and
x1 . . . xK variables for a set of cases to estimate these unknown constants.
Estimates of βK will be denoted here as bK.
Using this terminology, we can now develop a formula for the degree to
which a particular case is typical in light of a given relationship. A case is
“typical” in the terms of small-N methodology to the extent that its score
on the y variable is close to the average score on that variable for a case
with the same scores on the x1 . . . xK variables, as given by equation 5.1.
That is,
Typicality(i) = −abs[yi − E(yi |x1,i , . . . xK,i )] (5.2)
= −abs[yi − b0 + b1x1,i + · · · + bKxK,i ]
According to this discussion, the typicality of a case with respect to a
particular relationship is simply −1 times the absolute value of that case’s
error term (its residual) in regression analysis. This measure of typicality
ranges, in theory, from negative infinity to zero. When a case falls close to
the regression line, its typicality will be just below zero. When a case falls
far from the regression line, its typicality will be far below zero. Typical
cases have small residuals.
In a large-N sample, there will often be many cases with high (i.e., nearzero)
typicality scores. In such situations, researchers may elect not to
focus on the cases with the highest estimated typicality, for such estimates
may not be accurate enough to distinguish among several almost-identical
cases. Instead, researchers may choose to randomly select from the set
of cases with very high typicality, or to choose from among these cases
according to additional criteria, such as those to be discussed here, or by
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 95
reason of practicality (cost, convenience, etc.). However, scholars should
try to avoid selecting from among the set of typical cases in a way that
is correlated with relevant omitted variables; such selection procedures
complicate the task of causal inference.
Consider the (presumably causal) relationship between economic
development and level of democracy.4
Democracy is understood here as
a continuous concept along a twenty-one-point scale, from −10 (most
autocratic) to +10 (most democratic).5
Economic development is measured
in standard fashion by per capita GDP.6
Figure 5.3 displays this
relationship in the form of a bivariate scatterplot. The classical result is
strikingly illustrated: wealthy countries are almost exclusively democratic.
(For heuristic purposes, certain simplifying assumptions are adopted. I
shall assume, for example, that this measure of democracy is continuous
and unbounded.7
I shall assume, more importantly, that the true relationship
between economic development and democracy is log-linear, positive,
and causally asymmetric, with economic development treated as exogenous
and democracy as endogenous.8
)
Given this general relationship, how might a set of “typical” cases be
selected? Recall that the Y variable is simply the democracy score, and
there is only one independent variable: logged per capita GDP. Hence,
the simplest relevant model is:
E(Polityi ) = β0 + β1GDPi (5.3)
For our purposes, the most important feature of this model is the residuals
for each case. Figure 5.4 shows a histogram of these residuals. Obviously,
a fairly large number of cases have quite low residuals and therefore
might be considered typical. A higher proportion of cases fall far below
the regression line than far above it, suggesting that the model may be
4 Lipset (1959). Whether economic development has only the effect of maintaining democratic
regimes (Przeworski et al. 2000) or also of causing regime transitions (Boix and
Stokes 2003) is not relevant to the present discussion, where I assume a simple linear
relationship between wealth and democracy.
5 This scoring derives from the Polity2 variable in the Polity IV dataset (Marshall and
Jaggers 2005).
6 Data are drawn from the Penn World Tables dataset (Summers and Heston 1991).
7 But see Treier and Jackman (2003).
8 But see Gerring et al. (2005) and Przeworski et al. (2000).
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96 II. Doing Case Studies
Logged 1995 per capita GDP
1995combinedpolityscore
-50510
7 8 9 10
figure 5.3. The presumed relationship between economic development and
democracy. A scatterplot showing level of democracy (on the vertical axis)
and level of wealth (on the horizontal axis) of all available countries in 1995.
N = 131.
incomplete. Hopefully, within-case analysis will be able to shed light on
the reasons for the asymmetry.9
Because of the large number of cases with quite small residuals, the
researcher will have a range of options for selecting typical cases. Indeed,
in this example, twenty-six cases have a typicality score between 0 and −1.
Any or all of these might reasonably be selected as typical cases with
respect to the model described in equation 5.3.
Conclusion
Typicality responds to the first desideratum of case selection, that the
chosen case be representative of a population of cases (as defined by
the primary inference). Even so, it is important to remind ourselves that
a single-minded pursuit of representativeness does not ensure that this
desideratum will be achieved. Indeed, the issue of case representativeness
is not an issue that can ever be definitively settled in a case study format.
When one refers to a “typical case” one is saying, in effect, that the
probability of a case’s representativeness is high, relative to other cases.
Note that the measure of typicality introduced here, the size of a case’s
residual, can be misleading if the statistical model is misspecified. And
9 In this example, the asymmetry is probably due to the failure of the model to take into
account the restricted range of the dependent variable, as discussed earlier.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 97
Residual from robust regression
Numberofcases
-20 -15 -10 10-5 0 5
101520253005
figure 5.4. Potential typical cases. A histogram of the residuals from a robust
regression of logged per capita GDP on level of democracy.
it provides little insurance against errors that are purely stochastic. A
case may lie directly on the regression line but still be, in some important
respect, atypical. For example, it might have an odd combination of
values; the interaction of variables might be different from that in other
cases; or unusual causal mechanisms might be at work. Most important,
an analysis of residuals does not address problems of sample bias. If the
large-N sample is not representative of the relevent population then any
analysis based on the former is apt to be flawed. Typicality does not ensure
representativeness. For these reasons, it is important to supplement a statistical
analysis of cases with evidence drawn from the case in question
(the case study itself) and with our general knowledge of the world. One
should never judge a case solely by its residual. Yet, all other things being
equal, a case with a low residual is less likely to be unusual than a case with
a high residual, and to this extent the method of case selection outlined
here may be a helpful guide to case study researchers faced with a large
number of potential cases.
Diverse Case
A second case-selection strategy has as its primary objective the achievement
of maximum variance along relevant dimensions. I refer to this as a
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98 II. Doing Case Studies
diverse-case method. For obvious reasons, this method requires the selection
of a set of cases – at minimum, two – that are intended to represent
the full range of values characterizing X1, Y, or some particular X1/Y
relationship.10
Where the individual variable of interest is categorical (on/off, red/
black/blue, Jewish/Protestant/Catholic), the identification of diversity is
readily apparent. The investigator simply chooses one case from each
category. For a continuous variable, the choices are not so obvious. However,
the researcher is well advised to choose both extreme values (high
and low), and perhaps the mean or median as well. One may also look
for break-points in the distribution that seem to correspond to categorical
differences among cases. Or one may follow a theoretical hunch about
which threshold values count – that is, which ones are likely to produce
different values on Y.
Another sort of diverse case takes account of the values of multiple
variables (i.e., a vector) rather than a single variable. If these variables
are categorical, the identification of causal types rests upon the intersection
of each category. Two dichotomous variables produce a matrix
with four cells; three dichotomous variables produce a matrix of eight
cells, and so forth. If all variables are deemed relevant to the analysis,
the selection of diverse cases mandates the selection of one case drawn
from within each cell. Let us say that an outcome is thought to be
affected by sex, race (black/white), and marital status. Here, a diversecase
strategy of case selection would identify one case within each of these
intersecting cells – a total of eight cases. Again, things become more complicated
when one or more of the factors is continuous, rather than categorical.
Here, the diversity of case values do not fall neatly into cells.
Rather, these cells must be created by fiat – for example, high, medium,
low.
It will be seen that where multiple variables are under consideration,
the logic of diverse-case analysis rests upon the logic of typological theorizing
– where different combinations of variables are assumed to have
effects on an outcome that vary across types. George and Bennett define
a typological theory as
10 This method has not been given much attention by qualitative methodologists; hence, the
absence of a generally recognized name. It bears some resemblance to J. S. Mill’s Joint
Method of Agreement and Difference (Mill 1843/1872), which is to say, a mixture of
most-similar and most-different analysis, as discussed later. Patton (2002: 234) employs
the concept of “maximum variation (heterogeneity) sampling.”
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 99
a theory that specifies independent variables, delineates them into nominal, ordinal,
or interval categories, and provides not only hypotheses on how these variables
operate singly, but contingent generalizations on how and under what conditions
they behave in specified conjunctions or configurations to produce effects
on specified dependent variables. We call specified conjunctions or configurations
of the variables “types.” A fully specified typological theory provides hypotheses
on all of the mathematically possible types relating to a phenomenon, or on the
full ‘property space,’ to use Lazarsfeld’s term. Typological theories are rarely fully
specified, however, because researchers are usually interested only in the types that
are relatively common or that have the greatest implications for theory-building
or policy-making.11
George and Smoke, for example, wish to explore different types of deterrence
failure – by “fait accompli,” by “limited probe,” and by “controlled
pressure.” Consequently, they wish to find cases that exemplify each type
of causal mechanism.12
Diversity may thus refer to a range of variation on X1 or Y, or to a
particular combination of causal factors (with or without a consideration
of the outcome). In each instance, the goal of case selection is to capture
the full range of variation along the dimension(s) of interest.
Cross-Case Technique
Since diversity can mean many things, its employment in a large-N setting
is necessarily dependent upon how it is understood. If it is understood to
pertain only to a single variable (X1 or Y), then the task is fairly simple,
as we have discussed. Univariate traits are usually easy to discover in a
large-N setting through descriptive statistics or through visual inspection
of the data.
Where diversity refers to particular combinations of variables, the relevant
cross-case technique is some version of stratified random sampling (in
a probabilistic setting)13
or Qualitative Comparative Analysis (in a deterministic
setting).14
If the researcher suspects that a causal relationship is
affected not only by combinations of factors but also by their sequencing,
11 George and Bennett (2005: 235). See also Elman (2005) and Lazarsfeld and Barton
(1951).
12 More precisely, George and Smoke (1974: 534, 522–36, Chapter 18; see also discussion
in Collier and Mahoney 1996: 78) set out to investigate causal pathways and discovered,
in the course of their investigation of many cases, these three causal types. But for our
purposes what is important is that the final sample include at least one representative of
each “type.”
13 See Cochran (1977).
14 Ragin (2000).
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100 II. Doing Case Studies
then the technique of analysis must incorporate temporal elements.15
Thus, the method of identifying causal types rests upon whatever method
of identifying causal relationships is presumed to exist.
Note that the identification of distinct case types is intended to identify
groups of cases that are internally homogeneous (in all respects that might
affect the causal relationship of interest). Thus, the choice of cases within
each group should not be problematic, and may be accomplished through
random sampling. However, if there is suspected diversity within each
category, then measures should be taken to assure that the chosen cases
are typical of each category. A case study should not focus on an atypical
member of a subgroup.
Indeed, considerations of diversity and typicality often go together.
Thus, in a study of globalization and social welfare systems, Duane Swank
first identifies three distinctive groups of welfare states: “universalistic”
(social democratic), “corporatist conservative,” and “liberal.” Next, he
looks within each group to find the most-typical cases. He decides that
the Nordic countries are more typical of the universalistic model than
the Netherlands, since the latter has “some characteristics of the occupationally
based program structure and a political context of Christian
Democratic-led governments typical of the corporatist conservative
nations.”16
Thus, the Nordic countries are chosen as representative cases
within the universalistic case type, and are accompanied in the case-study
portion of his analysis by other cases chosen to represent the other welfare
state types (corporatist conservative and liberal).
Conclusion
Encompassing a full range of variation is likely to enhance the representativeness
of the sample of cases chosen by the researcher. This is a distinct
advantage. Of course, the inclusion of a full range of variation may distort
the actual distribution of cases across this spectrum. If there are more
“high” cases than “low” cases in a population and the researcher chooses
only one high case and one low case, the resulting sample of two is not perfectly
representative. Even so, the diverse-case method often has stronger
claims to representativeness than any other small-N sample (including the
typical case). The selection of diverse cases has the additional advantage
of introducing variation on the key variables of interest. A set of diverse
15 Abbott (2001); Abbott and Forrest (1986); Abbott and Tsay (2000).
16 Swank (2002: 11). See also Esping-Andersen (1990).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 101
cases is, by definition, a set of cases that encompasses a range of high and
low values on relevant dimensions.
There is, therefore, much to recommend this method of case selection. I
suspect that these advantages are commonly understood and are applied
on an intuitive level by case study researchers. However, the lack of a
recognizable name – and an explicit methodological defense – has made it
difficult for case study researchers to identify this method of case selection,
and to explain its logic to readers.
Extreme Case
The extreme-case method selects a case because of its extreme value on an
independent or dependent variable of interest.17
Thus, studies of domestic
violence may choose to focus on extreme instances of abuse.18
Studies of
altruism may focus on those rare individuals who risk their lives to help
others (e.g., Holocaust resisters).19
Studies of ethnic politics may focus
on the most heterogeneous societies (e.g., Papua New Guinea) in order to
better understand the role of ethnicity in a democratic setting.20
Studies
of industrial policy often focus on the most successful countries (e.g., the
NICs),21
and so forth.22
Often an extreme case corresponds to a case that is considered to
be prototypical or paradigmatic of some phenomena of interest. This is
because concepts are often defined by their extremes, that is, their ideal
types. German fascism defines the concept of fascism in part because
it offers the most extreme example of that phenomenon. However, the
methodological value of this case, and others like it, derives from its
extremity (along some dimension of interest), not from its theoretical
status or its status in the literature on a subject.
The notion of “extreme” may now be defined more precisely. An
extreme value is an observation that lies far away from the mean of a given
17 It does not make sense to apply the extreme-case method in a confirmatory/
disconfirmatory analysis. If a particular causal relationship is at issue, then both X1
and Y must be taken into account when choosing cases, as described in the various scenarios
that follow. At present, therefore, we shall assume that the researcher has a general
question in mind, but not a specific hypothesis.
18 Browne (1987).
19 Monroe (1996).
20 Reilly (2000/2001).
21 Deyo (1987).
22 For further examples, see Collier and Mahoney (1996); Geddes (1990); and Tendler
(1997).
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102 II. Doing Case Studies
distribution. For a continuous variable, the distance from the mean may
be in either direction (positive or negative). For a dichotomous variable
(present/absent), I understand extreme to mean unusual. If most cases
are positive along a given dimension, then a negative case constitutes an
extreme case. If most cases are negative, then a positive case constitutes
an extreme case. All things being equal, one is concerned not only with
cases where something “happened,” but also with cases where something
did not. It is the rareness of the value that makes a case valuable, in
this context, not its positive or negative value.23
Thus, if one is studying
state capacity, a case of state failure is probably more informative than
a case of state endurance simply because the former is more unusual.
Similarly, if one is interested in incest taboos, a culture where the incest
taboo is absent or weak is probably more useful than a culture where it is
present. Fascism is more important than nonfascism; and so forth. There
is a good reason, therefore, why case studies of revolution tend to focus
on “revolutionary” cases. Theda Skocpol had much more to learn from
France than from Austro-Hungary, since France was more unusual than
Austro-Hungary within the population of nation-states that Skocpol
was concerned to explain.24
The reason is quite simple: there are fewer
revolutionary cases than nonrevolutionary cases; thus, the variation
that one wishes to explore as a clue to causal relationships is encapsulated
in these cases, viewed against a backdrop of nonrevolutionary
cases.
Cross-Case Technique
As stated, extreme cases lie far from the mean of a variable. Extremity
(E), for the ith case, can be defined in terms of the sample mean ( ¯X) and
the standard deviation (s) for that variable:
Ei =
Xi − ¯X
s
(5.4)
This definition of extremity is the absolute value of the standardized
(“Z”) score for the ith case. Cases with a large Ei qualify as extreme.
Sometimes, the only criterion is a relative one. The researcher wishes to
find the most extreme case(s) available. At other times, it may be helpful
23 Traditionally, methodologists have conceptualized cases as having “positive” or “negative”
values (e.g., Emigh 1997; Mahoney and Goertz 2004; Ragin 2000: 60; Ragin 2004:
126).
24 Skocpol (1979).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 103
Numberofcases
010203040
Extremeness
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0
figure 5.5. Potential extreme cases. A histogram of the “extremeness” of all countries
on the dimension of democracy, as measured by standard deviations from
the mean (absolute value).
to set an arbitrary threshold. Under assumptions of normality, cases with
an extremeness score smaller than two would generally not be considered
extreme. If the researcher wishes to be more conservative in classifying
cases as extreme, a higher threshold may be employed. In general, the
choice of threshold is left to the researcher, to be made in a way that is
appropriate to the research problem at hand.
The mean of our democracy variable is 2.76, suggesting that the countries
in the 1995 dataset tend to be somewhat more democratic than
authoritarian (zero is defined as the break-point between democracy and
autocracy). The standard deviation is 6.92, implying that there is a fair
amount of scatter around the mean.
Figure 5.5 shows a histogram of the extremeness scores for all countries
on level of democracy. As can easily be seen, no cases have extremeness
scores greater than two. The two countries with the highest scores are
Qatar and Saudi Arabia. These countries, which both have a democracy
score of −10 for 1995, are probably the two best candidates for extremecase
analysis.
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104 II. Doing Case Studies
Conclusion
The extreme-case method appears to violate the social science folk wisdom
warning us not to “select on the dependent variable.”25
Selecting cases
on the dependent variable is indeed problematic if a number of cases are
chosen, all of which lie on one end of a variable’s spectrum (they are all
positive or negative), and if the researcher then subjects this sample to
cross-case analysis as if it were representative of a population.26
Results
for this sort of analysis would almost assuredly be biased. Moreover, there
will be little variation to explain, since the values of each case are explicitly
constrained.
However, this is not the proper employment of the extreme-case
method. (It is more appropriately labeled an extreme-sample method.)
The extreme-case method refers back to a larger sample of cases that lie
in the background of the analysis and provide a full range of variation
as well as a more representative picture of the population. It is a selfconscious
attempt to maximize variance on the dimension of interest, not
to minimize it. If this population of cases is well understood – through the
author’s own cross-case analysis, through the work of others, or through
common sense – then a researcher may justify the selection of a single
case exemplifying an extreme value for within-case analysis. If not, the
researcher may be well advised to follow a diverse-case method (see the
earlier discussion).
By way of conclusion, let us return to the problem of representativeness.
In the context of causal analysis, representativeness refers to a case that
exemplifies values on X1 and Y that conform to a general pattern. In a
cross-case model, the representativeness of an individual case is gauged
by the size of its residual. The representative case is therefore a typical
case (as already discussed), not a deviant case (as will be discussed). It
will be seen that an extreme case may be typical or deviant. There is
simply no way to tell, because the researcher has not yet specified a causal
proposition. Once such a causal proposition has been specified, we may
then ask whether the case in question is similar to some population of
cases (in all respects that might affect the X1/Y relationship of interest).
It is at this point that it becomes possible to say, within the context of a
cross-case statistical model, whether a case lies near to, or far from, the
25 Geddes (1990); King, Keohane, and Verba (1994). See also discussions in Brady and
Collier (2004); Collier and Mahoney (1996); and Rogowski (1995).
26 The exception would be a circumstance in which the researcher intends to disprove a
deterministic argument (Dion 1998).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 105
regression line. However, this sort of analysis means that the researcher
is no longer pursuing an extreme-case method. The extreme-case method
is purely exploratory – a way of probing possible causes of Y, or possible
effects of X1, in an open-ended fashion. If the researcher has some notion
of what additional factors might affect the outcome of interest, or of
what relationship the causal factor of interest has to Y, then she ought to
pursue one of the other methods explored elsewhere in this chapter. This
also implies that an extreme-case method may transform into a different
kind of approach as a study evolves, that is, as a more specific hypothesis
comes to light. Useful “extreme” cases at the outset of a study may prove
less useful at a later stage of analysis.
Deviant Case
The deviant-case method selects the case(s) that, by reference to some general
understanding of a topic (either a specific theory or common sense),
demonstrates a surprising value. Barbara Geddes notes the importance of
deviant cases in medical science, where researchers are habitually focused
on that which is pathological (according to standard theory and practice).
The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the premier journals of the
field, carries a regular feature entitled “Case Records of the Massachusetts
General Hospital.” These articles bear titles like the following: “An 80Year-Old
Woman with Sudden Unilateral Blindness” or “A 76-Year-Old
Man with Fever, Dyspnea, Pulmonary Infiltrates, Pleural Effusions, and
Confusion.”27
Similarly, medical researchers are keen to investigate those
rare individuals who have not succumbed, despite repeated exposure, to
the AIDS virus.28
Why are they resistant? What is different about these
people? What can we learn about AIDS in other patients by observing
people who have built-in resistance to this disease?
Case studies in psychology and sociology are often comprised of deviant
(in the social sense) persons or groups. In economics, case studies
may consist of countries or businesses that overperform (e.g., Botswana,
Microsoft) or underperform (e.g., Britain through most of the twentieth
century; Sears in recent decades) relative to some set of expectations. In
27 Geddes (2003: 131). For other examples of case work from the annals of medicine, see
“Clinical Reports” in The Lancet; “Case Studies” in The Canadian Medical Association
Journal; and various issues of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, often devoted
to clinical cases (discussed in Jenicek 2001: 7). For examples from the subfield of comparative
politics, see Kazancigil (1994).
28 Buchbinder and Vittinghoff (1999); Haynes, Pantaleo, and Fauci (1996).
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106 II. Doing Case Studies
political science, case studies may focus on countries where the welfare
state is more developed (e.g., Sweden) or less developed (e.g., the United
States) than one would expect, given a set of general expectations about
welfare state development.
In all fields, the deviant case is closely linked to the investigation of theoretical
anomalies. Indeed, to say “deviant” is to imply “anomalous.”29
Note that while extreme cases are judged relative to the mean of a single
distribution (the distribution of values along a single dimension), deviant
cases are judged relative to some general model of causal relations. The
deviant-case method selects cases that, by reference to some general crosscase
relationship, demonstrate a surprising value. They are “deviant” in
that they are poorly explained by the multivariate model. The important
point is that deviantness can only be assessed relative to the general
(quantitative or qualitative) model employed.
This means that the relative deviantness of a case is likely to change
whenever the general model is altered. For example, the United States is
a deviant welfare state when this outcome is gauged relative to societal
wealth. But it is less deviant – and perhaps not deviant at all – when
certain additional (political and societal) factors are included in the model,
as discussed in the epilogue. Deviance is model-dependent. Thus, when
discussing the concept of the deviant case, it is helpful to ask the following
question: relative to what general model (or set of background factors) is
Case A deviant?
The purpose of a deviant-case analysis is usually to probe for new – but
as yet unspecified – explanations. (If the purpose is to disprove an extant
theory, I shall refer to the study as a crucial case, as will be discussed later.)
Thus, the deviant-case method is only slightly more determinate than the
extreme-case method. It, too, is an exploratory form of research. The
researcher hopes that causal processes within the deviant case will illustrate
some causal factor that is applicable to other (deviant) cases. This
means that a deviant-case study usually culminates in a general proposition
– one that may be applied to other cases in the population.
Cross-Case Technique
In statistical terms, deviant-case selection is the opposite of typical-case
selection. Where a typical case lies as close as possible to the prediction
29 For a discussion of the important role of anomalies in the development of scientific
theorizing, see Elman (2003) and Lakatos (1978). For examples of deviant-case research
designs in the social sciences, see Amenta (1991); Coppedge (2004); Eckstein (1975);
Emigh (1997); and Kendall and Wolf (1949/1955).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 107
of a formal, mathematical representation of the hypothesis at hand, a
deviant case lies as far as possible from that prediction. Referring back to
the model developed in equation 5.3, we can define the extent to which a
case deviates from the predicted relationship as follows:
Deviance(i) = abs[yi − E(yi |x1,i, . . . xK,i )] (5.5)
= abs[yi − b0 + b1x1,i + · · · + bKxK,i ]
Deviance ranges from 0, for cases exactly on the regression line, to
a theoretical limit of infinity. Researchers will usually be interested in
selecting from the cases with the highest overall estimated deviance.
In our running example, a two-variable model with economic development
(X1) and democracy (Y), the most deviant cases fall below the
regression line. This can be seen in Figure 5.4. In fact, all eight cases with
a deviance score of more than ten have negative residuals; their scores on
the outcome are lower than they “should” be, given their level of development.
These eight cases are Croatia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco,
Singapore, Syria, and Uzbekistan. Our general model of democracy does
not explain these cases very well. Quite possibly, we could develop a better
model if we understood what – aside from GDP per capita – might
be driving the choice of regime type in these polities. This is the usual
purpose for which deviant-case analysis is employed.
Conclusion
As I have noted, the deviant-case method is an exploratory form of analysis.
As soon as a researcher’s exploration of a particular case has identified
a factor to explain that case, it is no longer (by definition) deviant.
(The exception would be a circumstance in which a case’s outcome is
deemed to be accidental or idiosyncratic, and therefore inexplicable by
any general model.) If the new explanation can be accurately measured as
a single variable (or set of variables) across a larger sample of cases, then
a new cross-case model is in order. In this fashion, a case study initially
framed as a deviant case is likely to be transformed into some other sort of
analysis.
This feature of the deviant-case study also helps to resolve doubts about
its representativeness. Evidently, the representativeness of a deviant case is
problematic, since the case in question is, by construction, atypical. However,
this problem can be mitigated if the researcher generalizes whatever
proposition is provided by the case study to other cases. In a large-N
model, this is accomplished by the creation of a variable to represent the
new hypothesis that the case study has identified. This may require some
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108 II. Doing Case Studies
original coding of cases (in addition to the case under intensive study).
However, so long as the underlying information for this coding is available,
it should be possible to test the new hypothesis in a cross-case model.
If the new variable is successful in explaining the studied case, it should no
longer be deviant; or, at the very least, it will be less deviant. In statistical
terms, its residual will have shrunk. It is now typical, or at least more
typical, and this relieves concerns about possible unrepresentativeness.
Influential Case
Sometimes the choice of a case is motivated solely by the need to verify the
assumptions behind a general model of causal relations. Here, the analyst
attempts to provide a rationale for disregarding a problematic case, or a
set of problematic cases. That is to say, she attempts to show why apparent
deviations from the norm are not really deviant, or do not challenge the
core of the theory, once the circumstances of the special case or cases
are fully understood. A cross-case analysis may, after all, be marred by
several classes of problems, including measurement error, specification
error, errors in establishing proper boundaries for the inference (the scope
of the argument), and stochastic error (fluctuations in the phenomenon
under study that are treated as random, given available theoretical and
empirical resources). If poorly fitting cases can be explained away by
reference to these kinds of problems, then the theory of interest is that
much stronger. This sort of deviant-case analysis answers the question,
“What about Case A (or cases of Type A)? How does that (seemingly
disconfirming) case fit the model?”
Because its underlying purpose, as well as the appropriate techniques
for case identification, is different from that of the deviant-case study,
I offer a new term for this method. The influential case is a case that
appears at first glance to invalidate a theory, or at least to cast doubt
upon a theory. Possibly, upon closer inspection, it does not. Indeed, it
may end up confirming that theory – perhaps in some slightly altered
form. In this guise, the influential case is the “case that proves the rule.”
A simple version of influential-case analysis involves the confirmation
of a key case’s score on some critical dimension. This is essentially a
question of measurement. Sometimes cases are poorly explained simply
because they are poorly understood. A close examination of a particular
context may reveal that an apparently falsifying case has been miscoded.
If so, the initial challenge presented by that case to some general theory
has been obviated.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 109
However, the more usual employment of the influential-case method
culminates in a substantive reinterpretation of the case – perhaps even
of the general model. It is not just a question of measurement. Consider
Thomas Ertman’s study of state building in Western Europe. As summarized
by Gerardo Munck, this study argues
that the interaction of a) the type of local government during the first period of
statebuilding, with b) the timing of increases in geopolitical competition, strongly
influences the kind of regime and state that emerge. [Ertman] tests this hypothesis
against the historical experience of Europe and finds that most countries fit
his predictions. Denmark, however, is a major exception. In Denmark, sustained
geopolitical competition began relatively late and local government at the beginning
of the statebuilding period was generally participatory, which should have led
the country to develop ‘patrimonial constitutionalism.’ But in fact, it developed
‘bureaucratic absolutism.’ Ertman carefully explores the process through which
Denmark came to have a bureaucratic absolutist state and finds that Denmark
had the early marks of a patrimonial constitutionalist state. However, the country
was pushed off this developmental path by the influence of German knights, who
entered Denmark and brought with them German institutions of local government.
Ertman then traces the causal process through which these imported institutions
pushed Denmark to develop bureaucratic absolutism, concluding that this
development was caused by a factor well outside his explanatory framework.30
Ertman’s overall framework is confirmed insofar as he has been able to
show, by an in-depth discussion of Denmark, that the causal processes
stipulated by the general theory hold even in this apparently disconfirming
case. Denmark is still deviant, but it is so because of “contingent historical
circumstances” that are exogenous to the theory.31
The reader will have noted that influential-case analysis is similar to
deviant-case analysis. Both focus on outliers, unusual cases (relative to the
theory at hand). However, as we shall see, they focus on different kinds
of unusual cases. Moreover, the animating goals of these two research
designs are quite different. The influential-case analysis begins with the
aim of confirming a general model, while the deviant-case study has the
aim of generating a new hypothesis that modifies an existing general
model. The confusion between these two case-study types stems from
the fact that the same case study may fulfill both objectives – qualifying a
general model and, at the same time, confirming its core hypothesis.
In their study of Roberto Michels’s “iron law of oligarchy,” Lipset,
Trow, and Coleman choose to focus on an organization – the International
30 Munck (2004: 118). See also Ertman (1997).
31 Ertman (1997: 316).
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110 II. Doing Case Studies
Typographical Union – that appears to violate the central presupposi-
tion.32
The ITU, as noted by one of the authors, has “a long-term twoparty
system with free elections and frequent turnover in office” and is
thus anything but oligarchic.33
Thus, it calls into question Michels’s grand
generalization about organizational behavior. The authors explain this
curious result by the extraordinarily high level of education among the
members of this union. Thus, Michels’s law is shown to be valid for most
organizations, but not all. It is valid with qualifications. Note that the
respecification of the original model (in effect, Lipset, Trow, and Coleman
introduce a new control variable or boundary condition) involves
the exploration of a new hypothesis. In this respect, the use of an influential
case to confirm an existing theory is quite similar to the use of a
deviant case to unearth a new theory.
Cross-Case Technique
Influential cases in regression are those cases that, if counterfactually
assigned a different value on the dependent variable, would most substantially
change the resulting estimates. Two quantitative measures of influence
are commonly applied in regression diagnostics.34
The first, often
referred to as the “leverage” of a case, derives from what is called the hat
matrix.35
Suppose that the scores on the independent variables for all of
the cases in a regression are represented by the matrix X, which has N
rows (representing each of the N cases) and K + 1 columns (representing
the K independent variables and allowing for a constant). Further, allow
Y to represent the scores on the dependent variable for all of the cases.
Therefore, Y will have N rows and only one column.
Using these symbols, the formula for the hat matrix, H, is as follows:
H = X(XT
X)−1
XT
(5.6)
In this equation, the symbol “T” represents a matrix transpose operation,
and the symbol “−1” represents a matrix inverse operation.36
A measure
32 Lipset, Trow, and Coleman (1956).
33 Lipset (1959: 70).
34 Belsey, Kuh, and Welsch (2004).
35 This somewhat curious name derives from the fact that, if the hat matrix is multiplied by
the vector containing values of the dependent variable, the result is the vector of fitted
values for each case. Typically, the vector of fitted values for the dependent variable is
distinguished from the actual vector of values on the dependent variable by the use of
the “ˆ” or “hat” symbol. Hence, the hat matrix, which produces the fitted values, can be
said to put the hat on the dependent variable.
36 See Greene (2002) for a brief review.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 111
of the leverage of each case can be derived from the diagonal of the hat
matrix. Specifically, the leverage of case i is given by the number in the
(i,i) position in the hat matrix, or Hi,i.37
For any X matrix, the diagonal entries in the hat matrix will automatically
add up to K + 1. Hence, interpretations of the leverage scores for
different cases will necessarily depend on the overall number of cases.
Clearly, any case with a score near one is a case with a great deal of leverage.
In most regression situations, however, no case has a score that high.
A standard rule of thumb is to pay close attention to cases with a leverage
score higher than 2 (K + 1)/N. Cases with a leverage score above this
value are good candidates for influential-case selection.
An interesting feature of the hat matrix is that it does not depend on
the values of the dependent variable. Indeed, the Y vector does not appear
in equation 5.6. This means that the measure of leverage derived from the
hat matrix is, in effect, a measure of potential influence. It tells us how
much difference the case would make in the final estimate if it were to
have an unusual score on the dependent variable, but it does not tell us
how much difference each case actually made in the final estimate.
Analysts involved in selecting influential cases will sometimes be interested
in measures of potential influence, because such measures are relevant
in selecting cases when there may be some a priori uncertainty about
scores on the dependent variable. Much of the information in such case
studies comes from a careful, in-depth measurement of the dependent
variable – which may sometimes be unknown, or only approximately
known, before the case study begins. The measure of leverage derived
from the hat matrix is appropriate for such situations because it does not
require actual scores for the dependent variable.
A second commonly discussed measure of influence in statistics is
Cook’s distance. This statistic is a measure of the extent to which the estimates
of the βi parameters would change if a given case were omitted from
the analysis. Because regression analysis typically includes more than one
βi parameter, a measure of influence requires some method of combining
the differences in each parameter to produce an overall measure of a
case’s influence. The Cook’s distance statistic resolves this dilemma by
37 The discussion here involves the use of the hat matrix in linear regression. Analysts may
also be interested in situations that do not resemble linear regression problems, e.g.,
where the dependent variable is dichotomous or categorical. Sometimes, these situations
can be accommodated within the framework of generalized linear models, which includes
its own generalization of the hat matrix (McCullagh and Nelder 1989).
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112 II. Doing Case Studies
taking a weighted sum of the squared parameter differences associated
with deleting a specific case. Specifically, the formula for Cook’s distance
is:
(b−i − b)T
XT
X(b−i − b)
(K + 1)MSE
(5.7)
In this formula, b represents all of the parameter estimates from the
regression using the whole set of cases, and b-i represents the parameter
estimates from the regression that excludes the ith case. X, as above,
represents the matrix of independent variables. K is the total number of
independent variables (not including the constant, which is allowed for
in the formula by the use of K + 1). Finally, MSE stands for the mean
squared error, which is a measure of the amount of variation in the dependent
variable not linearly associated with the independent variables.38
This somewhat intimidating mathematical notation gives precise
expression to the intuitive idea, discussed earlier, of measuring influence
as a weighted sum of the differences that result in each parameter estimate
when a single case is deleted from the sample. One disadvantage of
this formula is that it requires a number of extra regressions to be run in
order to compute measures of influence for each case. The overall regression
must of course be computed, and then an additional regression, with
one case deleted, is required for each case.
Fortunately, matrix-algebraic manipulation demonstrates that the
expression for Cook’s distance given in equation 5.7 is equivalent to the
following, computationally much easier expression:
r2
i Hi,i
(K + 1)(1 − Hi,i )
(5.8)
In this expression, Hi, i refers to the measure of leverage for the ith case,
taken from the diagonal of the hat matrix, as already discussed. K once
again represents the number of independent variables. Finally, r2
i is a
special, modified version of the ith case’s regression residual, known as
the Studentized residual, which needs to be separately computed.
The Studentized residual is designed so that the residuals for all cases
will have the same variance. If the standard regression residual for case i
38 Specifically, the MSE is found by summing the squared residuals from the full regression
and then dividing by N – K – 1, where N is the number of cases and K is the number of
independent variables.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 113
is denoted by εi, then the Studentized residual, r2
i , can be computed as
follows. (All symbols in this expression are as previously defined.)
ri =
εi
MSE(1 − Hi,i )
(5.9)
As can be seen from an inspection of equations 5.8 and 5.9, Cook’s distance
for a case depends primarily on two quantities: the size of the regression
residual for that case and the leverage for that case. The most influential
cases are those with substantial leverage that lie significantly off the
regression line.
Cook’s distance for a given case provides a summary of the overall
difference that the decision to include that case makes for the parameter
estimates. Cases with a large Cook’s distance contribute quite a lot to
the inferences drawn from the analysis. In this sense, such cases are vital
for maintaining analytic conclusions. Discovering a significant measurement
error on the dependent variable or an important omitted variable
for such a case may dramatically revise estimates of the overall relationships.
Hence, it may be reasonable to select influential cases for in-depth
study.
To summarize, three statistical concepts have been introduced in this
section. The hat matrix provides a measure of leverage, or potential influence.
Based solely on each case’s scores on the independent variables, the
hat matrix tells us how much a change in (or a measurement error on)
the dependent variable for that case would affect the overall regression
line. Cook’s distance goes further, considering scores on both the independent
and the dependent variables in order to tell us how much the overall
regression estimates would be affected if each case were to be dropped
from the analysis. This produces a measure of how much actual influence
each case has on the overall regression.
Either the hat matrix or Cook’s distance may serve as an acceptable
measure of influence for selecting case studies, although the differences
just discussed must be kept in mind. In the following examples, Cook’s distance
will be used as the primary measure of influence because our interest
is in whether any particular cases might be influencing the coefficient estimates
in our democracy-and-development regression. A third concept, the
Studentized residual, was introduced as a necessary element in computing
Cook’s distance. (The hat matrix is, of course, also a necessary ingredient
in Cook’s distance.)
Figure 5.6 shows the Cook’s distance scores for each of the countries
in the 1995 per capita GDP and democracy dataset. Most countries have
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114 II. Doing Case Studies
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Country code
Cook’sdistance
0.00.020.040.060.080.100.12
75
74
figure 5.6. Potential influential cases. The Cook’s distance scores for an OLS
regression of democracy on logged per capita GDP. The three numbered cases
have high Cook’s distance scores.
quite low scores. The three most serious exceptions to this generalization
are the numbered lines in the figure: Jamaica (74), Japan (75), and Nepal
(105). Of these three, Nepal is clearly the most influential by a wide
margin. Hence, any study of influential cases would want to start with an
in-depth consideration of Nepal.
Conclusion
The use of an influential-case strategy of case selection is limited to
instances in which a researcher has reason to be concerned that her results
are being driven by one or a few cases. This is most likely to be true in
small to moderate-sized samples. Where N is very large – greater than
1,000, let us say – it is extremely unlikely that a small set of cases (much
less an individual case) will play an “influential” role. Of course, there
may be influential sets of cases – for example, countries within a particular
continent or cultural region, or persons of Irish extraction. Sets of influential
observations are often problematic in a time-series cross-section
dataset where each unit (e.g., country) contains multiple observations
(through time) and hence may have a strong influence on aggregate results.
Still, the general rule is: the larger the sample, the less important individual
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 115
cases are likely to be and, hence, the less likely a researcher is to use hat
matrix and Cook’s distance statistics for purposes of case selection. In
these instances, it may not matter very much what values individual cases
display. (It may of course matter for the purpose of investigating causal
mechanisms. However, for this purpose one would not employ influential
statistics to choose cases.)
Crucial Case
Of all the extant methods of case selection, perhaps the most storied – and
certainly the most controversial – is the crucial-case method, introduced
to the social science world several decades ago by Harry Eckstein. In
his seminal essay, Eckstein describes the crucial case as one “that must
closely fit a theory if one is to have confidence in the theory’s validity, or,
conversely, must not fit equally well any rule contrary to that proposed.”39
A case is “crucial” in a somewhat weaker – but much more common –
sense when it is most, or least, likely to fulfill a theoretical prediction. A
“most-likely” case is one that, on all dimensions except the dimension
of theoretical interest, is predicted to achieve a certain outcome, and yet
does not. It is therefore used to disconfirm a theory. A “least-likely” case is
one that, on all dimensions except the dimension of theoretical interest, is
predicted not to achieve a certain outcome, and yet does so. It is therefore
used to confirm a theory. In all formulations, the crucial case offers a
most-difficult test for an argument, and hence provides what is perhaps
the strongest sort of evidence possible in a nonexperimental, single-case
setting.
Since the publication of Eckstein’s influential essay, the crucial-case
approach has been claimed in a multitude of studies across several social
science disciplines and has come to be recognized as a staple of the
case study method.40
Yet the idea of any single case playing a crucial
(or “critical”) role is not widely accepted among most methodologists.41
(Even its progenitor seems to have had doubts.)
Unfortunately, discussion of this method has focused misleadingly on
what are presumed to be largely inductive issues. Are there good crucial
39 Eckstein (1975: 118).
40 For examples of the crucial-case method, see Bennett, Lepgold, and Unger (1994); Desch
(2002); Goodin and Smitsman (2000); Kemp (1986); and Reilly and Phillpot (2003).
For general discussion, see George and Bennett (2005); Levy (2002a); and Stinchcombe
(1968: 24–8).
41 See, e.g., Sekhon (2004).
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116 II. Doing Case Studies
cases out there in the empirical world? Have social scientists done a good
job in identifying them? Yet the practicability of this method rests on
issues that are largely deductive in nature, as we shall see.
The Confirmatory (Least-Likely) Crucial Case
Let us begin with the confirmatory (a.k.a. least-likely) crucial case. The
implicit logic of this research design may be summarized as follows. Given
a set of facts, we are asked to contemplate the probability that a given theory
is true. While the facts matter, to be sure, the effectiveness of this sort
of research also rests upon the formal properties of the theory in question.
Specifically, the degree to which a theory is amenable to confirmation is
contingent upon how many predictions can be derived from the theory
and on how “risky” each individual prediction is. In Popper’s words,
Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions; that
is to say, if, unenlightened by the theory in question, we should have expected
an event which was incompatible with the theory – an event which would have
refuted the theory. Every ‘good’ scientific theory is a prohibition; it forbids certain
things to happen. The more a theory forbids, the better it is.42
A risky prediction is therefore one that is highly precise and determinate,
and thus unlikely to be explainable by other causal factors (external
to the theory of interest) or through stochastic processes. A theory produces
many such predictions if it is fully elaborated, issuing predictions
not only on the central outcome of interest but also on specific causal
mechanisms, and if it is broad in purview. (The notion of riskiness may be
conceptualized within the Popperian lexicon as degrees of falsifiability.)
These points can also be articulated in Bayesian terms. Colin Howson
and Peter Urbach explain: “The degree to which h [a hypothesis] is confirmed
by e [a set of evidence] depends . . . on the extent to which P(e|h)
exceeds P(e), that is, on how much more probable e is relative to the
hypothesis and background assumptions than it is relative just to background
assumptions.” Again, “confirmation is correlated with how much
more probable the evidence is if the hypothesis is true than if it is false.”43
Thus, the stranger the prediction offered by a theory – relative to what
we would normally expect – the greater the degree of confirmation that
will be afforded by the evidence. As an intuitive example, Howson and
Urbach offer the following:
42 Popper (1963: 36). See also Popper (1934/1968).
43 Howson and Urbach (1989: 86).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 117
If a soothsayer predicts that you will meet a dark stranger sometime and you do in
fact, your faith in his powers of precognition would not be much enhanced: you
would probably continue to think his predictions were just the result of guesswork.
However, if the prediction also gave the correct number of hairs on the head of
that stranger, your previous scepticism would no doubt be severely shaken.44
While these Popperian/Bayesian insights45
are relevant to all empirical
research designs, they are especially relevant to case study research
designs, for in these settings a single case (or, at most, a small number
of cases) is required to bear a heavy burden of proof. It should be no
surprise, therefore, that Popper’s idea of “riskiness” was appropriated by
case study researchers like Harry Eckstein to validate the enterprise of
single-case analysis. (Although Eckstein does not cite Popper, the intellectual
lineage is clear.) Riskiness, here, is analogous to what is usually
referred to as a “most-difficult” research design, which in a case study
research design would be understood as a least-likely case. Note also that
the distinction between a must-fit case and a least-likely case – that, in
the event, actually does fit the terms of a theory – is a matter of degree.
Cases are more or less crucial for confirming theories. The point is that,
in some circumstances, the riskiness of the theory may compensate for a
paucity of empirical evidence.
The crucial-case research design is, perforce, a highly deductive
enterprise; much depends on the quality of the theory under investigation.
It follows that the theories most amenable to crucial-case analysis
are those that are lawlike in their precision, degree of elaboration, consistency,
and scope. The more a theory attains the status of a causal law,
the easier it will be to confirm, or to disconfirm, with a single case.
Indeed, risky predictions are common in natural science fields such
as physics, which in turn served as the template for the deductivenomological
(“covering-law”) model of science that influenced Eckstein
and others in the postwar decades.46
A frequently cited example is the
first important empirical demonstration of the theory of relativity, which
took the form of a single-event prediction on the occasion of the May
29, 1919, solar eclipse. Stephen Van Evera describes the impact of this
prediction on the validation of Einstein’s theory.
44 Ibid.
45 A third position, which purports to be neither Popperian nor Bayesian, has been articulated
by Mayo (1996: Chapter 6). From this perspective, the same idea is articulated as
a matter of “severe tests.”
46 See, e.g., Hempel (1942).
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118 II. Doing Case Studies
Einstein’s theory predicted that gravity would bend the path of light toward a
gravity source by a specific amount. Hence it predicted that during a solar eclipse
stars near the sun would appear displaced – stars actually behind the sun would
appear next to it, and stars lying next to the sun would appear farther from it – and
it predicted the amount of apparent displacement. No other theory made these
predictions. The passage of this one single-case-study test brought the theory wide
acceptance because the tested predictions were unique – there was no plausible
competing explanation for the predicted result – hence the passed test was very
strong.47
The strength of this test is the extraordinary fit between the theory and a
set of facts found in a single case, and the corresponding lack of fit between
all other theories and this set of facts. Einstein offered an explanation of
a particular set of anomalous findings that no other existing theory could
make sense of. Of course, one must assume that there was no – or limited –
measurement error. And one must assume that the phenomenon of interest
is largely invariant; light does not bend differently at different times
and places (except in ways that can be understood through the theory of
relativity). And one must assume, finally, that the theory itself makes sense
on other grounds (other than the case of special interest); it is a plausible
general theory. If one is willing to accept these a priori assumptions, then
the 1919 “case study” provides a very strong confirmation of the theory.
It is difficult to imagine a stronger proof of the theory from within an
observational (nonexperimental) setting.
In social science settings, by contrast, one does not commonly find
single-case studies offering knock-out evidence for a theory. This is, in
my view, largely a product of the looseness (the underspecification) of
most social science theories. George and Bennett point out that while the
thesis of the democratic peace is as close to a “law” as social science
has yet seen, it cannot be confirmed (or refuted) by looking at specific
causal mechanisms because the causal pathways mandated by the theory
are multiple and diverse. Under the circumstances, no single-case test can
offer strong confirmation of the theory (though, as we shall discuss, the
theory may be disconfirmed with a single case).48
However, if one adopts a softer version of the crucial-case method –
the least-likely (most difficult) case – then possibilities abound. Lily Tsai’s
investigation of governance at the village level in China employs several
in-depth case studies of villages that are chosen (in part) because of their
47 Van Evera (1997: 66–7). See also Eckstein (1975) and Popper (1963).
48 George and Bennett (2005: 209).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 119
least-likely status relative to the theory of interest. Tsai’s hypothesis is that
villages with greater social solidarity (based on preexisting religious or
familial networks) will develop a higher level of social trust and mutual
obligation and, as a result, will experience better governance. Crucial
cases, therefore, are villages that evidence a high level of social solidarity
but that, along other dimensions, would be judged least-likely to develop
good governance – that is, they are poor, isolated, and lack democratic
institutions or accountability mechanisms from above. “Li Settlement,”
in Fujian province, is such a case. The fact that this impoverished village
nonetheless boasts an impressive set of infrastructural accomplishments
such as paved roads with drainage ditches (a rarity in rural China) suggests
that something rather unusual is going on here. Because her case is
carefully chosen to eliminate rival explanations, Tsai’s conclusions about
the special role of social solidarity are difficult to gainsay. How else would
one explain this otherwise anomalous result? This is the strength of the
least-likely case, where all other plausible explanations for an outcome
have been mitigated.49
Jack Levy refers to this, evocatively, as a “Sinatra inference”: if it can
make it here, it can make it anywhere.50
Thus, if social solidarity has
the hypothesized effect in Li Settlement, it should have the same effect in
more propitious settings (e.g., where there is greater economic surplus).
The same implicit logic informs many case study analyses where the intent
of the study is to confirm a hypothesis on the basis of a single case (without
extensive cross-case analysis). Indeed, I suspect that, implicitly, most
case study work that focuses on a single case and is not nested within
a cross-case analysis relies largely on the logic of the least-likely case.
Rarely is this logic made explicit, except perhaps in a passing phrase or
two. Yet the deductive logic of the “risky” prediction may in fact be central
to the case study enterprise. Whether a case study is convincing or
not often rests on the reader’s evaluation of how strong the evidence for
an argument might be, and this in turn – wherever cross-case evidence is
limited and no manipulated treatment can be devised – rests upon an estimation
of the degree of “fit” between a theory and the evidence at hand, as
discussed.
49 Tsai (2007). It should be noted that Tsai’s conclusions do not rest solely on this crucial
case. Indeed, she employs a broad range of methodological tools, encompassing case
study and cross-case methods.
50 Levy (2002a: 144). See also Khong (1992: 49); Sagan (1995: 49); and Shafer (1988:
14–6).
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120 II. Doing Case Studies
The Disconfirmatory (Most-Likely) Crucial Case
A central Popperian insight is that it is easier to disconfirm an inference
than to confirm that same inference. (Indeed, Popper doubted that any
inference could be fully confirmed, and for this reason preferred the term
“corroborate.”) This is particularly true of case study research designs,
where evidence is limited to one or several cases. The key proviso is that
the theory under investigation must take a consistent (a.k.a. invariant,
deterministic) form, even if its predictions are not terrifically precise, well
elaborated, or broad.
As it happens, there are a fair number of invariant propositions floating
around the social science disciplines.51
In Chapter Three, we discussed
an older theory that stipulated that political stability would occur only
in countries that are relatively homogeneous, or where existing heterogeneities
are mitigated by cross-cutting cleavages.52
Arend Lijphart’s study
of the Netherlands, a peaceful country with reinforcing social cleavages, is
commonly viewed as refuting this theory on the basis of a single in-depth
case analysis.53
Heretofore, I have treated causal factors as dichotomous. Countries
have either reinforcing or cross-cutting cleavages, and they have regimes
that are either peaceful or conflictual. Evidently, these sorts of parameters
are often matters of degree. In this reading of the theory, cases are more
or less crucial. Accordingly, the most useful – that is, most crucial – case
for Lijphart’s purpose is one that has the most segregated social groups
and the most peaceful and democratic track record. In these respects,
the Netherlands was a very good choice. Indeed, the degree of disconfirmation
offered by this case study is probably greater than the degree of
disconfirmation that might have been provided by another case, such as
India or Papua New Guinea – countries where social peace has not always
been secure. The point is that where variables are continuous rather than
dichotomous, it is possible to evaluate potential cases in terms of their
degree of crucialness.
Note that when disconfirming a causal argument, background causal
factors are irrelevant (except as they might affect the classification of the
case within the population of an inference). It does not matter how the
51 Goertz and Levy (forthcoming); Goertz and Starr (2003).
52 Almond (1956); Bentley (1908/1967); Lipset (1960/1963); Truman (1951).
53 Lijphart (1968). See also discussions in Eckstein (1975) and Lijphart (1969). For additional
examples of case studies disconfirming general propositions of a deterministic
nature, see Allen (1965); Lipset, Trow, and Coleman (1956); Njolstad (1990); Reilly
(2000/2001); and the discussions in Dion (1998) and Rogowski (1995).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 121
Netherlands, India, and Papua New Guinea score on other factors that
affect democracy and social peace.
Granted, it may be questioned whether presumed invariant theories are
really invariant; perhaps they are better understood as probabilistic. Perhaps,
that is, the theory of cross-cutting cleavages is still true, probabilistically,
despite the apparent Dutch exception. Or perhaps the theory is still
true, deterministically, within a subset of cases that does not include the
Netherlands. (This sort of claim seems unlikely in this particular instance,
but it is quite plausible in many others.) Or perhaps the theory is in need
of reframing; it is true, deterministically, but applies only to cross-cutting
ethnic/racial cleavages, not to cleavages that are primarily religious. One
may quibble over what it means to “disconfirm” a theory. The point is
that the crucial case has, in all these circumstances, provided important
updating of a theoretical prior.
Conclusion
In this section, I have argued that the degree to which crucial cases can
provide decisive confirmation or disconfirmation of a theory is in large
part a product of the structure of the theory to be tested. It is a deductive
matter rather than an inductive matter, strictly speaking. In this respect,
a “positivist” orientation toward the work of social science may lead to a
greater appreciation of the case study format – not a denigration of that
format, as is usually supposed. Those who, with Eckstein, embrace the
notion of covering laws are likely to be attracted to the idea of cases that
are crucial. By the same token, those who are impressed by the irregularity
and complexity of social behavior are unlikely to be persuaded by crucialcase
studies, except as a method of disconfirming absurdly rigid causal
laws.
I have shown, relatedly, that it is almost always easier to disconfirm
a theory than to confirm it with a single case. Thus, a theory that is
understood to be deterministic may be disconfirmed by a case study, properly
chosen. This is the most common employment of the crucial-case
method in social science settings.
Note that the crucial-case method of case selection cannot be employed
in a large-N context. This is because the method of selection would render
the case study redundant. Once one identifies the relevant parameters and
the scores of all cases on those parameters, one has in effect constructed
a cross-case model that will, by itself, confirm or disconfirm the theory in
question. The case study is thenceforth irrelevant, at least as a means of
confirmation or disconfirmation. It remains highly relevant as a means of
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122 II. Doing Case Studies
exploring causal mechanisms, of course. However, because this objective
is quite different from that which is usually associated with the term, I
enlist a new term for this technique.
Pathway Case
One of the most important functions of case study research is the elucidation
of causal mechanisms. This is well established (see Chapter Three).
But what sort of case is most useful for this purpose? Although all case
studies presumably shed light on causal mechanisms, not all cases are
equally transparent. In situations where a causal hypothesis is clear and
has already been confirmed by cross-case analysis, researchers are well
advised to focus on a case where the causal effect of one factor can
be isolated from other potentially confounding factors. I shall call this
a pathway case to indicate its uniquely penetrating insight into causal
mechanisms.
To clarify, the pathway case exists only in circumstances where crosscase
covariational patterns are well studied but where the mechanism
linking X1 and Y remains dim. Because the pathway case builds on prior
cross-case analysis, the problem of case selection must be situated within
that sample. There is no stand-alone pathway case. Thus, the following
discussion focuses on how to select one (or a few) cases from a cross-case
sample.
Cross-Case Technique with Binary Variables
The logic of the pathway case is clearest in situations of causal sufficiency –
where a causal factor of interest, X1, is sufficient by itself (though perhaps
not necessary) to cause a particular outcome, Y, understood as a
unidirectional or asymmetric casual relationship. The other causes of
Y, about which we need make no assumptions, are designated as a
vector, X2.
Note that wherever various causal factors are deemed to be substitutable
for one another, each factor is conceptualized (individually) as
sufficient.54
Situations of causal equifinality presume causal sufficiency
on the part of each factor or set of conjoint factors. The QCA technique,
for example, presumes causal sufficiency for each of the designated causal
paths.
54 Braumoeller (2003).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 123
Consider the following examples culled by Bear Braumoeller and
drawn from diverse fields of political science.55
The decision to seek an
alliance is motivated by the search for either autonomy or security.56
Conquest
is prevented by either deterrence or defense.57
Civilian intervention
in military affairs is caused by either political isolation or geographical
encirclement.58
War is the product of miscalculation or loss of control.59
Nonvoting is caused by ignorance, indifference, dissatisfaction, or inac-
tivity.60
Voting decisions are influenced either by high levels of information
or by the use of candidate gender as a proxy for social information.61
Democratization comes about through leadership-initiated reform, a controlled
opening to opposition, or the collapse of an authoritarian regime.62
These, and many other, social science arguments take the form of causal
substitutability – multiple paths to a given outcome.
For heuristic purposes, it will be helpful to pursue one of these examples
in greater detail. For consistency, I focus on the last of the exemplars –
democratization. The literature, according to Braumoeller, identifies three
main avenues of democratization (there may be more, but for present purposes
let us assume that the universe is limited to three). The case study
format constrains us to analyze one at a time, so let us limit our scope to the
first one – leadership-initiated reform. So considered, a causal-pathway
case would be one with the following features: (a) democratization,
(b) leadership-initiated reform, (c) no controlled opening to the opposition,
(d) no collapse of the previous authoritarian regime, and (e) no other
extraneous factors that might affect the process of democratization. In a
case of this type, the causal mechanisms by which leadership-initiated
reform may lead to democratization will be easiest to study. Note that it
is not necessary to assume that leadership-initiated reform always leads
to democratization; it may or may not be a deterministic cause. But it is
necessary to assume that leadership-initiated reform can sometimes lead
to democratization. This covariational assumption about the relationship
55 Ibid. My chosen examples are limited to those that might plausibly be modeled with
dichotomous variables. For further discussion and additional examples, see Most and
Starr (1984) and Cioffi-Revilla and Starr (1995).
56 Morrow (1991: 905).
57 Schelling (1966: 78).
58 Posen (1984: 79).
59 Levy (1983: 86).
60 Ragsdale and Rusk (1993: 723–4).
61 McDermott (1997).
62 Colomer (1991).
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124 II. Doing Case Studies
table 5.2. Pathway case with dichotomous causal factors
X1 X2 Y
A 1 1
B 0 0
C 0 1 1
D 0 0 1
E 1 0 0
F 1 1 0
G 0 1 0
Case
types
H 1 0 1
1
0
X1 = the variable of theoretical interest. X2 = a vector of controls
(a score of zero indicates that all control variables have a score of zero,
while a score of one indicates that all control variables have a score
of one). Y = the outcome of interest. A–H = case types (the N for
each case type is indeterminate). H = pathway case. Sample size =
indeterminate.
Assumptions: (a) all variables can be coded dichotomously; (b) all
independent variables are positively correlated with Y in the general
case; (c) X1 is (at least sometimes) a sufficient cause of Y.
between X1 and Y is presumably sustained by the cross-case evidence (if
it is not, there is no justification for a pathway case study).
Now let us move from these examples to a general-purpose model.
For heuristic purposes, let us presume that all variables in that model are
dichotomous (coded as zero or one) and that the model is complete (all
causes of Y are included). All causal relationships will be coded so as to
be positive: X1 and Y covary as do X2 and Y. This allows us to visualize
a range of possible combinations at a glance.
Recall that the pathway case is always focused, by definition, on a
single causal factor, denoted X1. (The researcher’s focus may shift to other
causal factors, but may focus only on one causal factor at a time.) In
this scenario, and regardless of how many additional causes of Y there
might be (denoted X2, a vector of controls), there are only eight relevant
case types, as illustrated in Table 5.2. Identifying these case types is a
relatively simple matter, and can be accomplished in a small-N sample by
the construction of a truth table (modeled after Table 5.2) or in a large-N
sample by the use of cross-tabs.
Note that the total number of combinations of values depends on the
number of control variables, which we have represented with a single
vector, X2. If this vector consists of a single variable, then there are only
eight case types. If this vector consists of two variables (X2a, X2b), then the
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 125
total number of possible combinations increases from eight (23
) to sixteen
(24
), and so forth. However, none of these combinations is relevant for
present purposes except those where X2a and X2b have the same value
(zero or one). “Mixed” cases are not causal pathway cases, for reasons
that should become clear.
The pathway case, following the logic of the crucial case, is one where
the causal factor of interest, X1, correctly predicts Y’s positive value
(Y = 1) while all other possible causes of Y (represented by the vector,
X2) make “wrong” predictions. If X1 is – at least in some circumstances –
a sufficient cause of Y, then it is these sorts of cases that should be most
useful for tracing causal mechanisms. There is only one such case in
Table 5.2 – H. In all other cases, the mechanism running from X1 to
Y would be difficult to discern, because the outcome to be explained does
not occur (Y = 0), because X1 and Y are not correlated in the usual way
(violating the terms of our hypothesis), or because other confounding factors
(X2) intrude. In case A, for example, the positive value on Y could be
a product of X1 or X2. Consequently, an in-depth examination of cases
A–G is not likely to be very revealing.
Keep in mind that because we already know from our cross-case examination
what the general causal relationships are, we know (prior to the
case study investigation) what constitutes a correct or incorrect prediction.
In the crucial-case method, by contrast, these expectations are deductive
rather than empirical. This is what differentiates the two methods.
And this is why the causal-pathway case is useful principally for elucidating
causal mechanisms rather than for verifying or falsifying general
propositions (which are already apparent from the cross-case evidence).63
Now let us complicate matters a bit by imagining a scenario in which at
least some of these substitutable causes are conjoint (a.k.a. conjunctural).
That is, several combinations of factors – Xa + Xb or Xc + Xd – are
sufficient to produce the outcome, Y. This is known in philosophical circles
as an INUS condition,64
and it is the pattern of causation assumed in most
63 Of course, we should leave open the possibility that an investigation of causal mechanisms
might invalidate a general claim, if that claim is utterly contingent upon a specific set
of causal mechanisms and the case study shows that no such mechanisms are present.
However, this is rather unlikely in most social science settings. Usually, the result of such
a finding will be a reformulation of the causal processes by which X1 causes Y – or,
alternatively, a realization that the case under investigation is aberrant (atypical of the
general population of cases).
64 An INUS condition refers to an Insufficient but Necessary part of a condition which is
itself Unnecessary but Sufficient for a particular result. Thus, when one identifies a short
circuit as the “cause” of a fire, one is saying, in effect, that the fire was caused by a short
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126 II. Doing Case Studies
QCA (Qualitative Comparative Analysis) models.65
Here, everything that
has been said so far must be adjusted so that X1 refers to a set of causes
(e.g., Xa + Xb) and X2 refers to a vector of sets (e.g., Xc + Xd, Xe +
Xf, Xg + Xh, . . . ). The scoring of all these variables makes matters more
difficult than in the previous set of examples. However, the logical task is
identical, and can be accomplished in a similar fashion, that is, in small-N
datasets with truth tables and in large-N datasets with cross-tabs. Case
H now refers to a conjunction of causes, but it is still the only possible
pathway case.
Cross-Case Technique with Continuous Variables
Finally, we must tackle the most complicated scenario – when all (or most)
variables of concern to the model are continuous, rather than dichotomous.
Here, the job of case selection is considerably more complex, for
causal “sufficiency” (in the usual sense) cannot be invoked. It is no longer
plausible to assume that a given cause can be entirely partitioned, that is,
that all rival factors can be eliminated. Even so, the search for a pathway
case may be viable.
What we are looking for in this scenario is a case that satisfies two
criteria: (1) it is not an outlier (or at least not an extreme outlier) in the
general model, and (2) its score on the outcome (Y) is strongly influenced
by the theoretical variable of interest (X1), taking all other factors into
account (X2). In this sort of case it should be easiest to identify the causal
mechanisms that lie between X1 and Y.
In a large-N sample, these two desiderata may be judged by a careful
attention to the residuals attached to each case. Recall that the question
of deviance, which we have discussed in previous sections, is a matter of
degree. Cases are more or less typical/deviant relative to a general model,
as judged by the size of their residuals. It is easy enough to exclude cases
with very high residuals (e.g., standardized residual > | 2 |). For cases that
lie closer to their predicted value, small differences in the size of residuals
may not matter so much. But, ceteris paribus, one would prefer a case
that lies closer to the regression line.
circuit in conjunction with some other background factors (e.g., oxygen) that were also
necessary to that outcome. But one is not implying that a short circuit was necessary to
that fire, which might have been (under different circumstances) caused by other factors.
See Mackie (1965/1993).
65 Ragin (2000).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 127
Achieving the second desideratum requires a bit of manipulation. In
order to determine which (non-outlier) cases are most strongly affected
by X1, given all the other parameters in the model, one must compare the
size of the residuals (their absolute value) for each case in a reduced-form
model, Y = Constant + X2 + Resreduced, to the size of the residuals for
each case in a full model, Y = Constant + X2 + X1 + Resfull. The pathway
case is that case, or set of cases, that shows the greatest difference between
the residuals for the reduced-form model and the full model ( Residual).
Thus,
Pathway = |Resreduced − Resfull|, if |Resreduced| > |Resfull| (5.10)
Note that the residual for a case must be smaller in the full model than in
the reduced-form model; otherwise, the addition of the variable of interest
(X1) pulls the case away from the regression line. We want to find a case
where the addition of X1 pushes the case toward the regression line, that
is, it helps to “explain” the case.
As an example, let us suppose that we are interested in exploring
the effect of mineral wealth on the prospects for democracy in a society.
According to a good deal of work on this subject, countries with a
bounty of natural resources – particularly oil – are less likely to democratize
(or, once having undergone a democratic transition, are more likely to
revert to authoritarian rule).66
The cross-country evidence is robust. Yet,
as is often the case, causal mechanisms remain rather obscure. Consider
the following list of possible causal pathways, summarized by Michael
Ross:
A ‘rentier effect’ . . . suggests that resources rich governments use low tax rates
and patronage to relieve pressures for greater accountability; a ‘repression
effect’ . . . argues that resource wealth retards democratization by enabling governments
to boost their funding for internal security; and a ‘modernization
effect’ . . . holds that growth based on the export of oil and minerals fails to bring
about the social and cultural changes that tend to produce democratic govern-
ment.67
Are all three causal mechanisms at work? Although Ross attempts to test
these factors in a large-N cross-country setting, his answers remain rather
66 Barro (1999), Humphreys (2005); Ross (2001).
67 Ross (2001: 327–8).
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128 II. Doing Case Studies
speculative.68
Let us see how this might be handled by a pathway-case
approach.
The factor of theoretical interest, oil wealth, may be operationalized
as per capita oil production (barrels of oil produced, divided by the total
population of a country).69
As previously, we measure democracy with a
continuous variable coded from −10 (most authoritarian) to +10 (most
democratic). Additional factors in the model include GDP per capita
(logged), Muslims (as percent of the population), European language (percent
speaking a European language), and ethnic fractionalization (1 −
likelihood of two randomly chosen individuals belonging to the same
ethnic group).70
These are regarded as background variables (X2) that
may affect a country’s propensity to democratize. The full model, limited
to 1995 (as in previous analyses), is as follows:
Democracy = −
3.71 Constant + 1.258 GDP (5.11)
+−
.075 Muslim + 1.843 European
+−
2.093 Ethnic fract +−
7.662 Oil
R2adj = .450 (N = 149)
The reduced-form model is identical except that the variable of theoretical
interest, Oil, is removed.
Democracy = −
.831 Constant + .909 GDP (5.12)
+−
.086 Muslim + 2.242 European
+−
3.023 Ethnic fract
R2adj = .428 (N = 149)
What does a comparison of the residuals across equations 5.11 and
5.12 reveal? Table 5.3 displays the highest Residual cases. Several of
68 Ross tests these various causal mechanisms with cross-country data, employing various
proxies for these concepts in the benchmark model and observing the effect of these –
presumably intermediary – effects on the main variable of interest (oil resources). This
is a good example of how cross-case evidence can be mustered to shed light on causal
mechanisms; one is not limited to case study formats, as discussed in Chapter Three. Still,
as Ross notes (2001: 356), these tests are by no means definitive. Indeed, the coefficient
on the key oil variable remains fairly constant, except in circumstances where the sample
is severely constrained.
69 Derived from Humphreys (2005).
70 GDPpc data are from World Bank (2003). Muslims and European language are coded
by the author. Ethnic fractionalization is drawn from Alesina et al. (2003).
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table 5.3. Possible pathway cases where variables are scalar and
assumptions probabilistic
Country Resreduced Resfull ∆Residual
Iran −.282 −.456 .175
Turkmenistan −1.220 −1.398 .178
Mauritania −.076 −.255 .179
Turkey 2.261 2.069 .192
Switzerland .177 −.028 .205
Venezuela .148 .355 −.207
Belgium .518 .310 .208
Morocco −.540 −.776 .236
Jordan .382 .142 .240
Djibouti −.451 −.696 .245
Bahrain −1.411 −1.673 .262
Luxembourg .559 .291 .269
Singapore −1.593 −1.864 .271
Oman −1.270 −.981 −.289
Gabon −1.743 −1.418 −.325
Saudi Arabia −1.681 −1.253 −.428
Norway .315 1.285 −.971
United Arab Emirates −1.256 −.081 −1.175
Kuwait −1.007 .925 −1.932
Resreduced = the standardized residual for a case obtained from the reduced model
(without Oil) – equation 5.12.
Resfull = the standardized residual for a case obtained from the full model (with
Oil) – equation 5.11.
Residual = Resreduced – Resfull. Listed in order of absolute value.
these may be summarily removed from consideration by virtue of the
fact that |Resreduced|<|Resfull|. Thus, we see that the inclusion of Oil
increases the residual for Norway; this case is apparently better explained
without the inclusion of the variable of theoretical interest. Needless to
say, this is not a good case to explore if we wish to examine the causal
mechanisms that lie between natural resource wealth and democracy. (It
might, however, be a good case for model diagnostics, as discussed in the
previous section on influential cases.)
Among cases where the residual declines from the reduced to the full
model, several are clear-cut favorites as pathway cases. The United Arab
Emirates and Kuwait have the highest Residual values and also have
fairly modest residuals in the full model (Resfull), signifying that these
cases are not extreme outliers; indeed, according to the parameters of this
model, the United Arab Emirates would be regarded as a typical case. The
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130 II. Doing Case Studies
analysis suggests, therefore, that researchers seeking to explore the effect
of oil wealth on regime type might do well to focus on these two cases,
since their patterns of democracy cannot be well explained by other factors
such as, economic development, religion, European influence, or ethnic
fractionalization. The presence of oil wealth in these countries would
appear to have a strong independent effect on the prospects for democratization
in these countries, an effect that is well modeled by our general
theory and by the available cross-case evidence. And this effect should
be interpretable in a case-study format – more interpretable, at any rate,
than it would be in other cases.
Conclusion
The logic of causal “elimination” is much more compelling where variables
are dichotomous and where causal sufficiency can be assumed (X1 is
sufficient by itself, at least in some circumstances, to cause Y). Where variables
are continuous the strategy of the pathway case is more dubious, for
potentially confounding causal factors (X2) cannot be neatly partitioned.
Even so, this discussion has shown why the selection of a pathway case is
a logical approach to case study analysis in many circumstances.
The exceptions may be briefly noted. Sometimes, where all variables
in a model are dichotomous, there are no pathway cases, that is, no cases
of type H (in Table 5.2). This is known as the “empty cell” problem, or a
problem of severe causal multicollinearity. The universe of observational
data does not always oblige us with cases that allow us to test a given
hypothesis independently of all others.
Where variables are continuous, the analogous problem is that of a
causal variable of interest (X1) that has only minimal effects on the outcome
of interest. That is, its role in the general model is quite minor (as
judged by its standardized coefficient or by F-tests comparing the reducedform
model and the full model). In these situations, the only cases that
are strongly affected by X1 – if there are any at all – may be extreme
outliers, and these sorts of cases are not properly regarded as providing
confirmatory evidence for a proposition, for reasons that are abundantly
clear by now.
Finally, it must be underlined that the identification of a causal-pathway
case does not obviate the utility of exploring other cases. However, this
sort of multicase investigation moves beyond the logic of the causal pathway
case, underlining a point that we shall return to in the concluding
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 131
section of the chapter: case-selection procedures often combine different
logics.
Despite the technical nature of this discussion, it should be noted that
when researchers refer to a particular case as an “example” of a broader
phenomenon, they are often referring to a pathway case. This sort of
case illustrates the causal relationship of interest in a particularly vivid
manner, and therefore may be regarded as a common trope among case
study researchers.
Most-Similar Case
The most-similar method, unlike the previous methods, employs a minimum
of two cases.71
In its purest form, the chosen pair of cases is similar
in all respects except the variable(s) of interest.
If the study is exploratory (i.e., hypothesis-generating), the researcher
looks for cases that differ on the outcome of theoretical interest but are
similar on various factors that might have contributed to that outcome, as
illustrated in Table 5.4 (A). This is a common form of case selection at the
initial stage of research. Often, fruitful analysis begins with an apparent
anomaly: two cases are apparently quite similar, and yet demonstrate
surprisingly different outcomes. The hope is that intensive study of these
cases will reveal one – or at most several – factors that differ across these
cases. These differing factors (X1) are the putative causes.
Sometimes, a researcher begins with a strong hypothesis, in which case
her research design is confirmatory (hypothesis-testing) from the get-go.
That is, she strives to identify cases that exhibit different scores on the
factor of interest and similar scores on all other possible causal factors,
as illustrated in the second (hypothesis-testing) diagram in Table 5.4 (B).
If she discovers such a case, it is regarded as providing confirmatory evidence
for the proposition, as well as fodder for an exploration of causal
mechanisms.
The point is that the purpose of a most-similar research design,
and hence its basic set-up, may change as a researcher moves from an
exploratory to a confirmatory mode of analysis. However, regardless of
71 Sometimes the most-similar method is known as the “method of difference,” after
its inventor (Mill 1843/1872). For later treatments see Cohen and Nagel (1934);
Eggan (1954); Gerring (2001: Chapter 9); Lijphart (1971, 1975); Meckstroth (1975);
Przeworski and Teune (1970); and Skocpol and Somers (1980).
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132 II. Doing Case Studies
table 5.4. Most-similar analysis with two case types
(A) Hypothesis-generating (Y-centered):
X1 X2 Y
A ? 0 1Case
types B ? 0 0
(B) Hypothesis-testing (X1/Y-centered):
X1 X2 Y
A 1 0 ?Case
types B 0 0 ?
X1 = the variable of theoretical interest. X2 = a vector of
controls. Y = the outcome of interest.
where one begins, the results, when published, look like a hypothesistesting
research design. Question marks have been removed: (A) becomes
(B) in Table 5.4. Consequently, the notion of a “most-similar” analysis is
usually understood as a tool for understanding a specific X1/Y relation-
ship.
As an example, let us consider Leon Epstein’s classic study of party
cohesion, which focuses on two similar countries, the United States
and Canada. Canada has highly disciplined parties whose members vote
together on the floor of the House of Commons, while the United States
has weak, undisciplined parties whose members often defect on floor votes
in Congress. In explaining these divergent outcomes, persistent over many
years, Epstein first discusses possible causal factors that are held more or
less constant across the two cases. Both the United States and Canada
inherited English political cultures; both have large territories and heterogeneous
populations; both are federal; and both have a fairly loose
party structures with strong regional bases and a weak center. These are
the “control” variables (X2). Where they differ is in one constitutional
feature: Canada is parliamentary, while the United States is presidential.
And it is this institutional difference that Epstein identifies as the differentiating
cause (X1).72
Several caveats apply to any most-similar analysis (in addition to
the usual set of assumptions applying to all case study analysis). First,
72 For further examples of the most-similar method, see Brenner (1976); Hamilton (1977);
Lipset (1968); Miguel (2004); Moulder (1977); and Posner (2004).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 133
one must code cases dichotomously (high/low, present/absent). This is
straightforward if the underlying variables are also dichotomous (e.g.,
federal/unitary). However, it is often the case that variables of concern
in the model are continuous (e.g., party cohesion). In this setting, the
researcher must “dichotomize” the scoring of cases so as to simplify the
two-case analysis. This is relatively unproblematic if the actual scores on
this dimension are quite different (on X1 and Y) or virtually identical
(on X2). Unfortunately, the empirical universe does not always oblige the
requirements of Millean-style analysis, and in these instances the logic of
most-similar comparison becomes questionable.
Some flexibility is admissible on the vector of controls (X2) that are
“held constant” across the cases. Nonidentity is tolerable if the deviation
runs counter to the predicted hypothesis. For example, Epstein describes
both the United States and Canada as having strong regional bases of
power, a factor that is probably more significant in recent Canadian history
than in recent American history. However, because regional bases of
power should lead to weaker parties, rather than to stronger parties, this
element of nonidentity does not challenge Epstein’s conclusions. Indeed, it
sets up a most-difficult research scenario, as discussed earlier. At the same
time, Epstein’s description of Canadian and American parties as “loose”
might be questioned. Arguably, American parties, dominated in the latter
twentieth century by direct primaries (open to all who declare themselves
a member of a party and, in some states, even to those who are members
of the opposing party), are considerably more diffuse than Canadian
parties. The problem of coding continuous variables in a dichotomous
manner is threatening to any most-similar analysis.
In one respect, however, the requirements for case control are not so
stringent. Specifically, it is not usually necessary to measure control variables
(at least not with a high degree of precision) in order to control for
them. If two countries can be assumed to have similar cultural heritages,
one needn’t worry about constructing variables to measure that heritage.
One can simply assert that, whatever they are, they are more or less constant
across the two cases. This is similar to the technique employed in a
randomized experiment, where the researcher typically does not attempt
to measure all the factors that might affect the causal relationship of interest.
She assumes, rather, that these unknown factors have been neutralized
across the treatment and control groups by randomization. This can be a
huge advantage over large-N cross-case methods, where each case must be
assigned a specific score on all relevant control variables – often a highly
questionable procedure, and one that must impose strong assumptions
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134 II. Doing Case Studies
about the shape of the underlying causal relationship (usually presumed
to be linear).
Cross-Case Technique
The most useful statistical tool for identifying cases for in-depth analysis
in a most-similar setting is some variety of “matching” strategy.73
Statistical estimates of causal effects based on matching techniques have
been a major topic in quantitative methodology over the last twenty-five
years, first in statistics74
and subsequently in econometrics75
and political
science.76
Matching techniques are based on an extension of experimental logic.
In a randomized experiment, elaborate statistical models are unnecessary
for causal inference because, for a large enough selection of cases,
the treatment group and the control group have a high probability of
being similar in their background characteristics (X2). Hence, a simple
difference-of-means test is often sufficient to analyze the effects of a treatment
variable (X1) across groups.
In observational studies where the hypothesized causal factor (X1) is
dichotomous, the situation is superficially the same. For purposes of discussion,
we shall refer to cases with a “high” score on X1 as members of
the treatment group, and to cases with “low” scores as members of the
control group. Thus are observational studies translated into the lexicon
of experimental analysis.
However, in observational studies it is unusual to find cases that differ
on X1 but not on various background characteristics (X2) that might
affect the outcome of interest. For example, countries that are strongly
democratic (or strongly authoritarian) are likely to be similar in more
than one respect. This greatly complicates the analysis of X1’s independent
effect on the outcome.
The traditional approach to this problem is to introduce a variable
for each potential confounder in a regression model of causal relationships.
But this standard-issue technique requires a strong set of assumptions
about the behavior of the various factors introduced into the model.
Matching techniques have been developed as an explicit alternative to
73 For good introductions, see Ho et al. (2004); Morgan and Harding (2005); Rosenbaum
(2004); and Rosenbaum and Silber (2001). For a discussion of matching procedures in
Stata, see Abadie et al. (2001).
74 Rosenbaum and Rubin (1985); Rosenbaum (2004).
75 Hahn (1998).
76 Ho et al. (2004); Imai (2005).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 135
the control-variable approach. This alternative begins by identifying a set
of variables (other than the dependent variable or the main independent
variable) on which the cases are to be matched. Then, for each case in
the treatment group, the researcher identifies as many cases as possible
from the control group with the exact same scores on the matching variables
(the covariates). Finally, the researcher looks at the difference on
the dependent variable between the cases in the treatment group and the
matching cases in the control group. If the set of matching variables is
broad enough to include all confounders, the average difference between
the treatment-group and the matching control-group cases should provide
a good estimate of the causal effect. Even in a situation in which the
set of matching variables includes some, but not all, confounders, matching
may produce better causal inferences than regression models because
cases that match on a set of explicitly selected variables are also more
likely to be similar on unmeasured confounders.77
Unfortunately, the relatively simple matching procedure just described,
known as exact matching, is often impossible. This procedure typically
fails for continuous variables such as wealth, age, and distance, since there
may be no two cases with the same score on a continuous variable. For
example, there is no undemocratic country with the exact same per capita
GDP as the United States. Note that the larger the number of covariates,
the lower the likelihood of finding exact matches.
In situations where exact matching is infeasible, researchers may
instead employ approximate matching, where cases from the control
group that are close enough to matching cases from the treatment group
are accepted as matches. Major weaknesses of this approach include the
fact that the definition of “close enough” is inevitably arbitrary, as well
as the fact that, for large sets of matching variables, few treatment cases
are likely to have even approximate matches.
To deal with situations in which exact matching is impossible, methodologists
have developed an alternative procedure known as propensityscore
matching. This approach suggests a somewhat different definition of
similarity than the previous two. Rather than focusing on sharing scores
on the matching variables, propensity-score matching focuses on sharing
a similar estimated probability of having been in the treatment group,
77 However, matching is clearly inferior to a well-designed and well-executed randomized
experiment. The benefits of matching extend only so far as equivalence on the variables
explicitly included and any unmeasured variables that fortuitously happen to be similar
across the cases. By contrast, proper randomization handles all unmeasured variables.
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136 II. Doing Case Studies
conditional on the matching variables. In other words, when looking for
a match for a specific case in the treatment group, researchers look for
cases in the control group that – before the score on the independent variable
is known – would have been as likely to be in the treatment group
as actually chosen cases. This is accomplished by a two-stage analysis,
the first stage of which approaches the key independent variable, X1, as a
dependent variable and the matching variables as independent variables.
(This is similar in spirit to selection models, where a two-stage approach
to causal inference is adopted.) Once this model has been estimated, the
coefficient estimates are disregarded. Instead, the second stage of the analysis
employs the fitted values for each case, which tell us the probability of
that case being assigned to the treatment group, conditional on its scores
on the matching variables. These fitted values are referred to as propensity
scores. The final step in the process is to choose matches for each case
in the treatment group. This is accomplished by selecting cases from the
control group with similar propensity scores.
The end result of this procedure is a set of matched cases that can
be compared in whatever way the researcher deems appropriate. These
are the “most-similar” cases, returning to the qualitative terminology.
Rosenbaum and Silber summarize the results of recent medical studies:
Unlike model-based adjustments, where patients vanish and are replaced by the
coefficients of a model, in matching, ostensibly comparable patterns are compared
directly, one by one. Modern matching methods involve statistical modeling and
combinatorial algorithms, but the end result is a collection of pairs or sets of
people who look comparable, at least on average. In matching, people retain
their integrity as people, so they can be examined and their stories can be told
individually.78
Matching, conclude the authors, “facilitates, rather than inhibits, thick
description.”79
Indeed, the same matching techniques that have been used successfully
in observational studies of medical treatments might also be adapted to the
study of nation-states, political parties, cities, or indeed any paired cases
in the social sciences. Suppose that, in order to study the relationship
between wealth and democracy, the researcher wishes to select a case
that is as similar as possible to Costa Rica in background variables, while
being as different as possible on per capita GDP, the variable of theoretical
interest, and the outcome of interest, democracy.
78 Rosenbaum and Silber (2001: 223).
79 Ibid.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 137
In order to select most-similar cases for the study of the relationship
between wealth and democracy, one must arrive at a statistical model of
the causes of a country’s wealth. Obviously, such a proposition is complex.
Since this is an illustrative example, we shall be satisfied with a
cartoon model that includes only a few independent variables. A country’s
wealth will be assumed to be a function of the origin of its legal
system (measured by dummy variables for English legal heritage, French
legal heritage, socialist legal heritage, German legal heritage, and Scandinavian
legal heritage) and its geographic endowments (measured by the
distance of each country’s capital city from the equator).
The first step in selecting most-similar cases is to run a nonparametric
regression with these independent variables and logged per capita GDP
(the independent variable of theoretical interest) as the dependent variable.
The fitted values from this regression serve as propensity scores,
and cases with similar propensity scores are interpreted as matching. The
propensity score for our focus case, Costa Rica, is 7.63. Examining the
propensity-score data, one sees that Benin has a propensity score of 7.58 –
quite similar to Costa Rica’s. At the same time, Benin’s per capita GDP
of $1,163 is substantially different from Costa Rica’s per capita GDP of
$5,486, as are their democracy scores in 1995 (Benin is much less democratic
than Costa Rica). Hence, Costa Rica and Benin may be viewed as
most-similar cases for testing the relationship between wealth and democracy,
as illustrated in Table 5.5. An in-depth analysis of these two cases
may shed light on the causal pathways between economic development
and democracy. Indeed, these two cases are probably more informative
than other two-case comparisons precisely because the case-selection procedure
has identified countries whose other attributes are roughly equal
in their propensity to democracy/authoritarianism. This means that the
differences on the variable of theoretical interest (GDP per capita) and the
outcome (democracy) can be given a causal interpretation – an interpretation
that would probably not be suggested by a qualitative assessment
of these two countries (which are quite different in culture, region, and
historical experience).
It is important to keep in mind that the quality of the “match”
depends entirely on the quality of the statistical model used to generate
the propensity scores. A superficial model like the one used here may
produce rather superficial matches. Yet, in a large-N context – where
dozens, if not thousands of cases vie for inclusion – a formal approach
to case selection offers significant advantages. At the very least, one’s
assumptions are rendered transparent.
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138 II. Doing Case Studies
table 5.5. Paired cases resulting from matching procedure
GDP
per capita
(X1)
Propensity
score
(X2)
Democracy
(Y)
Benin
Costa Rica
$1,163 7.58 6
Cases
$5,486 7.63 10
Conclusion
The most-similar method is one of the oldest recognized techniques of
qualitative analysis, harking back to J. S. Mill’s classic study, System of
Logic (first published in 1834). By contrast, matching statistics are a relatively
new technique in the arsenal of the social sciences, and have rarely
been employed for the purpose of selecting cases for in-depth analysis.
Yet, as suggested in the foregoing discussion, there may be a fruitful interchange
between the two approaches. Indeed, the current popularity of
matching among statisticians – relative, that is, to garden-variety regression
models – rests upon what qualitative researchers would recognize as
a “case-based” approach to causal analysis. If Rosenbaum and Silber are
correct, it may be perfectly reasonable to appropriate this large-N method
of analysis for case study purposes.
To be sure, the purpose of a case study is somewhat different in situations
where a large-N cross-case analysis has already been conducted.
Here, the general causal relationship is usually clear. We know from
our cross-case study that GDP per capita is strongly associated with
democracy; there is a strong presumption of causality. Of course, the case
study analysis may give us reasons to doubt. Perhaps the causal pathways
from economic development to regime type are difficult to identify.
Perhaps the presumed causal pathways, as identified by previous research
or theoretical hunch, are simply not in evidence. Even so, the usual purpose
of a case study analysis in this setting is to corroborate an initial
cross-case finding.
By contrast, if there is no prior cross-case investigation – at least none
of a formal nature – the case study performs a somewhat different role.
Here, we will be more interested in the covariational patterns that are
discovered between X1 and Y. Thus, Epstein’s study of American and
Canadian political parties is notable for its principal finding: that the
underlying cause of party cohesion is to be found in the structure of
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the executive (parliamentary/presidential). Indeed, Epstein spends relatively
little time in this article discussing possible causal mechanisms;
his principal focus is on “scoring” the relevant variables, as discussed.
By the same token, if Epstein had already conducted a large-N crosscase
analysis prior to his case study, and if this cross-case analysis had
revealed a strong pattern between executive type and party cohesion,
his two-case analysis of the United States and Canada (cases that we
presume would have very similar propensity scores) would now serve a
rather different purpose. Evidently, the function of the most-similar case
study shifts subtly but importantly when the case-selection procedure is,
itself, a mode of analysis, offering strong prima facie evidence of a causal
relationship.
As with other methods of case selection, the most-similar method is
prone to problems of non-representativeness. If this technique is employed
in a qualitative fashion (without a systematic cross-case selection strategy),
potential biases in the chosen cases must be addressed in a speculative
way. If the researcher employs a matching technique of case
selection within a large-N sample, the problem of potential bias can be
addressed by assuring a choice of cases that are not extreme outliers, as
judged by their residuals in the full model. Most-similar cases should also
be “typical” cases, though some scope for deviance around the regression
line may be acceptable for purposes of finding a good fit among
cases.
Most-Different Cases
A final case-selection method is the reverse image of the previous method.
Here, variation on independent variables is prized, while variation on the
outcome is eschewed. Rather than looking for cases that are most-similar,
one looks for cases that are most-different. Specifically, the researcher tries
to identify cases where just one independent variable (X1), as well as the
dependent variable (Y), covary, while all other plausible factors (X2a−d)
show different values.80
80 The most-different method is sometimes referred to as the “method of agreement,” following
its inventor, J. S. Mill (1843/1872). See also DeFelice (1986); Gerring (2001:
212–14); Lijphart (1971, 1975); Meckstroth (1975); Przeworski and Teune (1970);
and Skocpol and Somers (1980). For examples of this method, see Collier and Collier
(1991/2002); Converse and Dupeux (1962); Karl (1997); Moore (1966); Skocpol
(1979); and Yashar (2005: 23). However, most of these studies are described as combining
most-similar and most-different methods.
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140 II. Doing Case Studies
table 5.6. Most-different analysis with two cases
X1 X2a X2b X2c X2d Y
A 1 1 0 1 0 1Case
types B 1 0 1 0 1 1
X1 = the variable of theoretical interest. X2a−d = a vector
of controls. Y = the outcome of interest.
The simplest form of this two-case comparison is illustrated in Table
5.6. Cases A and B are deemed “most-different,” though they are similar
in two essential respects – the causal variable of interest and the outcome.
As an example, I follow Marc Howard’s recent work, which explores
the enduring impact of communism on civil society.81
Cross-national surveys
show a strong correlation between former communist regimes and
low social capital, controlling for a variety of possible confounders. It is a
strong result. Howard wonders why this relationship is so strong and why
it persists, and perhaps even strengthens, in countries that are no longer
socialist or authoritarian. In order to answer this question, he focuses on
two most-different cases, Russia and East Germany. These two countries
were quite different – in all ways other than their communist experience –
prior to the Soviet era, during the Soviet era, and in the post-Soviet era,
as East Germany was absorbed into West Germany. Yet they both score
near the bottom of various cross-national indices intended to measure the
prevalence of civic engagement in the current era. Thus, Howard’s case
selection procedure meets the requirements of the most-different research
design: variance is found on all (or most) dimensions aside from the key
factor of interest (communism) and the outcome (civic engagement).82
What leverage is brought to the analysis by this approach? Howard’s
case studies combine evidence drawn from mass surveys and from indepth
interviews of small, stratified samples of Russians and East Germans.
(This is a good illustration, incidentally, of how quantitative and
qualitative evidence can be fruitfully combined in the intensive study of
several cases.) The product of this analysis is the identification of three
causal pathways that, Howard claims, help to explain the laggard status
of civil society in post-communist polities: “the mistrust of communist
81 Howard (2003). In the following discussion I treat the terms “social capital,” “civil
society,” and “civic engagement” interchangeably.
82 Howard (2003: 6–9).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 141
organizations, the persistence of friendship networks, and the disappointment
with post-communism.”83
Simply put, Howard concludes, “a great
number of citizens in Russia and Eastern Germany feel a strong and lingering
sense of distrust of any kind of public organization, a general satisfaction
with their own personal networks (accompanied by a sense of
deteriorating relations within society overall), and disappointment in the
developments of post-communism.”84
Results obtained from the analysis of East Germany and Russia are presumed
to apply in other post-communist polities (e.g., Lithuania, Poland,
Bulgaria, Albania). Indeed, by choosing a heterogenous sample, Howard
solves potential problems of representativeness in his restricted sample.
However, this sample is not representative across the entire population of
the inference, which is intended to cover all countries, not just communist
ones. (To argue that communism impedes the development of civil
society is to imply that noncommunism stimulates the development of
civil society. The chosen sample is truncated [censored] on the dependent
variable).
Equally problematic is the lack of variation on key causal factors of
interest – communism and its putative causal pathways. For this reason, it
is generally difficult to reach conclusions about the causal status of these
factors on the basis of the most-different analysis alone. It is possible,
that is, that the three causal pathways identified by Howard also operate
within polities that have never experienced communist rule. If so, they
are not properly regarded as causal.
Nor does it seem possible to conclusively eliminate rival hypotheses
on the basis of this most-different analysis. Indeed, this is not Howard’s
intention. He wishes merely to show that whatever influence on civil society
might be attributed to economic, cultural, and other factors does not
exhaust this subject.
My considered judgment, based on the foregoing methodological
dilemmas, is that the most-different research design provides only minimal
insight into the problem of why communist systems appear to suppress
civic engagement, years after their disappearance. Fortunately, this is not
the only research design employed by Howard in his admirable study.
Indeed, the author employs two other small-N cross-case methods, as
well as a large-N cross-country statistical analysis. In my opinion, these
methods do most of the analytic work. East Germany may be regarded
83 Ibid., 122.
84 Ibid., 145.
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142 II. Doing Case Studies
as a causal-pathway case (as discussed earlier). It has all the attributes
normally assumed to foster civic engagement (e.g., a growing economy,
multiparty competition, civil liberties, a free press, close association with
Western European culture and politics), but nonetheless shows little or no
improvement on this dimension during the post-transition era.85
It is plausible
to attribute this lack of change to its communist past, as Howard
does. The contrast between East and West Germany provides a mostsimilar
analysis, since the two polities share virtually everything except
a communist past. This variation is also deftly exploited by Howard. In
short, Howard’s conclusions are justifiable, but not on the basis of mostdifferent
analysis.
I do not wish to dismiss the most-different research method entirely.
Surely, Howard’s findings are stronger with the intensive analysis of Russia
than they would be without. Yet if one strips away the pathway case (East
Germany) and the most-similar analysis (East/West Germany), there is
little left upon which to base an analysis of causal relations (aside from
the large-N cross-national analysis). Indeed, most scholars who employ
the most-different method do so in conjunction with other methods.86
It
is rarely, if ever, a stand-alone method.87
Conclusion
Generalizing from this discussion of Marc Howard’s work, I offer the following
summary remarks on the most-different method of case analysis.
(I leave aside issues faced by all case study analyses, issues that formed
the basis of Chapter Three.)
85 Ibid., 8.
86 See, e.g., Collier and Collier (1991/2002); Karl (1997); Moore (1966); Skocpol (1979);
and Yashar (2005: 23). Karl (1997), which affects to be a most-different system analysis
(20), is a particularly clear example of this. Her study, focused ostensibly on petrostates
(states with large oil reserves), makes two sorts of inferences. The first concerns
the (usually) obstructive role of oil in political and economic development. The second
sort of inference concerns variation within the population of petro-states, showing that
some countries (e.g., Norway, Indonesia) manage to avoid the pathologies brought on
elsewhere by oil resources. When attempting to explain the constraining role of oil on
petro-states, Karl usually relies on contrasts between petro-states and non-petro-states
(e.g., Chapter 10). Only when attempting to explain differences among petro-states does
she restrict her sample to petro-states. In my opinion, very little use is made of the mostdifferent
research design.
87 This was recognized, at least implicitly, by Mill (1843/1872: 258–9). Skepticism has been
echoed by methodologists in the intervening years (e.g., Cohen and Nagel 1934: 251–6;
Gerring 2001; Skocpol and Somers 1980). Indeed, explicit defenses of the most-different
method are rare (but see DeFelice 1986).
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 143
Let us begin with a methodological obstacle that is faced by both Millean
styles of analysis – the necessity of dichotomizing every variable in
the analysis. Recall that, as with most-similar analysis, differences across
cases must be sizeable enough to be interpretable in an essentially dichotomous
fashion (e.g., high/low, present/absent), and similarities must be
close enough to be understood as essentially identical (e.g., high/high,
present/present). Otherwise the results of a Millean-style analysis are not
interpretable. The problem of “degrees” is deadly if the variables under
consideration are by nature continuous (e.g., GDP). This is a particular
concern in Howard’s analysis, where East Germany scores somewhat
higher than Russia in civic engagement; they are both low, though Russia
is considerably lower. Howard assumes that this divergence is minimal
enough to be understood as a difference of degree rather than of kind,
a judgment that might be questioned. In these respects, most-different
analysis is no more secure – but also no less – than most-similar analysis.
In one respect, most-different analysis is superior to most-similar analysis.
If the coding assumptions are sound, the most-different research
design may be useful for eliminating necessary causes. Causal factors that
do not appear across the chosen cases – e.g., X2a−d in Table 5.6 – are evidently
unnecessary for the production of Y. However, it does not follow
that the most-different method is the best method for eliminating necessary
causes. Note that the defining feature of this method is the shared
element across cases – X1 in Table 5.6. This feature does not help one to
eliminate necessary causes. Indeed, if one were focused solely on eliminating
necessary causes, one would presumably seek out cases that register
the same outcomes and have maximum diversity on other attributes. In
Table 5.6, this would be a set of cases that satisfy conditions X2a−d, but
not X1. Thus, even the presumed strength of the most-different analysis
is not so strong.
Usually, case study analysis is focused on the identification (or clarification)
of causal relations, not on the elimination of possible causes. In
this setting, the most-different technique is useful, but only if assumptions
of “causal uniqueness” hold. By this I mean a situation in which a
given outcome is the product of only one cause: Y cannot occur except in
the presence of X1. X1 is necessary, and in some situations (given certain
background conditions) sufficient, to cause Y.88
Consider the following hypothetical example. Suppose that a new disease,
about which little is known, has appeared in Country A. There are
88 Another way of stating this is to say that X is a “nontrivial necessary condition” of Y.
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144 II. Doing Case Studies
hundreds of infected persons across dozens of affected communities in
that country. In Country B, located at the other end of the world, several
new cases of the disease surface in a single community. In this setting,
we can imagine two sorts of Millean analyses. The first examines two
similar communities within Country A, one of which has developed the
disease and the other of which has not. This is the most-similar style of
case comparison, and focuses accordingly on the identification of a difference
between the two cases that might account for variation across the
sample. A second approach focuses on (highly dissimilar) communities
where the disease has appeared across the two countries and searches for
any similarities that might account for these similar outcomes. This is the
most-different research design.
Both are plausible approaches to this particular problem, and we can
imagine epidemiologists employing them simultaneously. However, the
most-different design demands stronger assumptions about the underlying
factors at work. It supposes that the disease arises from the same cause
in any setting. This may be a reasonable operating assumption when one
is dealing with certain natural phenomena like diseases. Even so, there are
many exceptions. Death, for example, has many causes. For this reason,
it would not occur to us to look for most-different cases of high mortality
around the world. In order for the most-different research design to effectively
identify a causal factor at work in a given outcome, the researcher
must assume that X1 – the factor held constant across the diverse cases –
is the only possible cause of Y (see Table 5.6). This assumption rarely
holds in social scientific settings, for most outcomes of interest to anthropologists,
economists, political scientists, and sociologists have multiple
causes. There are many ways to win an election, to build a welfare state,
to get into a war, to overthrow a government, or – returning to Marc
Howard’s work – to build a strong civil society. And it is for this reason
that most-different analysis is rarely applied in social science work and,
where applied, is rarely convincing.
If this seems a tad severe, there is a more charitable way of approaching
the most-different method. Arguably, this is not a pure “method” at all but
merely a supplement, a way of incorporating diversity in the subsample of
cases that provide the unusual outcome of interest. If the unusual outcome
is revolution, one might wish to encompass a wide variety of revolutions
in one’s analysis. If the unusual outcome is post-communist civil society,
it seems appropriate to include a diverse set of post-communist polities in
one’s sample of case studies, as Marc Howard does. From this perspective,
the most-different method (so-called) might be better labeled a diversecase
method, as explored earlier.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 145
Conclusion
In order to be a case of something broader than itself, the chosen case must
be representative (in some respects) of a larger population. Otherwise – if
it is purely idiosyncratic (“unique”) – it is uninformative about anything
other than itself. A study based on a nonrepresentative sample has no
(or very little) external validity. To be sure, no phenomenon is purely
idiosyncratic; the notion of a unique case is a matter that would be difficult
to define. One is concerned, as always, with matters of degree. Cases are
more or less representative of some broader phenomenon and, on that
score, may be considered better or worse subjects for intensive analysis.
(The one exception, as noted, is the influential case.)
Of all the problems besetting case study analysis, perhaps the most persistent
– and the most persistently bemoaned – is the problem of sample
bias.89
Lisa Martin finds that the overemphasis of international relations
scholars on a few well-known cases of economic sanctions – most of which
failed to elicit any change in the sanctioned country – “has distorted analysts’
view of the dynamics and characteristics of economic sanctions.”90
Barbara Geddes charges that many analyses of industrial policy have
focused exclusively on the most successful cases – primarily the East Asian
NICs – leading to biased inferences.91
Anna Breman and Carolyn Shelton
show that case study work on the question of structural adjustment is systematically
biased insofar as researchers tend to focus on disaster cases –
those where structural adjustment is associated with very poor health and
human development outcomes. These cases, often located in sub-Saharan
Africa, are by no means representative of the entire population. Consequently,
scholarship on the question of structural adjustment is highly
skewed in a particular ideological direction (against neoliberalism).92
89 Achen and Snidal (1989); Collier and Mahoney (1996); Geddes (1990); King, Keohane
and Verba (1994); Rohlfing (2004); Sekhon (2004). Some case study researchers appear
to denigrate the importance of case representativeness. George and Bennett (2005: 30)
write emphatically, “Case researchers do not aspire to select cases that are directly ‘representative’
of diverse populations and they usually do not and should not make claims
that their findings are applicable to such populations except in contingent ways.” However,
it becomes clear that what the authors are inveighing against is not the goal of
representativeness per se but rather the problem of a case study researcher who claims
an inappropriately broad extension for her findings. “To the extent that there is a representativeness
problem or a selection bias problem in a particular case study, it is often
better described as the problem of ‘overgeneralizing’ findings to types or subclasses of
cases unlike those actually studied” (ibid., 32).
90 Martin (1992: 5).
91 Geddes (1990).
92 Breman and Shelton (2001). See also Gerring, Thacker, and Moreno (2005).
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146 II. Doing Case Studies
These examples might be multiplied many times. Indeed, for many topics
the most-studied cases are acknowledged to be less than representative.
It is worth reflecting upon the fact that our knowledge of the world
is heavily colored by a few “big” (populous, rich, powerful) countries,
and that a good portion of the disciplines of economics, political science,
and sociology are built upon scholars’ familiarity with the economics,
political science, and sociology of one country, the United States.93
Case
study work is particularly prone to problems of investigator bias because
so much rides on the researcher’s selection of one case (or a few cases).
Even if the investigator is unbiased, her sample may still be biased simply
by virtue of “random” error (which may be understood as measurement
error, error in the data-generation process, or an underlying causal feature
of the universe).
There are only two situations in which a case study researcher need
not be concerned with the representativeness of her chosen case. The first
is the influential-case research design, where a case is chosen because of
its possible influence on a cross-case model, and hence is not expected
to be representative of a larger sample. The second is the deviant-case
method, where the chosen case is employed to confirm a broader crosscase
argument to which the case stands as an apparent exception. Yet in
the latter instance, the chosen case is expected to be representative of a
broader set of cases – those, in particular, that are poorly explained by
the extant model.
In all other circumstances, cases must be representative of the population
of interest in whatever ways might be relevant to the proposition
in question. Note that where a researcher is attempting to disconfirm a
deterministic proposition, the question of representativeness is perhaps
more appropriately understood as a question of classification: is the
chosen case appropriately classified as a member of the designated
population? If so, then it is fodder for a disconfirming case study.
If the researcher is attempting to confirm a deterministic proposition,
or to make probabilistic arguments about a causal relationship, then the
problem of representativeness is of the more usual sort: is Case A unithomogenous
relative to other cases in the population? This is not an
easy matter to test. However, in a large-N context the residual for that
93 Wahlke (1979: 13) writes of the failings of the “behavioralist” mode of political science
analysis. “It rarely aims at generalization; research efforts have been confined essentially
to case studies of single political systems, most of them dealing . . . with the American
system.”
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 147
case (in whatever model the researcher has greatest confidence in) is a
reasonable place to start. Of course, this test is only as good as the model
at hand. Any incorrect specifications or incorrect modeling procedures
will likely bias the results and give an incorrect assessment of each case’s
“typicality.” In addition, there is the possibility of stochastic error, errors
that cannot be modeled in a general framework. Given the explanatory
weight that individual cases are asked to bear in a case study analysis, it
is wise to consider more than just the residual test of representativeness.
Deductive logic and an in-depth knowledge of the case in question are
often more reliable tools than the results of a rather superficial cross-case
model.
In any case, there is no dispensing with the question. Case studies (with
the two exceptions already noted) rest upon an assumed synecdoche: the
case should stand for a population. If this is not true, or if there is reason
to doubt this assumption, then the utility of the case study is brought
severely into question.
Fortunately, there is some safety in numbers. Insofar as case study evidence
is combined with cross-case evidence, the issue of sample bias is
mitigated. Indeed, the skepticism about case study work that one commonly
encounters in the social sciences today is, in my view, a product
of a too-literal interpretation of the case study method. A case study tout
court is thought to mean a case study tout seul. Insofar as case studies
and cross-case studies can be enlisted within the same investigation (either
in the same study or by reference to other studies of the same subject),
problems of representativeness are less worrisome. This is the virtue of
cross-level work, a.k.a. “triangulation.”
Ambiguities
Before concluding, I wish to draw attention to two ambiguities in caseselection
strategies for case study research. The first concerns the admixture
of several case-selection strategies. The second concerns the changing
status of a case as a study proceeds.
Some case studies follow only one strategy of case selection. They
are typical, diverse, extreme, deviant, influential, crucial, pathway, mostsimilar,
or most-different research designs, as discussed. However, many
case studies mix and match among these case-selection strategies. Indeed,
insofar as all case studies seek representative samples, they are all in search
of “typical” cases. Thus, it is common for writers to declare that their case
is, for example, both extreme and typical; it has an extreme value on X1
or Y but is not, in other respects, idiosyncratic. There is not much that
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148 II. Doing Case Studies
one can say about these combinations of strategies except that, where
the cases allow for a variety of empirical strategies, there is no reason
not to pursue them. And where the same case legitimately serves several
functions at once (without further effort on the researcher’s part), there
is little cost to a multipronged approach to case analysis.
The second issue that deserves emphasis is the changing status of a case
during the course of a researcher’s investigation – which may last for years,
if not decades. The problem is particularly acute when a researcher begins
in an exploratory mode and then proceeds to hypothesis testing (that is,
she develops a specific X1/Y proposition), or when the operative hypothesis
or key control variable changes (a new causal factor is discovered or
another outcome becomes the focus of analysis). Things change. And it is
the mark of a good researcher to keep her mind open to new evidence and
new insights. Too often, methodological discussions give the misleading
impression that hypotheses are clear and remain fixed over the course
of a study’s development. Nothing could be further from the truth. The
unofficial transcripts of academia – accessible in informal settings, where
researchers let their guards down (particularly if inebriated) – are filled
with stories about dead ends, unexpected findings, and drastically revised
theory chapters. It would be interesting, in this vein, to compare published
work with dissertation prospectuses and fellowship applications. I doubt
that the correlation between these two stages of research is particularly
strong.
Research, after all, is about discovery, not simply the verification or falsification
of existing hypotheses. That said, it is also true that research on
a particular topic should move from hypothesis generating to hypothesis
testing. This marks the progress of a field, and of a scholar’s own work.
As a rule, research that begins with an open-ended (X- or Y-centered)
analysis should conclude with a determinate X1/Y hypothesis.
The problem is that research strategies that are ideal for exploration
are not always ideal for confirmation. I discussed this trade-off in Chapter
Three as it pertains to the cross-case/case study dilemma. It also applies
to various methods of case study analysis, as presented in this chapter.
The extreme-case method is inherently exploratory, since there is no clear
causal hypothesis; the researcher is concerned merely to explore variation
on a single dimension (X1 or Y). Other methods can be employed
in either an open-ended (exploratory) or a hypothesis-testing (confirmatory/disconfirmatory)
mode. The difficulty is that once the researcher has
arrived at a determinate hypothesis, the originally chosen research design
may no longer be so well constructed.
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Techniques for Choosing Cases 149
This is unfortunate, but inevitable. One cannot construct the perfect
research design until (a) one has a specific hypothesis and (b) one is reasonably
certain about what one is going to find “out there” in the empirical
world. This is particularly true of observational research designs, but
it also applies to many experimental research designs: usually, there is
a “good” (informative) finding, and a finding that is less insightful. In
short, the perfect case study research design is usually apparent only ex
post facto.
There are three ways to handle this. One can explain, straightforwardly,
that the initial research was undertaken in an exploratory fashion, and
therefore not constructed to test the specific hypothesis that is – now – the
primary argument. Alternatively, one can try to redesign the study after
the new (or revised) hypothesis has been formulated. This may require
additional field research or perhaps the integration of additional cases or
variables that can be obtained through secondary sources or consultation
of experts. A final approach is to simply jettison, or deemphasize, that
portion of the research that no longer addresses the (revised) key hypothesis.
A three-case study may become a two-case study, and so forth. Lost
time and effort are the costs of this downsizing.
In the event, practical considerations will probably determine which
of these three strategies, or combinations of strategies, is to be followed.
The point to remember is that revision of one’s cross-case research design
is normal and to be expected. Not all twists and turns on the meandering
trail of truth can be anticipated.
Are There Other Methods of Case Selection?
At the outset of this chapter, I summarized the task of case selection as
a matter of achieving two objectives: representativeness (typicality) and
variation (causal leverage). Evidently, there are other objectives as well.
For example, one wishes to identify cases that are independent of each
other. If chosen cases are affected by each other, the problem (sometimes
known as Galton’s problem or a problem of diffusion) must be corrected
before analysis can take place. I have neglected this issue because it is
usually apparent to the researcher and, in any case, there are no easy
techniques that might be utilized to correct for such biases.94
I have also disregarded pragmatic/logistical issues that might affect case
selection. Evidently, case selection is often influenced by a researcher’s
94 For further discussion of this and other factors impinging upon case selection, see Gerring
(2001: 178–81).
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150 II. Doing Case Studies
familiarity with the language of a country, a personal entr´ee into that
locale, special access to important data, or funding that covers one archive
rather than another. Pragmatic considerations are often – and quite
rightly – decisive in the case-selection process.
A final consideration concerns the theoretical prominence of a particular
case within the literature on a subject. Researchers are sometimes
obliged to study cases that have received extensive attention in previous
studies. These are sometimes referred to as “paradigmatic” cases or
“exemplars.”95
However, neither pragmatic/logistical utility nor theoretical prominence
qualifies as a methodological factor in case selection. That is, these
features of a case have no bearing on the validity of the findings stemming
from a study. As such, it is appropriate to grant these issues a peripheral
status in this chapter, as I have elsewhere in the book.
One final caveat must be issued. While it is traditional to make a distinction
between the tasks of case selection and case analysis, a close look
at these processes reveals them to be indistinct and overlapping. One cannot
choose a case without considering the sort of analysis that it might be
subjected to, and vice versa. Thus, the reader should consider choosing
cases by employing the nine techniques laid out in this chapter along with
any considerations that might be introduced by virtue of a case’s quasiexperimental
qualities (Chapter Six) and its potential for process tracing
(Chapter Seven), subjects to which we now turn.
95 Flyvbjerg (2004: 427).
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6
Internal Validity
An Experimental Template
Let us suppose that one has chosen one’s case (or cases) according to
one of the techniques (or some combination of techniques) described in
the previous chapter. And let us further suppose that one has refined
one’s research question into a specific (X1/Y) hypothesis. One then faces
a problem of internal validity. How does one construct a research design
that might illuminate the causal relationship of interest?
The fundamental problem of causal inference is that one cannot rerun
history to see what effects X1 actually had on Y in a particular case. At an
ontological level, this problem is unsolvable. There are no time machines.
However, there are various ways of reducing uncertainty so that causal
inference is possible, and indeed quite plausible. The argument of this
chapter is that the various methods of doing so are all quasi-experimental
in nature. This is because the true experiment is the closest approximation
we have at our disposal to a time machine. Through this technique, and
others modeled on it, one can imagine what it would be like to go back
in time, alter a “treatment,” and observe its true causal effect.
This chapter thus calls into question some of the usual assumptions
applied to case study research. Most case study researchers perceive only
a distant and tenuous connection between their work and the laboratory
experiment, with a manipulated treatment and randomized control. They
are inclined to the view that experimental and observational work inhabit
different worlds, perhaps even employ different logics of inquiry. Granted,
case study researchers working with observational data occasionally refer
to their work as “quasi-experiments,” “natural experiments,” “thought
experiments,” “crucial experiments,” or “counterfactual thought experiments.”
However, these designations are often loose and ambiguous.
151
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152 II. Doing Case Studies
Arguably, they obscure more than they clarify. What does it mean for a
case study to be quasi-experimental, and how might case study research
be reconstructed through the lens of the experimental method?
I believe that, in those instances where case study research is warranted,
the strongest methodological defense for this research design often derives
from its quasi-experimental qualities. All case study research is quasiexperimental.
But some case studies are more experimental than others.
An Experimental Template
Broadly speaking, there are two dimensions upon which any causal effect
may be observed – temporal and spatial. Temporal effects may be observed
directly when an intervention occurs: X1 intervenes upon Y, and we
observe any change in Y that may follow. Here, the “control” is the preintervention
state of Y; what Y was prior to the intervention (a state
that we presume would remain the same, or whose trend would remain
constant, in the absence of intervention). Spatial effects may be observed
directly when two phenomena are similar enough to be understood as
examples (cases) of the same thing. Ideally, they are similar in all respects
but one – the causal factor of interest. In this situation, the “control” is
the case without the intervention.
Classic experimental research designs achieve variation through time
and across space, thus maximizing leverage into the fundamental problem
of causal inference. Here, we apply the same dimensions to all research,
whether or not the treatment is manipulated. This produces a matrix with
four cells, as illustrated in Figure 6.1. Cell 1, understood as a Dynamic
Comparison, mirrors the paradigmatic laboratory experiment, since it
exploits temporal and spatial variation. Cell 2, labeled a Longitudinal
Comparison, employs only temporal variation and is similar in design
to an experiment without control. Cell 3, dubbed a Spatial Comparison,
employs only spatial variation; it purports to measure the outcome of
an intervention that occurred at some point in the past but is not directly
observable. Cell 4, a Counterfactual Comparison, relies on variation (temporal
and/or spatial) that is imaginary, that is, where the researcher seeks
to replicate the circumstances of an experiment in her head or with the
aid of some mathematical (perhaps computer-generated) model.1
1 One always hesitates to introduce new terms to an already confusing semantic field.
However, there are good reasons to shy away from the traditional lexicon. To begin with,
most of the terms associated with case study research have nothing to do with the empirical
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 153
Spatial variation:
Yes No
Yes
1. Dynamic
comparison
2.Longitudinal
comparisonTemporal
variation:
No
3. Spatial
comparison
4. Counterfactual
comparison
figure 6.1. Matrix of case study research designs.
In order to familiarize ourselves with the differences among these four
paradigmatic research designs, it may be useful to begin with a series of
scenarios built around a central (hypothetical) research question: does
the change from a first-past-the-post (FPP) electoral system to a listproportional
(list-PR) electoral system moderate interethnic attitudinal
hostility in a polity with high levels of ethnic conflict? Let us assume that
one can effectively measure interethnic hostility through a series of polls
administered to a random sample (or panel) of respondents at regular
intervals throughout the research period. This registers the outcome of
the study, the propensity for people to hold hostile attitudes toward other
ethnic groups.2
With this setup, how might one apply the four foregoing
designs?
A Dynamic Comparison would proceed by the selection of two communities
that are similar in all respects, including the employment of a majoritarian
electoral system and relatively high levels of interethnic hostility.
The researcher would then either administer an electoral system change,
variation embodied in the case chosen for intensive analysis. As such, they focus attention
on how a case is situated within a broader population of cases (e.g., “extreme,” “deviant,”
“typical,” “nested”) or on the perceived function of that case within some field of study
(e.g., “exploratory,” “heuristic,” “confirmatory”). These issues, while important, do not
speak to the causal leverage that might be provided by a chosen case(s). Mill’s suggestion
of a “most-similar” research design (a.k.a. the Method of Difference) is directly relevant
to the covariational properties of chosen cases. However, it is strikingly ambiguous, since
it may refer to a set of cases where there is an intervention (a change on the key variable
of theoretical interest) or where there is no intervention. These are quite different kinds
of comparisons, as signaled by the typology (the first is much more informative than the
second), and deserve to be called by different names. Thus, in the interests of clarity, a
new set of categories is amply justified.
2 I recognize that the attitudes do not directly link to behavior, and thus measuring attitudinal
hostility will not directly translate into the manifestation of interethnic behavioral
hostility.
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154 II. Doing Case Studies
or hope for a naturally occurring electoral system reform in one of these
communities, holding the other constant. The final step would be to compare
the results to see if there is a difference over time between treatment
and control groups.
A Longitudinal Comparison would follow the same procedure, but
without the control group. Consequently, the researcher’s judgment of
results rests solely on a before/after comparison of interethnic conflict in
the community that undergoes a change in its electoral system.
A Spatial Comparison is identical to the Dynamic Comparison except
that in this instance there is no observable intervention. Here, the
researcher again searches for two communities similar in various respects
that might affect interethnic hostility. One happens to employ a majoritarian
electoral system, while the other has a proportional electoral system.
This spatial variation on the key independent variable forms the
crux of causal inference, but is not observable through time. The research
question, based upon a survey of attitudes in the two communities, is
whether interethnic hostility is lower in the community using PR electoral
rules.
In a Counterfactual Comparison, finally, the researcher observes a community
with a majoritarian electoral system and high levels of interethnic
hostility that does not undergo an electoral system change to PR. Since
there is no observable change over time in the key variable of interest, her
only leverage on this question is the counterfactual: what would have happened,
in all likelihood, if this country had reformed its electoral system?
The essential properties of these four research designs are illustrated in
Table 6.1, where Y refers to the outcome of concern, X1 marks the independent
variable of interest, and X2 represents a vector of controls (other
exogenous factors that might influence the outcome). These controls may
be directly measured or simply assumed (as they often are in randomized
experiments). The initial value of X1 is denoted as “−” and a change of
status as “+.” The vector of controls, by definition, remains constant. A
question mark indicates that the value of the dependent variable is the
major objective of the analysis. Observations are taken before (t1) and
after (t2) an intervention and thus comprise pre- and post-tests.
In these examples, an intervention (a change in X1) may be manipulated
or natural, sudden or slow, major or minuscule, dichotomous or continuous,
and causal effects may be immediate or lagged. For ease of discussion,
I shall speak of interventions as dichotomous (present/absent, high/low,
on/off), but the reader should keep in mind that the actual research
situation may be more variegated (though this inevitably complicates the
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 155
table 6.1. An experimental template for case study research designs
EXAMPLE
Hypothesis: A change from FPP to list-PR mitigates ethnic hostility.
t1 t2
Y - | ?
Treatment X1 - | +
X2 - | Y
- ?
Control X1 - -
1. Dynamic
Comparison
X2 - Two
similar communities with FPP electoral systems and high ethnic
hostility, one of which changes from FPP to list-PR. Ethnic hostility is
compared in both communities before and after the intervention.
t1 t2
Y - | ?
X1 - | +
2. Longitudinal
Comparison
Treatment
X2 - | A
community with an FPP electoral system and high ethnic hostility
changes to list-PR. Ethnic hostility is compared before and after the
intervention.
t1
Y ?
Treatment X1 +
X2 Y
?
Control X1 -
3. Spatial
Comparison
X2 Two
similar communities, one of which has FPP and the other list-PR.
Ethnic hostility is compared in both communities.
t1 [t2]
Y - | ?
Treatment X1 - | +
4. Counterfactual
Comparison
X2 - | A
community with an FPP electoral system and high ethnic hostility is
considered, by a counterfactual thought experiment, to undergo a change to
list-PR. (t2 is hypothetical.)
Cases: Observations:
Treatment = with intervention t1 = pre-test (before intervention)
Control = without intervention t2 = post-test (after intervention)
Variables: Cells:
Y = outcome | = intervention
X1 = independent variable of interest − = stasis (no change in status of variable)
X2 = a vector of controls + = change (variable changes value or trend
alters)
? = the main empirical finding: Y changes
(+) or does not (−)
interpretation of a causal effect). Thus, I use the term intervention (a.k.a.
“event” or “stimulus”) in the broadest possible sense, indicating any sort
of change in trend in the key independent variable, X1. It should be underlined
that the absence of an intervention does not mean that a case does
not change over time; it means simply that it does not experience a change
of trend. Any evaluation of an intervention involves an estimate of the
baseline – what value a case would have had without the intervention. A
“+” therefore indicates a change in this baseline trend.
A key point, and one liable to misunderstanding, is that an intervention
(a change in X1) refers to a change in the independent variable of
theoretical interest, not to changes in other variables. By contrast, an
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156 II. Doing Case Studies
“exogenous shock” research design, as that term is sometimes employed,
is one where a peripheral variable intervenes upon a set of cases and the
researcher observes the results across some set of outcomes. For example,
Robert Putnam’s study of social capital in Italy makes use of the fact
that the country experienced a far-reaching decentralization of power in
1970.3
Consequently, it was possible to observe institutional divergence
across regions during the subsequent period; regions became a viable unit
of analysis. Italy’s constitutional reform thus serves the function of an
exogenous shock because it is unaffected by any of the factors Putnam
wishes to study. However, the shock is not quasi-experimental, in the
sense in which we have been using the term, precisely because the intervention
is unrelated to the causal factor of theoretical interest. For an
intervention to be experimental, it must embody the treatment of theoretical
interest. In this instance, an experimental treatment would presumably
involve a change in levels of social capital (it is not clear how this
treatment would be administered), thus allowing for pre- and post-tests
that would measure the causal impact of the intervention. Thus, Putnam’s
study, as constructed, is properly classified as a Spatial Comparison among
regions.
Because interventions may be multiple or continuous within a single
case, it follows that the number of temporal observations within a given
case may also be extended indefinitely. This might involve a very long
period of time (e.g., centuries) or multiple observations taken over a short
period of time (e.g., an hour). Observations are thus understood to occur
temporally within each case (t1, t2, t3, . . . tn).
Although the number of cases in the following examples varies, and is
sometimes limited to one or two, research designs may – in principle –
incorporate any number of cases. Thus, the designations “treatment” and
“control” in Table 6.1 may be understood to refer to individual cases or
to groups of cases. (In this chapter, “case” and “group” are used interchangeably.)
The caveat is that, at a certain point, it is no longer possible
to conduct an in-depth analysis of a case (because there are so many), and
thus the research loses its case study designation.
In numbering these research designs (1–4), I intend to indicate a gradual
falling away from the experimental ideal. However, it would be incorrect
to assume that a higher number necessarily indicates an inferior research
design. To begin with, my discussion in this chapter focuses on issues of
3 Putnam et al. (1993). For other examples of exogenous-shock research designs, see MacIntyre
(2003) and Lieberman (2005b).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 157
internal validity. Sometimes the need for greater external validity prompts
a research design that is less “experimental.” Equally important is the
ubiquitous ceteris paribus assumption – that all peripheral factors that
might affect the X1/Y relationship of interest are held constant, before
and after the intervention and/or across treatment and control groups.
Usually, ceteris paribus assumptions are more secure in experimental contexts,
but not always. This issue is taken up in the final section of the
chapter.
Dynamic Comparison
The classic experiment involves one or more cases observed through time
where the key independent variable undergoes a manipulated change. One
or more additional cases (the control group), usually chosen randomly,
are not subject to treatment. Consequently, the analyst observes both
temporal and spatial variation.
Experimental research designs have long served as the staple method
of psychology and are increasingly common in other social sciences.4
For practical reasons, experiments are usually easiest to conduct where
the units of analysis are comprised of individuals or small groups. Thus,
experimental work in political science most commonly concerns the explanation
of vote choice, political attitudes, party identification, and other
topics grouped together under the rubric of “political behavior.” An analogous
subfield has developed in economics, where it is known as “behavioral
(or experimental) economics.”
Experiments may be conducted in laboratory settings or in natural
settings. One innovative natural-setting approach employs a standard
mass survey with a split-question format.5
Randomly chosen respondents
are divided into several groups (which may be denoted as “treatment”
or “control” groups), each of which is administered a slightly different
survey. Since the intervention (the setup, the question, or the question
ordering) is different, the results are interpretable in the same way that
alterations might be in the case of a laboratory intervention.
4 Admonitions to social scientists to adopt experimental methods can be found in Mill
(1843/1872), and much later in Fisher (1935); Gosnell (1926); and Stouffer (1950). For
general discussion, see Achen (1986); Campbell (1988); Campbell and Stanley (1963);
Kagel and Roth (1997); Kinder and Palfrey (1993); McDermott (2002); Shadish, Cook,
and Campbell (2002); Political Analysis 10:4 (Autumn 2002); American Behavioral Scientist
48:1 (January 2004); and the “ExperimentCentral” website.
5 Glaser (2003); Schuman and Bobo (1988).
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158 II. Doing Case Studies
More realistic settings are adopted by field experiments.6
One such
experiment was conducted by Leonard Wantchekon in Benin in order to
discover whether clientelistic electoral appeals were superior to programmatic
appeals in a country where clientelism had been the acknowledged
behavioral norm since the inauguration of electoral politics. Wantchekon
selected eight electoral districts, similar to each other in all relevant
respects. Within each district, three villages were randomly identified.
In one, clientelistic appeals for support were issued by the candidate. In a
second, programmatic (national) appeals were issued by the same candidate.
And in a third, both sorts of appeals were employed. Wantchekon
found that the clientelist approach did indeed attract more votes than the
programmatic alternative.7
Regrettably, experimentation on large organizations or entire societies
is usually impossible – by reason of cost, lack of consent by relevant
authorities, or ethical concerns. Experimentation directed at elite actors
is equally difficult, for elites are busy, well remunerated (and hence unresponsive
to material incentives), and loathe to speak freely, for obvious
reasons. However, researchers occasionally encounter situations in which
a nonmanipulated treatment and control approximates the circumstances
of a true experiment with randomized controls.8
Svante Cornell’s study of ethnic integration/disintegration offers a good
example. Cornell is interested in the question of whether granting regional
autonomy fosters (a) ethnic assimilation within a larger national grouping
or (b) a greater propensity for ethnic groups to resist central directives
and demand formal separation from the state. He hypothesizes the latter.
His study focuses on the USSR/Russia and on regional variation within
this heterogeneous country. Cases consist of regionally concentrated ethnic
groups (N = 9), some of which were granted formal autonomy within
the USSR and others of which were not. This is the quasi-experimental
intervention. Cornell must assume that these nine territories are equivalent
in all respects that might be relevant to the proposition, or that any
remaining differences do not bias results in favor of his hypothesis.9
The
transition from autocracy to democracy (from the USSR to Russia) provides
an external shock that sets the stage for the subsequent analysis.
6 Cook and Campbell (1979); Gerber and Green (2000); McDermott (2002).
7 Wantchekon (2003).
8 See, e.g., Brady and McNulty (2004) and Card and Krueger (1994).
9 Whether this is really true need not concern us; it is Cornell’s claim, and it is a plausible
one.
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 159
Cornell’s hypothesis is confirmed: patterns of ethnic mobilization (the
dependent variable) are consistent with his hypothesis in eight of the nine
cases. Note that variation is available both spatially (across ethnic groups)
and temporally.10
Another sort of Dynamic Comparison involves a synthetic (or composite)
match. This is a relatively new approach to case comparison,
so I follow Alberto Abadie and Javier Gardeazabal’s example closely.
The authors are interested in understanding the effect of violent political
conflict on economic growth. The problem is that political conflicts
are extraordinarily diverse (e.g., in scope, endurance, intensity, and with
respect to various other factors that might impact growth performance),
as are various background factors that characterize nation-states. Thus,
the usual approach taken to this problem – the global cross-national
regression – provides a rather “noisy” picture of causal relationships.11
Abadie and Gardeazabal define their cases as subnational regions within
a single country, Spain, where each unit has a fairly high degree of autonomy
(and hence satisfies the condition of case independence). Their primary
interest is in a single case, the Basque country, where conflict has
been severe over the past several decades. (While moderate political conflict
between center and periphery is ubiquitous, it has not devolved into
violence in other regions.) The authors note that a simple time-series analysis
could reveal the economic performance of the Basque region after the
onset of ETA-sponsored terrorism. However, this “intervention” began
slowly in the 1960s and 1970s (there was no well-defined point of onset)
and was coincident with a general economic downturn in Spain. Thus,
temporal patterns are difficult to interpret.
As with traditional matching methods, Abadie and Gardeazabal identify
a series of covariates that might help to identify a territory or territories
in Spain that is most similar to the Basque region with respect to various
factors that might affect growth performance and yet has not experienced
violent conflict. These covariates include real per capita GDP, investment,
population density, the shape of the economy (e.g., agriculture, industry,
and other sectors), as well as various measures of human capital. However,
there is no perfect match for the Basque country among the sixteen other
10 Cornell (2002). Because there are nine cases, rather than just two, it is possible for Cornell
to analyze covariational patterns in a probabilistic fashion. Thus, although one region
does not conform to theoretical expectation, this exception does not jeopardize his overall
findings.
11 Alesina et al. (1996).
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160 II. Doing Case Studies
Spanish regions. Rather than consigning themselves to a less-than-perfect
comparison, the authors instead construct a hypothetical case from the
two cases that match relatively well with the Basque region, Madrid and
Catalonia. Each is weighted according to the strength of the match (with
the Basque region) along the various dimensions noted earlier; the two are
then combined into a single case. This composite case is looked upon as
providing a best “control” case for the treatment case, the Basque region.
“Our goal,” the authors explain, “is to approximate the per capita GDP
path that the Basque Country would have experienced in the absence of
terrorism. This counterfactual per capita GDP path is calculated as the per
capita GDP of the synthetic Basque Country.”12
Based on this synthetic
counterfactual, the authors conclude that the Basque region experienced a
10 percent loss in per capita GDP due to terrorist violence over the course
of two decades (the 1980s and 1990s). This is the economic effect of terrorism.
One may question the generalizability of this result. Indeed, the
authors tread lightly on this matter, since their study is narrowly focused
on a single region. (Arguably, it is better classified as a single-outcome
study, as discussed in the epilogue.) Even so, the technique is innovative
and is potentially applicable to many research contexts.
Because the classic experiment is indistinguishable in its essentials from
a natural experiment (so long as there is a suitable control), I employ
the term Dynamic Comparison for this set of experimental and quasiexperimental
designs. Granted, observational settings that offer variation
through time and through space are relatively rare. Where they exist,
however, they possess the same attributes as the classic experiment and
are rightly accorded pride of place among case study research designs.
Longitudinal Comparison
Occasionally, manipulated treatment groups are not accompanied by controls
(untreated groups), a research design that I call Longitudinal Com-
parison.13
This is so for three possible reasons. Sometimes, the effects of
a treatment are so immediate and obvious that the existence of a control
12 Abadie and Gardeazabal (2003: 117).
13 Franklin, Allison, and Gorman (1997: 1); Gibson, Caldeira, and Spence (2002: 364);
Kinder and Palfrey (1993: 7); McDermott (2002: 33). This is sometimes referred to
as a “within-subjects” research design. For additional examples in the area of medical
research, see Franklin, Allison, and Gorman (1997: 2); in psychology, see Davidson and
Costello (1969).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 161
is redundant. Consider a simple experiment in which participants are
asked their opinions on a subject, then told a relevant piece of information
about that subject (the treatment), and then asked again for
their opinions. The question of interest in this research design is whether
the treatment has any effect on the participants’ views, as measured by
pre- and post-tests (the same question asked twice about their opinions).
Evidently, one could construct a control group of respondents who are
not given the treatment; they are not told the relevant bit of information
and are simply re-polled for their opinion several minutes later. But it
seems unlikely that anything will be learned from the treatment/control
comparison, for opinions are likely to remain constant over the course of
several minutes in the absence of any intervention. In this circumstance,
which is not at all rare in experiments focused on individual respondents,
the control group is extraneous.
Another reason for dispensing with a control group is pragmatic. In
many circumstances it simply is not feasible for the researcher to enlist
subjects to complement a treatment group. Recall that in order to serve
as a useful control, untreated individuals must be similar in all relevant
respects to the treatment group. Consider the situation of the clinical
researcher (e.g., a therapist) who “treats” a group or an individual. She
can, within limits, manipulate the treatment and observe the response
for this group or individual. But she probably will not be able to enlist
the services of a control group that is similar in all respects to the treatment
group. In such circumstances, causal leverage comes from observing
changes (or lack of change) in the subject under study, as revealed
by pre- and post-tests. This provides much more reliable evidence of a
treatment’s true effect than a rather artificial comparison to some stipulated
control group that is quite different from the group that has been
treated.14
Many experiments are time-consuming, intensive, expensive, and/or
intrusive. Where the researcher’s objective is to analyze the effect of a
lengthy therapeutic treatment, for example, it may be difficult to monitor
a large panel of subjects, and it may be virtually impossible to do so in
14 Lundervold and Belwood (2000). Granted, if there is a group that has applied for treatment
but has been denied (by reason of short capacity), then this group may be enlisted as
a control. This is often found in studies focused on drug users, where a large wait-listed
group is considered as a formal control for the treated group. However, most research
situations are not so fortunate as to have a “wait-listed” group available for analysis.
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162 II. Doing Case Studies
an intensive fashion (e.g., with daily or weekly sessions between investigator
and patient). It is not surprising that the field of psychology began
with the experimental analysis of individual cases or small numbers of
cases – either humans or animals. Single-case research designs occupied
most of the founding fathers of the discipline, including Wilhelm
Wundt (1832–1920), Ivan Pavlov (1849–1936), and B. F. Skinner (1904–
1990). Indeed, Wundt’s work on “hard introspection” dictated that his
most common research subject remained himself.15
Skinner once commented
that “instead of studying a thousand rats for one hour each,
or a hundred rats for ten hours each, the investigator is likely to study
one rat for a thousand hours.”16
Early psychologists were avid proponents
of the experimental method, but their employment of this method
often did not include a randomized control group, a relatively recent
invention.17
A final reason for neglecting a formal control in experimental research
designs is that it may violate ethical principles. Consider the case of a
promising medical treatment that investigators are attempting to study.
If there is good reason to suppose, ex ante, that the treatment will save
lives, or if this becomes apparent at a certain point in the course of an
experiment, it may be unethical to maintain a control group – for, in not
treating them, one may be putting their lives at risk.
Regrettably, in most social science research situations the absence of a
formal control introduces serious problems into the analysis. This is a particular
danger where human decision-making behavior is concerned, since
the very act of studying an individual may affect her behavior. The subject
of our hypothetical treatment may exhibit a response simply because she
is aware of being treated (e.g., “placebo” or “Hawthorne” effects). In this
sort of situation, there is virtually no way to identify causal effects unless
the researcher can compare treatment and control groups. This is why,
incidentally, single-case experimental studies are more common in natural
science settings (including cognitive psychology), where the researcher
is concerned with the behavior of inanimate objects or with biologically
induced behavior.
In observational work (where there is no manipulated treatment), by
contrast, the Longitudinal Comparison is quite common. Indeed, most
15 Heidbreder (1933).
16 Quoted in Hersen and Barlow (1976: 29). See also Franklin, Allison, and Gorman (1997:
23); Kazdin (1982: 5–6).
17 Kinder and Palfrey (1993: 9).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 163
case studies probably take this form. Wherever the researcher concentrates
on a single case and that case undergoes a change in the theoretical variable
of interest, a Longitudinal Comparison is in play.
Consider the introduction of compulsory voting laws in the Netherlands
just prior to the 1970 general election.18
If one is interested in the
effect of compulsory voting on turnout, this statutory change offers a
useful quasi-experimental intervention. One has only to compare turnout
rates in 1970 with turnout rates in the previous election in order to determine
the causal effect of the law (turnout increased dramatically). One
assumes, of course, that nothing else that might influence turnout rates
occurred during this period and that the two elections are similar enough –
in all ways that might affect turnout – that they can be meaningfully
compared. One also assumes more or less complete voter knowledge of
the statutory change; otherwise there is, effectively, no treatment. But
these assumptions, at least in this instance, seem relatively secure. Under
the circumstances, it is fair to regard such a study as a natural experiment,
for the intervention of policy makers resembles the sort of intervention
that might have been undertaken by investigators, if they had the
opportunity.
Another example, somewhat more technical in nature, concerns the
interrelationship of monetary policy and economic fluctuations. This topic
is undertaken by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz in their Monetary
History of the United States, a classic work in monetarist theory, recently
reviewed by Jeffrey Miron, whose account I follow.19
The empirical heft of
the book rests on four historical occasions on which the stock of money
changed due to policy choices largely unrelated to the behavior of the
economy (and hence exogenous to the research question). These four
interventions were “the increase in the discount rate in the first half of
1920, the increase in the discount rate in October 1931, the increase in
reserve requirements in 1936–1937, and the failure of the Federal Reserve
to stem the tide of falling money in 1929–1931.”20
Each was followed by
a substantial change in the behavior of the stock of money, thus validating
a central pillar of monetarist theory.
Frequently, a study will incorporate several cases, each of which
incorporates a Longitudinal Comparison. This may be referred to as
a series of case studies or, more extravagantly, as an “iterated natural
18 Jackman (1985: 173–5).
19 Friedman and Schwartz (1963); Miron (1994).
20 Miron (1994: 19).
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164 II. Doing Case Studies
experiment.”21
The key point is that the primary focus of comparison
in this type of research design is temporal, rather than spatial. Do not be
misled by the fact that there is more than one case; these cases are properly
regarded simply as multiple instances of the same intervention. If there
is an explicit spatial component to the comparison, then it is properly
classified as a Dynamic Comparison (as already discussed) or a Spatial
Comparison, to which we now turn.
Spatial Comparison
A third archetypal research design involves a comparison between two
cases (or groups of cases), neither of which experiences an observable
change on the variable of theoretical interest. I call this a Spatial Comparison,
since the causal comparison is spatial rather than temporal. To be
sure, there is an assumption that spatial differences between the two cases
are the product of antecedent changes in one (or both) of the cases. However,
because these changes are not observable – we can observe only their
outcome – the research takes on a different, and necessarily more ambivalent,
form. One cannot “see” X1 and Y interact; one can only observe
residues of their prior interaction. Evidently, where there is no variation in
the theoretical variable of interest, no experimental intervention can have
taken place, so this research design is limited to observational settings.
One interesting example of this sort of work focuses on intracountry
differences in electoral system type. Here, researchers exploit the fact
that in some countries, such as Germany, different electoral systems are
employed simultaneously. These are known as “mixed” electoral systems,
since they employ both proportional and first-past-the-post (singlemember
district) designs in a parallel fashion.22
In this setting, it is possible
for researchers to observe differences in legislator behavior between these
two groups – those chosen by PR rules and those chosen by majoritarian
rules – in order to discover clues about the conditioning role of electoral
system design.23
Are members chosen from PR districts less susceptible to
pork barrel legislating? less sensitive to district preferences? less inclined
to district-level campaigning? more sensitive to cues from party leaders?
21 Gerring et al. (2005).
22 Sometimes, the PR seats are employed to compensate for disproportional results at the
district level (e.g., in Germany); in other cases (e.g., Japan), the two systems operate
independently (Shugart and Wattenberg 2001).
23 Lancaster and Patterson (1990); Patzelt (2000); Stratmann and Baur (2002).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 165
Another sort of comparison rests upon spatial comparisons across
regions within a single country. Abhijit Banerjee and Lakshmi Iyer investigate
the long-term consequences of different property rights regimes
across various regions of India. The authors explain:
The British made different arrangements for the collection of [land] revenue in
different areas, leading to different distributions of ownership rights. The different
systems fall into three main groups: in landlord-based systems, the revenue
collection responsibilities for a number of villages was vested in a landlord who
was allowed to retain a part of the revenue he collected; in individual-based systems
the British government officers collected revenue directly from the actual
cultivators without the intermediation of a landlord; in village-based systems, a
village community body bore the revenue responsibility.24
The main finding is that these property rights systems have strong effects
on post-independence investments in agriculture and on measures of agricultural
productivity in these areas. Varying patterns of colonial rule instituted
varying patterns of land tenure, leading to varying patterns of agricultural
modernization.
In these two examples, one focused on contemporary electoral systems
and the other on secular-historical patterns of development, it is difficult
to observe the effect of the intervention directly. It is not useful, that is, to
look at Germany before and after the installation of a mixed electoral
system, because the situation prior to this electoral institution was not
democratic. In the case of India, it would be very useful to observe
how different areas evolved before and after the British instituted different
property rights systems; however, we lack the historical materials
to do so. Thus, in both situations the primary leverage scholars have on
the causal problem is spatial rather than temporal. Even so, variations
across space (i.e., across different types of legislators or across different
regions) provide ample ground for reaching conclusions about probable
causes.
Counterfactual Comparison
A final research design available to case study researchers involves the use
of a case (or cases) where there is no variation at all – either temporal or
spatial – in the variable of interest. Instead, the intervention is imagined.
24 Banerjee and Iyer (2002: 5).
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166 II. Doing Case Studies
I call this a Counterfactual Comparison, since the thought experiment
provides all the covariational evidence that is available.25
Regrettably, there are quite a few instances in which a key variable of
theoretical interest does not change appreciably within the scope of any
possible research design. This is the classic instance of the dog that refuses
to bark, and is often the only recourse for studies focused on “structural”
variables – geographic, constitutional, sociological – which tend not to
change very much over periods that might feasibly be observed. Even so,
causal analysis is not precluded. It did not stop Sherlock Holmes, and
it does not stop social scientists. But it does lend the resulting investigations
the character of a detective story, for in this setting the researcher is
constrained to adopt a research design in which the temporal variation is
imaginary and there is no spatial control.
Although it sounds rather exotic, this species of temporal reconstruction
is so common as to be second nature. Consider the following remarks
of a journalist seeking to explain the rise of a Maoist insurgency in Nepal
in the 1990s.
By 1994, Nepal’s Communists had split. One faction, led by Prachanda – what
would become the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) – was kept out of the
elections. Many Nepalis regard that as the crucial moment in the political history
of Communism in Nepal. Had the C.P.N. (M) been allowed to contest for power,
it might never have resorted to war. By the time this was clear, however, it was
too late.26
Although the writer follows journalistic standards by couching all analysis
in terms of expressed views (“many Nepalis regard . . .”), the counterfactual
claim is clear. And it is plausible. Indeed, the elimination of
such claims would make much case-based social science – not to mention
journalism and history – impossible, for without such counterfactual
thought experiments writers would be constrained to analyze only
25 This definition of “counterfactual analysis” amplifies on Fearon (1991) and is narrower
than others (e.g., Brown 1991), where the term is employed quasi-synonymously with
“thinking.” This section thus argues against the contention of King, Keohane, and Verba
(1994: 129) that “nothing whatsoever can be learned about the causes of the dependent
variable without taking into account other instances when the dependent variable takes
on other values.” For additional work on counterfactual thought experiments in the
humanities and social sciences, see Cowley (2001); Elster (1978); Lebow (2000); and
Tetlock and Belkin (1996).
26 Sengupta (2005: 2).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 167
situations where there was a change in the independent variable of interest
(a Longitudinal Comparison), relevant variation across cases (a Spatial
Comparison), or both (a Dynamic Comparison).
One of the most famous observational studies without control or
intervention was conducted by Jeffrey Pressman and Aaron Wildavsky
on the general topic of policy implementation. The authors follow the
implementation of a federal bill, passed in 1966, to construct an airport
hangar, a marine terminal, a thirty-acre industrial park, and an
access road to a major coliseum in the city of Oakland, California. The
authors point out that this represented free money for a depressed urban
region. There was every reason to assume that these projects would benefit
the community, and every reason – at least from an abstract public
interest perspective – to suppose that the programs would be speedily
implemented. Yet, three years later, progress was agonizingly slow, and
few projects had actually been completed. The explanation provided by
the authors rests upon the bureaucratic complexities of the American
polity. Pressman and Wildavsky show that the small and relatively specific
tasks undertaken by the federal government necessitated the cooperation
of seven federal agencies (the Economic Development Administration
[EDA] of the Department of Commerce, the Seattle Regional Office
of the EDA, the Oakland Office of the EDA, the General Accounting
Office, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare [HEW], the
Department of Labor, and the Navy), three local agencies (the mayor
of Oakland, the city council, and the port of Oakland), and four private
groups (World Airways Company, Oakland business leaders, Oakland
black leaders, and conservation and environmental groups). These
fourteen governmental and private entities had to agree on at least seventy
important decisions in order to implement a law initially passed in
Washington.27
James Q. Wilson observes, “It is rarely possible to get independent
organizations to agree by ‘issuing orders’; it is never possible to
do so when they belong to legally distinct levels of government.”28
The
plausible counterfactual is that with a unitary system of government, these
tasks would have been accomplished in a more efficient and expeditious
fashion.
If one is willing to accept this conclusion, based upon the evidence
presented in Pressman and Wildavsky’s study, then one has made a causal
27 Pressman and Wildavsky (1973), summarized in Wilson (1992: 68).
28 Wilson (1992: 69). For further discussion of methodological issues in implementation
research, see Goggin (1986).
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168 II. Doing Case Studies
inference based (primarily) on observational evidence drawn from cases
without variation in the hypothesis of interest (the United States remains
federal throughout the period under study, and there is no difference
in the “degree of federalism” pertaining to the various projects under
study).
This style of causal analysis may strike the reader as highly tenuous, on
general methodological grounds. Indeed, it deviates from the experimental
paradigm in virtually every respect. However, before dismissing this
research design one must consider the available alternatives. One could
discuss lots of hypothetical research designs, but the only one that seems
relatively practicable in this instance is the Spatial Comparison. That is,
Pressman and Wildavsky might have elected to compare the United States
to a similar country that does not have a federal system, but does grapple
with a similar set of policies. Unfortunately, there is no really good
paired case available for such a comparison. Countries that are unitary
and democratic tend to be quite different from the United States, and differ
in ways that might affect their policy-making processes. Britain is unitary
and democratic, but also quite a bit smaller in size than the United States.
More importantly, it possesses a parliamentary executive, and this factor
is difficult to disentangle from the policy process, posing serious issues
of spurious causality.29
At the end of the day, Pressman and Wildavsky’s
choice of research methodology may have been the best of all available
alternatives. This is the pragmatic standard to which we rightly hold all
scholars.
Ceteris Paribus
Thus far, I have set forth a typology intended to capture the covariational
properties of case study research designs. The typology answers
the question: what sort of variation is being exploited for the purpose
of drawing causal conclusions from a small number of cases? I have
shown that such variation may be temporal and/or spatial, thus providing
four archetypal research designs: Dynamic Comparison, Longitudinal
Comparison, Spatial Comparison, and Counterfactual Comparison (see
Table 6.1).
I have also shown that these four research designs can be profitably
understood as deviations from the classic experiment. The Dynamic
29 For further examples and discussion of this sort of research design, see Weaver and
Rockman (1993).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 169
Comparison exploits both spatial and temporal variation, and may be
manipulated (in which case it is a classic experiment) or nonmanipulated
(observational). The Longitudinal Comparison exploits only temporal
variation, along the lines of an experiment without controls – though
the intervention may be manipulated or natural. The Spatial Comparison
exploits variation across cases observed cross-sectionally. The Counterfactual
Comparison, finally, employs evidence that is nonempirical (imaginary),
but nonetheless aspires to the experimental ideal. This typology,
while it does not exhaust the features of a good case study research design,
summarizes the most important of these features in a compact form and
may serve as a useful template for the construction – and critique – of
case study research.
Largely ignored in the previous discussion has been the ceteris paribus
caveat that undergirds all causal analysis. To say that X1 is a cause of
Y is to say that X1 causes Y, all other things being equal. The ceteris
paribus clause may be defined in many different ways; that is, the context
of a causal argument may be bounded, qualified. But within those
stipulated boundaries, the assumption must hold; otherwise, causal argument
is impossible. All of this is well established, indeed definitional.
Where it enters the realm of empirical testing is in the construction of
research designs that maintain ceteris paribus conditions along the two
possible dimensions of analysis. This means that any temporal variation
in Y observable from t1 to t2 should be the product of X1 (the causal
factor of interest), rather than of any other confounding causal factor
(designated as X2 in the previous discussion). Similarly, any spatial variation
in Y observable across the treatment and control cases should be
the product of X1, not X2. (The latter issue is sometimes referred to as
“pre-treatment equivalence.”) These are the temporal and spatial components
of the ceteris paribus assumption. Needless to say, they are not
easily satisfied.
It is here that the principal difference between experimental and nonexperimental
research is located. Donald Campbell’s cautionary tale of
the state of Connecticut’s crackdown on speeding (a nonmanipulated
Longitudinal Comparison) serves as a reminder of how short-term trends
may arise for reasons having nothing to do with the quasi-experimental
treatment in question, leading to spurious conclusions. The story may be
briefly retold.30
Connecticut’s imposition of a harsh antispeeding law in
30 I offer here a highly abbreviated, selective account of Campbell’s well-known article
(1968/1988).
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170 II. Doing Case Studies
1955 was followed by a dramatic fall in traffic fatalities in the following
year, leading the governor (Ribicoff) to declare the law a success. Campbell
shows, however, that this apparent decline could have been the product
of several other factors having nothing to do with the change in state
policy. These include (a) regression to the mean (1955 was an exceptionally
bad year for traffic fatalities, so it is no surprise that 1956 would be
an improvement); (b) long-term trends (traffic fatalities appear to have
been declining for some time, nationally and in the state of Connecticut);
and (c) a change in the baseline (an increasing number of cars on the
road).
Whether the research is experimental or not may make considerable
difference in the degree to which a given research design satisfies the
ceteris paribus assumption of causal analysis. First, where an intervention
is manipulated by the researcher it is unlikely to be correlated with other
things that might influence the outcome of interest. Thus, any changes
in Y may be interpreted as the product of X1 and only X1, other factors
being held constant. Second, where the selection of treatment and control
cases is randomized, they are more likely to be identical in all respects
that might affect the causal inference in question. Finally, in an experimental
format the treatment and control groups are effectively isolated
from each other, preventing spatial contamination. This means that the
ceteris paribus assumption inherent in all causal inference is usually relatively
safe in an experimental study. The control may be understood as
reflecting a vision of reality as it would have been without the specified
intervention.
All of these ceteris paribus assumptions are considerably more difficult
to achieve in observational settings, as a close look at the foregoing examples
will attest.31
However, the point remains that they can be achieved
in observational settings, and they can also be violated in experimental
settings. As J. S. Mill observed, “we may either find an instance in
nature suited to our purposes, or, by an artificial arrangement of circumstances,
make one. The value of the instance depends on what it is in
itself, not on the mode in which it is obtained. . . . There is, in short, no
difference in kind, no real logical distinction, between the two processes of
investigation.”32
31 See Campbell (1968/1988); Shadish, Cook, and Campbell (2002).
32 Mill (1843/1872: 249).
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Internal Validity: An Experimental Template 171
It is the satisfaction of ceteris paribus assumptions, not the use of
a manipulated treatment or a randomized control group, that rightly
qualifies a research product as methodologically sound. Accordingly, the
methodological issues of case study research may be conceptualized as a
product of four paradigmatic styles of evidence, each of which calls forth
a set of extremely important ceteris paribus assumptions.
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7
Internal Validity: Process Tracing
In the previous chapter, the problem of internal validity was discussed
from an experimental perspective. That is, the case study method was
understood as an attempt to satisfy the methodological criteria that define
a well-designed experiment. To the extent that a single case, or a small
number of cases, exemplify a quasi-experimental design, the case study
method is vindicated.
However, few case studies are truly experimental, in the sense of having
a manipulated treatment. This is because a manipulable treatment is usually
easy to replicate across multiple cases, thus providing a large-N crosscase
research design. Moreover, among observational case studies, perfect
“natural experiments” are rare. The observational world does not usually
provide cases with both temporal variation (making possible “pre”
and “post” tests) and spatial variation (“treatment” and “control” cases)
across variables of theoretical interest, while holding all else constant.
Usually, there are important violations of the ceteris paribus assumption.
What this means is that case study research usually relies heavily on
contextual evidence and deductive logic to reconstruct causality within a
single case. It is not sufficient simply to examine the covariation of X1 and
Y, because there are too many confounding causal factors and because the
latter cannot usually be eliminated by the purity of the research design
or by clever quantitative techniques (control variables, instrumental variables,
matching estimators, and the like).1
Thus, a “covariational” style of
research is usually insufficient to prove causation in a case study format.
1 Statistical techniques may be employed in the analysis of within-case evidence but not at
the level of across-case evidence, because the sample is too small (by definition).
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Process Tracing 173
Lest there be any confusion about this, it is important to emphasize that
the pattern of covariation found between X1 (the causal variable of interest)
and Y (the outcome of interest) is always central to case study analysis.
(How could it be otherwise?) All causal analyses are covariational in this
obvious way. The point is that in case study research evidence pertaining
to X1 and Y is often opaque, and must therefore be supplemented by
another form of analysis that has come to be known as process tracing.2
The hallmark of process tracing, in my view, is that multiple types of
evidence are employed for the verification of a single inference – bits and
pieces of evidence that embody different units of analysis (they are each
drawn from unique populations). Individual observations are therefore
noncomparable. Additionally, process tracing usually involves long causal
chains. Rather than multiple instances of X1 → Y (the large-N cross-case
style of research), one examines a single instance of X1 → X2 → X3 →
X4 → Y. (Of course, this causal path may be much longer and more
circuitous, with multiple switches and feedback loops.)
In these respects, process tracing is akin to detective work. The maid
said this; the butler said that; and the suspect was seen at the scene of
the crime on Tuesday, just prior to the murder. Each of these facts is
relevant to the central hypothesis – that Jones killed Smith – but they
are not directly comparable to one another. And because they cannot
be directly compared, they cannot be analyzed in a unified sample. The
maid’s testimony is empirical, and it is certainly relevant, but it cannot
be reduced to standard dataset observations, and it is not meaningfully
understood within a formal research design.
Because this is a difficult “method” to wrap one’s mind around, we
begin this chapter with a series of examples – diverse instances of process
tracing at work in social science explanation. I then expatiate on the
general features of this form of analysis. In the conclusion, I try to address
the knotty question of what characterizes a good (convincing) processtracing
analysis.
2 A number of vaguely synonymous terms might also be invoked, including causalprocess
observations, pattern matching, causal-chain explanation, colligation, congruence
method, genetic explanation, interpretive method, narrative explanation, and sequential
explanation. See Brady and Collier (2004); Danto (1985); George and Bennett (2005:
Chapters 9–10); Goldstone (1991: 50–62); Hall (2003); Little (1995: 43–4); Roberts
(1996); Scriven (1976); and Tarrow (1995: 472). Readers should be warned that my
understanding of process tracing varies somewhat from that found elsewhere in the field,
where it is sometimes equated with any investigation into causal mechanisms (George and
Bennett 2005).
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174 II. Doing Case Studies
Examples
Theda Skocpol’s renowned study of social revolution rests centrally on
an in-depth examination of three key cases – Russia, China, and France.3
With respect to France, Skocpol identifies three general causal factors
leading to the breakdown of state authority in the eighteenth century:
agrarian backwardness, international pressure, and state autonomy. These
factors, in turn, may be disaggregated into thirty-seven discrete steps that
connect structural causes to the outcome of interest in this particular
country-case. The entire argument is carefully mapped by James Mahoney
in a causal diagram, reproduced in Figure 7.1. Notice that each stage of
the case study is qualitatively distinct, creating a series of nested research
designs. Thus, evidence for one link in the chain has no bearing on the
next (or previous) link.
As a second example, consider Pressman and Wildavsky’s study of
implementation procedures, first introduced in the previous chapter.
This study rests largely upon a demonstration of proximal relationships
between key actors. The authors show, for example, that there is resistance
to federal directives on the part of local political leaders who
have their own agendas and who often do not see eye to eye with the
Washington bureaucrats assigned to implement the construction of public
works projects in Oakland. Interviews with these actors, as well as
their own public statements, bolster the counterfactual reasoning of the
book. These local actors have different perspectives because they have
different constituencies, different organizational norms, and consequently
different incentive structures. All of this, including the ability of the local
actors to resist federal directives, may be considered as a product of the
constitutional and statutory structure of the American polity. Without
federalism, and without the local bureaucratic independence and multiplication
of agencies with overlapping jurisdictions that stems from a federal
constitution, things would have been very different. Again, a series
of one-shot observations is enlisted to demonstrate a macro-causal claim
applying not just to the United States at large but to democratic polities
everywhere.
As a third example, consider Henry Brady’s reflections on his study
of the Florida election results in the 2000 presidential election.4
In the
wake of this close election, at least one commentator – John Lott, an
3 Skocpol (1979). My account draws on Mahoney (1999).
4 Brady (2004: 269–70).
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1
2
3
4 5
6 7
9
8
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18 19
20
22
21
24
23 28
29
30 31
25 26 27 32 33 34
35
36
37
Causal Linkage
State Autonomy
International
Pressure
Agrarian Backwardness
State Breakdown
figure 7.1. Skocpol’s explanation of the breakdown of the French state (1789). 1. Property
relations prevent introduction of new agricultural techniques. 2. Tax system discourages
agricultural innovation. 3. Sustained growth discourages agricultural innovation.
4. Backwardness of French agriculture. 5. Weak domestic market for industrial goods.
6. Internal transportation problems. 7. Population growth. 8. Failure to achieve industrial
breakthrough. 9. Failure to sustain economic growth. 10. Inability to successfully
compete with England. 11. Initial military successes under Louis XIV. 12. Expansionist
ambitions of state. 13. French geographical location vis-`a-vis England. 14. Sustained warfare.
15. State needs to devote resources to both army and navy. 16. Repeated defeats
in war. 17. Creation of absolutist monarchy; decentralized medieval institutions persist.
18. Dominant class often exempted from taxes. 19. State faces obstacles generating loans.
20. Socially cohesive dominant class based on proprietary wealth. 21. Dominant class possesses
legal right to delay royal legislation. 22. Dominant class exercises firm control over
offices. 23. Dominant class is capable of blocking state reforms. 24. Dominant class resists
financial reforms. 25. Major financial problems of state. 26. State attempts tax/financial
reforms. 27. Financial reforms fail. 28. Recruitment of military officers from privileged
classes. 29. Military officers hold grievances against the crown. 30. Military officers identify
with the dominant class. 31. Military is unwilling to repress dominant class resistance.
32. Financial crisis deepens. 33. Pressures for creation of the Estates-General. 34. King summons
the Estates-General. 35. Popular protests spread. 36. Conflict among dominant class
members in the Estates-General; paralysis of old regime. 37. Municipal revolution; the old
state collapses. Adapted from Mahoney (1999: 1166) after Skocpol (1979).
175
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176 II. Doing Case Studies
economist – suggested that because several networks had called the state
for Gore prior to a closing of the polls in the panhandle section of the state,
Republican voters may have been discouraged from going to the polls,
and this in turn might have affected the margin (which was razor-thin
and bitterly contested in the several months following the election). Lott
reaches his conclusions on the basis of a regression analysis of turnout
in all sixty-seven Florida counties over the course of four presidential
elections, with a collection of controls (including fixed-year and county
effects).5
Brady is unconvinced by the method, and by the results. Instead, he
stitches together isolated pieces of evidence in an “ad hoc” fashion. He
begins with the timing of the media calls – ten minutes before the closing
of the polls in the panhandle. “If we assume that voters go to the polls at
an even rate throughout the day,” Brady continues, “then only 1/72nd
(ten
minutes over twelve hours) of the [379,000 eligible voters in the panhandle]
had not yet voted when the media call was made.” This is probably a
reasonable assumption. (“Interviews with Florida election officials and a
review of media reports suggest that, typically, no rush to the polls occurs
at the end of the day in the panhandle.”) This means that “only 4,200
people could have been swayed by the media call of the election, if they
heard it.” He then proceeds to estimate how many of these 4,200 might
have heard the media call, how many of these who heard it were inclined
to vote for Bush, and how many of these might have been swayed, by the
announcement, to go to the polls in the closing minutes of the day. Brady
concludes: “the approximate upper bound for Bush’s vote loss was 224
and . . . the actual vote loss was probably closer to somewhere between 28
and 56 votes.”6
Brady’s conclusions rest not on a formal research design but rather on
isolated observations (both qualitative and quantitative) combined with
deductive inferences. How many voters “had not yet voted when the
media called the election for Gore? How many of these voters heard the
call? Of these, how many decided not to vote? And of those who decided
not to vote, how many would have voted for Bush?”7
These questions are
very different from those encountered in the foregoing studies of social
revolution and policy implementation. Yet the approach has certain similarities
insofar as Brady and colleagues enlist a set of observations that
do not fall neatly into a standard research design and rely heavily on
5 Lott (2000).
6 Brady (2004: 269–70).
7 Ibid., 269.
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inferential reasoning, rather than on the sheer weight of the data, to reach
their conclusions.
Often, process tracing is employed in conjunction with a standard
research design – that is, as a supplementary tool. A good example is
provided by a recent paper that examines the behavior of the U.S. Federal
Reserve during the Great Depression. The central question is whether
the Fed was constrained to adopt tight monetary policies because any
deviation from this standard would have led to a loss of confidence in
the nation’s commitment to the gold standard (i.e., an expectation of a
general devaluation), and hence to a general panic.8
To test this proposition,
Chang-Tai Hsieh and Christina Romer examine an incident in
monetary policy during the spring of 1932, when the Federal Reserve
embarked on a brief program of rapid monetary expansion. “In just fourteen
weeks,” the authors note, “the Federal Reserve purchased $936 million
worth of U.S. government securities, more than doubling its holdings
of government debt.”9
To determine whether the Fed’s actions fostered
investor insecurity, Hsieh and Romer track the forward dollar exchange
rate during the spring of 1932, which is then compared to the spot rate,
using “a measure of expected dollar devaluation relative to the currencies
of four countries widely thought to have been firmly attached to
gold during this period.”10
Finding no such devaluation, they conclude
that the standard account is false – investor confidence could not have
constrained the Fed’s actions during the Great Depression. This is the
sort of empirical evidence that we are accustomed to, and it fits neatly
into the Dynamic Comparison research design introduced in Chapter Six
(the treatment case, the United States, is compared to several control cases
during the same period).
However, this conclusion would be questionable were it not bolstered
by additional evidence bearing on the probable motivations of the officials
of the Federal Reserve at the time. In order to shed light on this matter,
the authors survey the Commercial and Financial Chronicle (a widely
read professional journal, presumably representative of the banking community)
and other documentary evidence. They find that “the leaders of
the Federal Reserve . . . expressed little concern about a loss of credibility.
Indeed, they took gold outflows to be a sign that expansionary open
market operations were needed, not as a sign of trouble.”11
The adjunct
8 This line of argumentation is pursued by Eichengreen (1992).
9 Hsieh and Romer (2001: 2).
10 Ibid., 4.
11 Ibid., 2.
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178 II. Doing Case Studies
evidence is instrumental in helping the authors to disconfirm a reigning
theory. Moreover, this evidence sheds light on a new theory about Fed
behavior during this critical era.
Our reading of the Federal Reserve records suggests that a misguided model of
the economy, together with infighting among the twelve Federal Reserve banks,
accounts for the end of concerted action. The Federal Reserve stopped largely
because it thought it had accomplished its goal and because it was difficult to
achieve consensus among the twelve Federal Reserve banks.12
This interpretation would not be possible (or at least would be highly
suspect) without the adjunct evidence provided by process tracing.
The Nature of Process-Tracing Evidence
These varied examples illustrate the most distinctive feature of processtracing
styles of research, namely, the noncomparability of adjacent pieces
of evidence. All pieces of evidence are relevant to the central argument
(they are not “random”), but they do not comprise observations in a
larger sample. They are more correctly understood as a series of N = 1
(one-shot) observations. Brady’s observation about the timing of the
media call – ten minutes before the closing of the polls – is followed by a
second piece of evidence, the total number of people who voted on that
day, and a third and a fourth. Although the procedure seems messy, we are
often convinced by its conclusions. It seems reasonable to suppose that,
at least in some circumstances, inferences based on noncomparable observations
are more scientific than sample-based inferences, even though the
method borders on the ineffable. Our confidence rests on specific propositions
and specific observations; it is, in this sense, ad hoc. Indeed, there
appears to be little one can say, in general, about the research designs
employed by Skocpol, Pressman and Wildavsky, Brady, and Hsieh and
Romer. While other methods can be understood according to their quasiexperimental
properties, process tracing invokes a more complex logic,
one analogous to detective work, legal briefs, journalism, and traditional
historical accounts. The analyst seeks to make sense of a congeries of disparate
evidence, each of which sheds light on a single outcome or set of
related outcomes.
Note that although process tracing is always based on the analysis of a
single case, the ramifications of that case study may be generalizable, and
12 Ibid., 3.
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Process Tracing 179
indeed may be quite broad in scope. Skocpol’s explanatory sketch enlists
the minutiae of French history to demonstrate a macro-theoretical account
pertaining to all countries that are wealthy and independent (noncolonies)
in the modern era.
Note also that process-tracing evidence may be either qualitative or
quantitative. Indeed, many of the examples just discussed involve evidence
that takes a predominantly quantitative form. However, because each
quantitative observation is quite different from the rest, they do not collectively
constitute a sample. Each observation is sampled from a different
population. This means that each quantitative observation is qualitatively
different. It is thus the noncomparability of adjacent observations, not the
nature of individual observations, that differentiates the process-tracing
method from standard research designs.
Note, thirdly, that because each observation is qualitatively different
from the next, the total number of observations in a study is usually indeterminate.
While the cumulative number of process-tracing observations
may be quite large, because these observations are not well defined it is
difficult to say exactly how many there are. Noncomparable observations
are, by definition, difficult to count. In an effort to count, one may resort
to lists of what appear to be discrete pieces of evidence. This approximates
the numbering systems employed in legal briefs. (“There are fifteen
reasons why X is unlikely to have killed Y.”) But lists can always be
composed in multiple ways, and each piece of evidence carries a different
weight in the researcher’s overall assessment. So the total number of observations
remains an open question. We do not know, and by the nature of
the analysis cannot know, precisely how many observations are present
in the studies by Skocpol, Pressman and Wildavsky, Brady, and Hsieh
and Romer, or in other accounts such as Richard Fenno’s Homestyle and
Herbert Kaufman’s The Forest Ranger.13
Process-tracing observations are not different examples of the same
thing; they are different things (“apples and oranges”). Consequently, it
is not clear where one observation ends and another begins. They flow
seamlessly together. We cannot reread the foregoing studies with the aid
of a calculator and hope to discover their true N; nor would we gain any
analytic leverage by so doing.
Quantitative researchers are inclined to assume that if observations
cannot be counted, they must not be there, or – more charitably – that
13 Fenno (1978); Kaufman (1960).
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180 II. Doing Case Studies
there must be very few of them. Qualitative researchers may insist that
they have many “rich” observations at their disposal, which provide them
with the opportunity for thick description. But they are unable to say,
precisely, how many observations they have, or where these observations
are, or how many observations are needed for thick analysis. Indeed, the
observations themselves remain undefined.
This ambiguity is not necessarily troublesome, for the number of observations
in a process-tracing study does not bear directly on the usefulness
or truthfulness of that study. While the number of observations in a sample
drawn from a well-defined population contains information directly
relevant to any inferences that might be based on that sample, the number
of observations in a non-sample-based study (assuming one could
estimate the N) has no obvious relevance to the validity of those inferences.
Consider that if it were merely quantity that mattered, we might
conclude that longer studies, which presumably contain more observations,
are more valid than shorter studies. Yet it is laughable to assert that
long narratives are more convincing than short narratives. It is the quality
of the observations and how they are analyzed, not the quantity of observations,
that is relevant in evaluating the truth claims of a process-tracing
study. Indeed, the various noncomparable observations drawn upon in
a given study are quite unlikely to be of equal importance, so merely
counting them gives no indication of their overall significance.
This brings us to a final characteristic of process tracing: it leans heavily
on general assumptions about the world, which may be highly theoretical
(nomothetic “laws”) or pre-theoretical (“common sense”). Precisely
because of the absence of a formal research design, the researcher must
assume a great deal about how the world works. The process-tracing
observation makes sense only if it fits snugly within a comprehensible
universe of causal relations. I do not wish to imply that process-tracing
evidence is “shaky”; indeed, much of it is quite matter-of-fact and close to
the ground. My point is simply that these facts are comprehensible only
when they can be ordered, categorized, “narrativized,” and this in turn
rests upon a broad set of assumptions about the world.
The contrast with an ideal-typical experiment is revelatory. Where there
is a manipulated treatment and a control, a priori assumptions about the
world are minimized. There is not much to intuit in reaching conclusions
about whether X1 causes Y (though the question of why X1 causes Y –
the question of causal mechanisms – is often more complex). However, as
one moves away from the experimental ideal, one perforce leans more
heavily on background assumptions about the way the world works.
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Process Tracing 181
Insofar as these assumptions provide “priors” against which subsequent
pieces of evidence can be evaluated, the analysis of noncomparable observations
takes on a Bayesian flavor.14
But the importance of contextual
knowledge about the world also extends to other features of the analysis –
the identification of viable alternatives (what, under the circumstances,
were the options?), the playing out of various scenarios (counterfactual
logic), and so forth. The insufficiencies of the formal research design must
be compensated for by natural wisdom – an intuitive “feel” for a situation,
usually gained through many years’ experience in that area, be it a
foreign country, a historical era, or a medical specialty.
Thus, although background knowledge informs all causal analysis, it
is more prominently on display in case studies where some portion of the
evidence derives from process-tracing observations, for each observation
must be separately evaluated. Indeed, each noncomparable observation
may be considered to constitute a separate research design, requiring a
different set of background assumptions.
The Usefulness of Process Tracing
Having defined the characteristic features of process tracing, we may now
inquire into its utility. What is it that makes a process tracing study (or
portion of a study) useful and convincing? What is it that makes one
process tracing study better than another?
Let us say that process tracing is convincing insofar as the multiple links
in a causal chain can be formalized, that is, diagrammed in an explicit way
(as a visual depiction and/or a mathematical model), and insofar as each
micro-mechanism can be proven.
The first step seems fairly easy. If a causal relationship can be described
in prose, then it ought to be diagrammable, even if it cannot be captured in
a precise mathematical model. Mahoney’s exegesis of Skocpol’s analysis
of the French Revolution ought to be replicable for any similar account,
that is, for any account that aims to explain a chain of causation within
a single case. Granted, the identification of a discrete “step” in a causal
chain is always a matter of judgment. The same causal process might
be diagrammed in different ways, and there is no end, in principle, to
the infinite regress of causal mechanisms. And, to be sure, the act of
formalizing a long set of concatenated inferences is apt to lead to some
14 George and Bennett (2005); Gill, Sabin, and Schmid (2005).
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182 II. Doing Case Studies
scary-looking diagrams. Robert Fogel’s causal diagram of the political
realignment occurring in mid-nineteenth-century America involves over
fifty discrete steps and many more causal arrows (often bidirectional).15
Not a pretty picture. However, if this is Fogel’s best estimation of the
causal mechanisms, one can hardly deride the effort.
I do not mean to suggest that a formal diagram should replace a description
in prose. Indeed, one can scarcely imagine one without the other.
What I mean to suggest is that the formal diagram is a useful heuristic,
forcing the author to make a precise and explicit statement of her
argument.
The second admonition is more complicated. Could all thirty-seven
steps in Skocpol’s argument about France (and about Russia and China)
be tested? What would this mean? Note that if we isolate a single step
in this long argument, the nature of the causal analysis is now simplified.
There is a single X1 and Y lying at the same level of analysis, which
means that we can understand that link within the rubric of a quasiexperimental
framework, as discussed in the previous chapter. In principle,
a researcher engaged in a process-tracing analysis could propose a
unique research design for each step at each stage of the analysis. Thirtysix
research designs for thirty-seven steps, if they are all arrayed in a single
chain; many more if they are variously interconnected, as in Mahoney’s
diagram.
However, it is typical of case study research that these multiple links
cannot be tested in a rigorous fashion. Usually, the author is forced to
reconstruct a plausible account on the basis of what I have called Counterfactual
Comparison (what would have happened if X1 were different?).
The reader will note a counterfactual style of analysis underlying each of
the foregoing examples. This is what gives process tracing its highly deductive
quality. Typically, one finds oneself comparing states of affairs as they
exist to states of affairs as they might have existed. Upon the soundness
of each link, and the wealth of assumptions that inform each link, the
soundness of the entire enterprise rests. And because these assumptions
are often assumptions about a particular context – the context in which
the case is situated – it is very difficult to assign a level of uncertainty to
that conclusion. A fortiori, it is difficult to arrive at a summary estimate
of uncertainty for the entire analysis (based upon a long chain of causal
mechanisms).
15 Fogel (1992: 233).
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Process Tracing 183
Granted, one need not remain within a counterfactual mode of analysis.
Sometimes, there is natural variation (temporal and/or spatial) in X1 and Y
that comes closer to the experimental ideal. And sometimes it is possible
to convert noncomparable observations into large-N research designs.
Noncomparable bits of evidence can be transformed into comparable
bits of evidence – that is, standardized “observations” – simply by getting
more bits of evidence and coding them according to type. Thus, the noncomparable
observations enlisted by Hsieh and Romer might have been
converted into standardized (comparable) observations. For example, the
authors might have conducted a content analysis of the Commercial and
Financial Chronicle and/or of the Federal Reserve records. This would
have required coding sentences (or some other linguistic unit) according
to whether they registered anxiety about a loss of credibility. Here,
the sentence becomes the unit of analysis, and the number of sentences
comprises the total “N” in a quantitative research design.
In many instances, however, there is no suitable temporal and/or spatial
variation that approximates the experimental ideal, and/ or it is not possible
to convert noncomparable observations into comparable observations
so as to increase the sample size. It is difficult to see, for example, how
Henry Brady’s research question could be generalized across additional
(comparable) observations, given the absence of suitable surveys on election
day 2000. In other circumstances, there may be little advantage to
be gained from the conversion of noncomparable to comparable observations.
In the Hsieh/Romer study, for example, it is not clear what would be
realized from this sort of formalization. If there is no evidence whatsoever
of credibility anxiety in the documentary record, then the reader is not
likely to be more convinced by an elaborate counting exercise (coded as
0, 0, 0, 0, 0, . . . ). More useful, I would think, are specific examples of
what the leaders of the Fed actually said, as provided by the authors of
this study. Sometimes formalization is useful, and sometimes it is not.
We have already noted that a large number of standardized observations
are not always superior to a single noncomparable observation.
Indeed, one of the foregoing examples, which pits Henry Brady’s process
tracing against the large-N statistical analysis conducted by John Lott, is
a good case for the superiority of an informal method over a formal one.
The reader can probably think of many others. Thus, the N = 1 designation
that I have attached to process tracing should not be understood as
pejorative. In some circumstances, one lonely observation (qualitative or
quantitative) is sufficient to prove an inference. This is quite common, for
example, when the author is attempting to reject a necessary or sufficient
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184 II. Doing Case Studies
condition. If we are inquiring into the cause of Joe’s demise, and we know
that he was shot at close range, we can eliminate suspects who were not
in the general vicinity. One observation – say, a videotape from a
surveillance camera – is sufficient to provide conclusive proof that a suspect
was not, in fact, the killer, even though the evidence is neither quantitative
nor comparable to other pieces of evidence.
Recall, as well, that although many causal claims are typically nested
within a single process tracing account, not all of these are equally suspect
or equally important (for the overall argument). Two factors – theoretical
importance and generally recognized priors – should determine the energy
with which each claim is pursued. As a general rule, the need for a formally
designated “research design” ends at the point where a causal conclusion
becomes obvious, as judged by the contextual evidence at hand or our
commonsense knowledge of the world. Or, to put the matter differently,
since the motivating goal of causal research is to determine the relationship
between X1 and Y, and since all such conclusions rest delicately upon
a skein of assumptions about how the world works, the purpose of a
research design – a formal investigation into causes – is to supplement
that everyday knowledge wherever it appears weak. There is no point in
investigating the obvious. This greatly simplifies the task of the process
tracer. The researcher rightly focuses her attention on those links in the
causal chain that are (a) weakest and (b) most crucial for the overall
argument.
Conclusion
To reiterate, our query regarding the validity of process tracing research
has two very general answers: (1) clarify the argument, with all its attendant
twists and turns (preferably with the aid of a visual diagram or formal
model) and (2) verify each stage of this model, along with an estimate of
relative uncertainty (for each stage and for the model as a whole). Simple
though it sounds, these two desiderata (and particularly the latter)
are not always easy to accomplish. Process tracing evidence is, almost by
definition, difficult to verify, for it extends to evidence that is nonexperimental
and cannot be analyzed in a sample-based format (by virtue of
the incommensurability of individual bits of evidence).
Fortunately, there are several mitigating features of process tracing
that may give us greater confidence in results that are based, at least in
part, on this unorthodox style of evidence. First, process tracing is often
employed as an adjunct form of analysis – a complement to a formal
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Process Tracing 185
research design (experimental or observational). Indeed, one way to think
about process tracing is as a cross-check, a triangulation, that can be – and
ought to be – applied to all results gained through formal methods. Studies
based on a formal research design will sometimes note parenthetically that
the account is consistent with “anecdotal” or “narrative” evidence, that
is, with evidence that falls outside the formal research design. It makes
sense of the statements made by the actors, of their plausible motives,
and so forth. This is often extremely important evidence and deserves a
more respectful label than “anecdotal” and a more revealing label than
“narrative.” (What is the evidentiary status of a narrative?) In any case,
process tracing, when employed in an adjunct fashion, is not intended to
bear the entire burden of an empirical study. It offers supporting evidence.
Second, process tracing rests upon contextual assumptions and assumptions
about how the world works. Insofar as there is a comfortable
fit between the evidence and the assumptions of a process tracing
account, that account should pass muster. Granted, the reader of a process
tracing account may not be in a position to judge the veracity of
an author’s conclusions that rest on the specific circumstances of a highly
particular context. Even so, these conclusions may be vetted by those intimately
familiar with that region, policy area, or historical era. So long as
sufficient documentation is included in the account, the verification of a
process tracing study is eminently achievable. Therefore, even though it
may be impossible to arrive at a set of standardized methodological rules –
thus depriving process tracing of the status of a “method” – we may have
confidence in process tracing accounts once they have been vetted by suitably
trained experts.
In sum, despite its apparently mysterious qualities, process tracing
has an important role to play in case-based social science. Whether it
is employed in an adjunct capacity or whether the author’s conclusions
rest primarily on the analysis of noncomparable observations, it deserves
an honored place in the tool kit of social science.
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Epilogue
Single-Outcome Studies
This book has understood case studies as a method for generalizing across
populations (see Chapter Two). The population may be small or large,
but the analysis is synecdochic. It infers a larger whole from a smaller
part. (Occasionally, where there is a very small population, the researcher
may be able to study every case in the population intensively. In this rare
circumstance there is no inferential leap from sample to population.)
At times, however, the term “case study” may also refer to a piece of
research whose inference is limited to the case under study. This sort of
case study may be characterized (loosely) as “idiographic” rather than
“nomothetic” insofar as the objective of analysis is narrowly scoped to
one particular (relatively bounded) unit. Arguably, this is not a case study
at all, since it is not a case of something broader than the case itself. Thus,
I enlist a slightly different concept – the single-outcome study – as my
topic in this epilogue.
Formally, a single-outcome study refers to a situation in which the
researcher seeks to explain a single outcome for a single case. This outcome
may register a change on Y – something happens. Or it may reflect
stasis on Y – something might have happened but, in the event, does not.
That is, the outcome may be “positive” or “negative.” The actual duration
of the outcome may be short (eventful) or long. A revolution (e.g., the
American Revolution) and a political culture (e.g., American political culture)
are both understood as outcomes, since they register distinct values
for a single case.
For the statistically minded, the single-outcome study may be understood
as a study oriented toward explaining the point score for a single
case rather than a range of values across a population of cases, or a range
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188 Case Study Research
of values occurring within a single case. One might also describe this as
a “single-observation study,” for an outcome may be recorded on a single
line of a rectangular dataset, registering only one value for each of
the relevant variables. However, the term is awkward and also somewhat
misleading, since it implies that there are other comparable observations
adjacent to the observation of interest, which may or may not be true.
Alternatively, one might refer to this format as an idiographic case study.
However, this would imply the opposite – that the outcome under analysis
is unique – which may or may not be true. Happily, the concept of an
outcome makes no a priori assumptions about neighboring phenomena;
the outcome of interest may be routine or idiosyncratic.
By way of illustration, consider the following research questions
focused on the contemporary welfare state (as measured by revenue or
expenditure levels as a share of total GDP):
(1) What explains the relatively weak American welfare state?
(2) What explains welfare state development within the OECD?
(3) What explains variation in U.S. welfare spending over time?
(4) What explains variation in U.S. welfare spending across states?
Of these, only the first would be correctly classified as a study of a single
outcome. Question #1 pertains to a single outcome because the case
(the United States) is understood to have achieved a single, relatively stable
value on this dimension. There is implied variation on the dependent
variable (welfare state spending) across cases; indeed, the research question
implicitly compares the United States to other countries. However,
the researcher is not interested in explaining that variation; she is, instead,
motivated to explain the point score of the United States.
By contrast, question #2 envisions the study of a population because it
establishes a range of variation – at least one differentiable outcome for
each OECD country; more if each case is observed over time. Question
#3 recasts the first question from a single outcome to a population; it
is focused on a range of comparable outcomes within a single case (the
United States), defined temporally. Question #4 defines cases spatially
rather than temporally; this is also a population.
It will be seen that a study focused on a single outcome must, of necessity,
interrogate within-case evidence, and may therefore construct comparable
observations within the case of primary interest. Thus, in answering
question #1, a researcher might employ strategies #3 and #4. Similarly,
a single-outcome study might incorporate evidence drawn from adjacent
cases (at the same level of analysis), that is, strategy #2. However, if the
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 189
purpose of this within-case and across-case evidence is to illuminate a
single outcome within a single case it is still appropriately classified as a
single-outcome study.
With these definitional matters under our belts, we may now proceed.
What difference does it make whether an author is studying a case of
something broader than itself or a single outcome?1
What is the difference
between studying the U.S. welfare state (a) as an example of welfare
state development more generally and (b) as a topic in its own right? In
philosophical circles, this may be understood as a distinction between a
cause (in general) and a cause in fact.2
In the one instance, the American
experience is enlisted to help explain something about welfare state
development everywhere (or at least within the OECD). In the other
instance, what we know about welfare states in general is enlisted to help
explain one particular case. Virtually everything is identical about these
two topics except that the theoretical objective has shifted from macro to
micro.
Another example would be the distinction between crime (in general)
and a particular crime. We might study a particular crime in order to
elucidate some more general feature of crime in a society. This would be a
case study. Or we might study the details of a particular crime – as well as
more general features of crime – in order to understand who shot Joe,
and why. This would be a single-outcome study. It is one thing to explain
a rise in crime, and quite another to explain why Joe was killed. In this
chapter, we shift gears from the first sort of explanation to the second.
I begin by discussing the utility of single-outcome studies and the different
types of argumentation and causal logic that they embrace. I proceed
to discuss the methodological components of the single-outcome study,
which may be reduced to three angles: nested analysis (large-N crosscase
analysis), most-similar analysis (small-N cross-case analysis), and
within-case analysis (evidence drawn from the case of special interest).
The chapter concludes with a discussion of a common difficulty encountered
by single-outcome analysis – reconciling cross-case and within-case
evidence, both of which purport to explain the outcome of interest.
It is important to bear in mind that this chapter focuses on the distinctive
methodological features of single-outcome studies. I leave aside, or
treat lightly, issues that are equally relevant to case studies. Thus, wherever
1 For discussions of the methodological issues arising from the attempt to explain a single
event, see Goertz and Levy (forthcoming) and Levy (2001).
2 Hart and Honore (1959).
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190 Case Study Research
I choose not to expatiate on a point, the reader may assume that what
I have said in previous chapters of this book also applies to the singleoutcome
study.
Why Study Single Outcomes?
Methodologists have traditionally taken a dim view of single-outcome
studies. Case studies are bad enough (as reviewed in Chapter One). Singleoutcome
studies are, by implication, even worse. Arguably, we are better
off focusing our efforts on things in general rather than on highly specific
things. Nomothetic research is more profitable, theoretically speaking,
and also – usually – more falsifiable.3
(The reader will note that on an
imagined idiographic-nomothetic scale, single-outcome studies lie at one
end and cross-case studies at the other extreme, with case studies – the
primary focus of this book – in the middle.)
Even so, there are many situations in which one might wish to understand
specific circumstances, rather than circumstances in general. Pauline
Young clarifies that the term “social case work” often refers to specific
contexts.
In social case work we do not gather data in order to compare, classify, and
analyze with a view to formulating general principles. We gather the data case by
case in order to make a separate, differential diagnosis, with little or no regard
for comparison, classification, and scientific generalization. The diagnosis is made
with a view to putting treatment into operation in this particular case.4
While scholars of international relations have an interest in wars, they are
also interested in the causal factors that led to specific wars, particularly
big wars with large consequences.5
Every country, every region, every
business, every era, every event, every individual – for that matter, every
phenomenon that a substantial number of people care about – inspires its
own single-outcome research agenda. Citizens of Denmark wonder why
Denmark has turned out the way it has. Chinese-American immigrants
wonder why this group exhibits certain sociological and political patterns.
Every public figure of note or notoriety sooner or later becomes the subject
of a biography or autobiography. Indeed, the vast majority of the books
and articles published in a given year are single-outcome analyses.
3 Goldthorpe (1997); King, Keohane, and Verba (1994); Lieberson (1985, 1992).
4 Young (1939: 235–6).
5 Levy (2002b).
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 191
Social scientists, like lay citizens, are often interested in how their
chosen subject plays out in their country of origin. Thus, American
economists study the American economy; American sociologists study
American society; and American political scientists study American politics.
Of course, they may study particular aspects of these broad subjects;
the point is that their concern in this genre of work is not a class of outcomes
but rather a particular outcome or a set of outcomes pertaining to
a particular country. It is not merely idle curiosity that fuels this sort of
research. Understanding who we are – as individuals and as communities –
rests, in part, on an understanding of what factors have made us who
we are.
Why is the United States a welfare state laggard?6
What caused World
War One?7
Why did the U.S. Federal Reserve not pursue a more expansionary
monetary policy during the Great Depression?8
What accounts
for the rise of the West?9
Why have growth rates in Botswana been
so extraordinary over the past four decades?10
How can the inception
and growth of the European Union be explained?11
Why did President
Truman choose to employ nuclear weapons against Japan?12
What are
the causes of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center that occurred
on September 11, 2001?13
Questions of this kind are not at all unusual
in the social sciences.
Moreover, there are circumstances in which we can explain a particular
outcome more easily than we can a class of outcomes. This is apt to
be true when the cross-case evidence available on a topic is scarce and
heterogeneous. Consider the following two questions: (1) why do social
movements happen? and (2) why did the American civil rights movement
happen? The first question is general, but its potential cases are
few and extremely heterogeneous. Indeed, it is not even clear how one
would construct a universe of comparable cases. The second question is
narrow, but – I think – answerable. I hasten to add that quite a number of
factors may provide plausible explanations for the American civil rights
movement, and the methodological grounds for distinguishing good from
6 Alesina and Glaeser (2004).
7 Goertz and Levy (forthcoming).
8 Hsieh and Romer (2001).
9 McNeill (1991); North and Thomas (1973).
10 Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2003).
11 Moravcsik (1998).
12 Alperovitz (1996).
13 9/11 Commission Report (2003).
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192 Case Study Research
bad answers is not entirely clear. Even so, I find work on this idiographic
question more convincing than work on the nomothetic question of what
causes social movements.14
Return for a moment to questions raised in our previous discussion:
(1) what causes crime? and (2) who killed Joe? One can easily imagine
propositions about the latter that are more secure than propositions about
the former. Arguably, criminal justice verdicts are more dependable than
criminal justice studies. We are able to convict or acquit in most cases
with a high degree of certainty, while we are often unable to dispense
with general questions about crime.
In sum, single-outcome analysis is both intrinsically valuable (because
we wish to know about such occurrences) and, at least in some circumstances,
methodologically tractable. There must, then, be some general
principles upon which single-outcome analysis rests.
The Argument
As with case study research, it is essential for the researcher to specify
a clear hypothesis, or at least a relatively clear research question. This
point deserves special attention in light of the seeming obviousness of
research connected with a particular event. If one is studying World War
One, it seems self-evident that the researcher will be attempting to explain
this historical fact. The problem is that this is a very immense fact, and
consequently can be seen from many angles. “Explaining World War One”
could mean explaining (a) why the war occured (at all); (b) why it broke
out in 1914; (c) why it broke out on June 28, 1914; (d) why it broke
out in the precise way that it did (i.e., shortly after the assassination of
Archduke Ferdinand); (e) why it was prosecuted in the manner that it
was, and so forth. Option (a) suggests – but does not mandate – a focus
on antecedent (structural, distal) causes, while the other options suggest
a focus on proximate causes (of many different kinds). Evidently, the way
the research question is posed is likely to have an enormous impact on
the chosen research design, not to mention the sort of conclusion that the
author reaches. While this is true of any study – cross-case, case study, or
single-outcome – it is particularly true for studies that focus on individual
outcomes. Thus, single-outcome analysis requires the author to work hard
to define and operationalize what it is that she is trying to explain.
14 Contrast McAdam (1988) with McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly (2001). On this general
point, see Davidson (1963).
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 193
Andrew Bennett begins his book-length study by outlining a general
quest: “to explain the rise of Soviet military interventionism in the 1970s,
its fall in the 1980s, and its reprise in the form of Russia’s interventions in
the former Soviet republics and Chechnya in the 1990s.”15
Subsequently,
Bennett lays out more nuanced indicators of interventionism. This escalation
ladder includes the following steps: “a) shipment of arms to the
client regime; b) transport of non-Soviet troops to or in the client regime;
c) direct supply of non-Soviet troops on the front; d) deployment of Soviet
military advisers in the war zone; e) military aid to allied troops in ‘proxy’
interventions; f) use of Soviet troops in combat roles; g) massive scale in
the above activities; h) use of Soviet commanders to direct the military
campaign; and i) use of Soviet ground troops.”16
This is a good example
of how a general topic can be operationalized in a clear and falsifiable
manner.
Granted, many single-outcome studies do not have clearly defined outcomes.
A general history of World War One may be about many things
related to World War One. A general history of Denmark is likely to
focus on many things related to Denmark. A biography of Stalin is about
many things related to Josef. There is nothing wrong with this traditional
variety of historical, ethnographic, or journalistic narrative. Indeed, most
of what we know about the world is drawn from this genre of work.
(My bookshelves are filled with them.) However, we must also take note
of the fact that this sort of study is essentially unfalsifiable. It cannot
be proven or disproven, for there is no argument per se. It is causal
analysis only in the loosest sense. My injunction for a clear hypothesis
or research question is applicable only if the objective of the writer is
causal-explanatory in a stricter, and more scientific, sense. It is this sort of
work – a small minority of single-outcome studies – that I am concerned
with.
Not only the outcome, but also the causal factor(s) of interest, must be
clearly specified. Again, one finds that this is often more complicated in
single-outcome analysis than it is in case study analysis, precisely because
there is no larger field of cases to which the inference applies. Douglass
15 Bennett (1999: 1). I shall assume that these are three discrete and relatively noncomparable
outcomes, rather than a range of outcomes along a single dimension. If the latter,
then Bennett’s study would be more appropriately classified as the study of a population
rather than of a series of single outcomes.
16 Ibid., 15. The book focuses at the high end of this scale; the entire scale is reproduced
here to illustrate how sensitive indicators may be developed in single-event
contexts.
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194 Case Study Research
North and his colleagues take note of the following traditional arguments
pertaining to U.S. economic history.
1. British policy was vindictive and injurious to the colonial economy
after 1763.
2. The railroad was indispensable for American economic growth.
3. Speculators and railroads (through land grants) monopolized the
best western lands in the nineteenth century, slowed down the westward
movement, adversely affected the growth of the economy, and
favored the rich over the poor.
4. In the era of the robber barons, farmers and workers were
exploited.17
In looking closely at these arguments, North and colleagues observe that
they are ambiguous because there is no clearly specified counterfactual.
The authors therefore revise them as follows:
1. British policies were restrictive and injurious to the colonial economy
after 1763, compared with what would have taken place had
the colonies been independent during these years; or more precisely,
income of the colonies under British rule after 1763 was less than
it would have been had the colonists been free and independent.
2. Income in the United States would have been reduced by more than
10 percent had there been no railroads in 1890.
3. A different (but specified) land policy would have led to more rapid
westward settlement in the nineteenth century, a higher rate of economic
growth, and a more equal distribution of income.
4. In the absence of the monopolistic practices of the robber barons,
farm income and real wages of manufacturing workers would have
been significantly higher.18
Here is a set of falsifiable hypotheses. They specify an outcome, an alternative
outcome, and a causal factor that is thought to be accountable for
(imagined) variation across those outcomes.
Another point to be aware of is that the way in which an outcome
is defined is likely to determine the extent to which it is comparable to
other cases. Specifically, the more detailed the outcome – the more it is
tailored to the circumstances of a specific country, group, or individual –
the more difficult it will be to make reference to instances outside the area
17 North, Anderson, and Hill (1983: 2–3).
18 Ibid., 3.
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 195
of interest. If the case of special interest is defined too idiosyncratically it
will no longer be a case of anything; that is, it will no longer be comparable
(except in the most anodyne and unilluminating way) to other cases. Since
one’s objective is to explain that outcome, and not others, this is not
necessarily problematic. However, it does mean that the author will be
restricted to evidence drawn from that particular case. This is a serious
restriction and limits the falsifiability of any such proposition, since it
cannot be tested across other venues.
Causal Logic
Before going any further it is important to point out that the causal
logic employed in case studies is often quite different from that of singleoutcome
studies, and this difference stems from their different objectives.
Because the case study is focused on developing an explanation for some
more general phenomenon it usually focuses on a particular causal factor,
X1, and its relationship to a class of outcomes, Y. It usually culminates in
an X1/Y–centered hypothesis which explains some amount of variation
across instances of Y.
While it is a reasonable objective to seek to explain a small degree of
variation across a wide range of cases, it is not a very reasonable objective
to explain a small degree of variation across one outcome. Wherever a
study focuses on a single outcome, the reader quite naturally wants to
know everything, or almost everything, about the causes of that outcome
(leaving aside the obvious background factors that every causal argument
takes for granted). Thus, single-outcome studies usually seek to develop a
more or less “complete” explanation of an outcome, including all causes
that may have contributed to it, X1−N.
Single-outcome studies make extensive use of necessary and sufficient
conditions – deterministic ways of understanding causal relations. In case
studies, by contrast, researchers usually assume probabilistic causal relations.
The simple reason for this is that a general outcome encompassing
multiple cases is less likely to conform to an invariant law. While there
were undoubtedly necessary conditions for the occurrence of World War
One, there is debate among scholars over the existence of necessary conditions
pertaining to wars in general. (Only one such necessary condition
has been proposed – nondemocracy – and it is hotly contested.)19
As a
rule, the larger the class of outcomes under investigation, the more likely
19 Brown, Lynn-Jones, and Miller (1996).
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196 Case Study Research
it is that there will be exceptions, in which case the scholar rightly conceptualizes
causes as probabilistic rather than necessary and/or sufficient.
Relatedly, because case studies seek general causes they tend to focus on
structural causal factors. Because single-outcome studies seek the causes
of specific outcomes, they often focus on contingent causal factors – for
example, leadership, decisions, or other highly proximate factors. The
assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is a plausible explanation of World
War One, but not of wars in general.20
It might of course be enlisted
as an example of a more general explanation, but the author’s emphasis
would then shift to a more general factor (e.g., “triggering events”). Proper
nouns are often embraced in the single-outcome study, while they must
be regarded as examples of something else in the case study.
However, it would be wrong to conclude that because unique causes are
admissible in single-outcome studies, they are also preferable. One does
not imply the other. That is, an individual outcome may be the product
of a very general cause (a “law”). Or it may not. There is no reason to
presume that a case chosen for special study is different from a broader
class of cases merely because it happens to form the topic of interest.
A study of the American welfare state should not assume, as a point of
departure, that the causal dynamics of welfare state development in the
United States are fundamentally different from those unfolding in Europe
and elsewhere in the world. An inquiry into a particular murder should
not assume that the causes of this murder are any different from the causes
of other murders, and so forth. The question of similarity and difference
in causal analysis – the comparability of cases – is thus rightly left open,
a matter for investigation.21
To clarify, single-outcome research designs
are open to idiographic explanation in a way that case study research is
not. But single-outcome researchers should not assume, ex ante, that the
truth about their case is contained in factors that are specific to that case.
Granted, there is an affinity between single-outcome analysis and idiographic
explanations insofar as the outcomes that attract the most attention
from social scientists are apt to be outcomes that are nonroutine – outcomes
that don’t fit into standard explanatory tropes. (I expatiate on this
point in the conclusion). However, the “uniqueness” of a historian’s (or
20 Lebow (2000–01); Lebow and Stein (2004).
21 Granted, some single-event analyses have as their primary objective a search for distinctiveness.
Thus, the researcher’s question might be “What is different about X (Denmark,
the United States, etc.)?” However, this is an essentially descriptive question, while our
concern in this chapter is with causal inference.
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 197
political scientist’s or sociologist’s) chosen topic is a poor point of departure,
encouraging a prejudiced style of investigation into the actual causes
of that outcome – which may be more routine than is generally realized.
Analysis
The analysis of a single outcome (a single outcome for a given case) may
be approached from three different angles. The first, which I refer to
(following Evan Lieberman) as nested analysis, employs cross-case analysis
from a large sample in order to better understand the features of an
individual outcome. The second, known most commonly as most-similar
analysis, employs cross-case analysis within a small sample (e.g., two or
three cases). The third, known generically as within-case analysis, draws
on evidence from the case of special interest.22
The latter two methods are quintessentially case study methods, so my
discussion of these topics builds on arguments from previous chapters.
In particular, I draw on the experimental template of case study methods
set forth in Chapter Six (see Table 6.1). There, I argued that all case
studies could be understood as variants of four archetypal methods: the
Dynamic Comparison, which mirrors the paradigmatic laboratory experiment
(exploiting both temporal and spatial variation); the Longitudinal
Comparison, which employs only temporal variation but is similar in
design to the experiment without control; the Spatial Comparison, which
employs only variation through space (purporting to measure the outcome
of interventions that occurred at some point in the past, but that
are not directly observable); and the Counterfactual Comparison, which
relies on imaginary variation (i.e., where the researcher seeks to replicate
the circumstances of an experiment in her head or with the aid of some
formal model).
For purposes of discussion, I return to the question raised at the outset
of this chapter: Why does the United States have a relatively small welfare
state? This outcome is operationalized as aggregate central government
revenue as a share of GDP. As previously, research on this topic may
be either hypothesis-generating (Y-centered) or hypothesis-testing (where
22 Note that the task of “case selection” in single event analysis is already partially
accomplished: one has identified at least one of the cases that will be subjected to intensive
study. It should also be noted that case analysis may be assisted by formal models
(e.g., Bates et al. 1998) or statistical models (e.g., Houser and Freeman 2001). Here, I am
concerned only with the evidentiary basis (the sorts of evidence that might be mustered)
for such an analysis.
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198 Case Study Research
there is a specific X1/Y proposition that the researcher is intending to
prove or disprove). How, then, might (a) nested analysis, (b) most-similar
analysis, and (c) within-case analysis be applied to this classic research
question?
Nested Analysis
A nested analysis presumes that the researcher has at her disposal a largeN
cross-case dataset containing variables that measure the outcome and
at least some of the factors that might affect that outcome. With this information,
the researcher attempts to construct a general model of the phenomenon
that applies to the broader sample of cases. This model, which
may be cross-sectional or time-series cross-sectional, is then employed to
shed light on the case of special interest.23
Let us begin at the descriptive level. How exceptional (unique) is the
American state? The first section in Table E.1 lists all minimally democratic
countries for which central government expenditure data is available
in 1995 (N = 77), along with their normalized – “Z” – scores (standard
deviations from the mean). Here, it will be seen that the United
States has a moderately low score – seventeenth out of seventy-seven –
but not an extremely low score, relative to other democratic polities. So
viewed, there is little to talk about; the American case is only moderately
exceptional.
However, the traditional way of conceptualizing the question of American
exceptionalism utilizes an economic baseline to measure the size of
welfare states. The presumption is that richer, more developed societies
are likely to tax and spend at higher rates (“Wagner’s Law”). This way of
viewing things may be tested by regressing government spending against
GDP per capita (natural logarithm), as follows:
Expenditure = 4.89 + 3.10GDPpc
(E.1)
R2 = .1768 N = 77
The residuals produced by this analysis for all seventy-seven cases are
listed in the second column of Table E.1. Here, it will be seen that the
United States is indeed a highly exceptional case. Only four countries have
higher negative residuals. Relative to its vast wealth, the United States is
a very low spender.
23 Lieberman (2005a). Coppedge (2002) employs the term “nested induction,” but the gist
of the method is quite similar.
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tableE.1.ThreenestedanalysesoftheU.S.welfarestate
DescriptiveAnalysisBivariateAnalysisMultivariateAnalysis
CountryExp.ZscoreCountryRes.1CountryRes.2
1.Colombia13.37−(1.71)1.SouthKorea−17.151.SouthKorea−18.39
2.India14.84−(1.57)2.Argentina−16.732.Thailand−16.71
3.DominicanRep.15.39−(1.51)3.Colombia−15.623.Bahamas−15.97
4.Paraguay15.41−(1.51)4.Bahamas−15.054.Turkey−14.04
5.Argentina15.75−(1.48)5.UnitedStates−14.855.Mauritius−12.33
6.Thailand15.78−(1.47)6.Mexico−13.906.Paraguay−9.99
7.Mexico15.92−(1.46)7.Thailand−13.757.Iceland−8.98
8.SouthKorea16.52−(1.40)8.Paraguay−12.818.Canada−8.48
9.Nepal16.54−(1.40)9.DominicanRep.−12.259.Nepal−8.25
10.Madagascar17.39−(1.32)10.Venezuela−11.6310.Argentina−7.81
11.Philippines17.93−(1.26)11.Switzerland−11.3311.CostaRica−7.15
12.Venezuela18.57−(1.20)12.Chile−11.1412.Peru−6.80
13.Bahamas19.03−(1.16)13.Canada−10.4913.NewZealand−6.07
14.Peru19.07−(1.15)14.Australia−10.3214.DominicanRep.−5.70
15.Chile19.85−(1.08)15.Peru−9.7215.Madagascar−5.47
16.Bolivia21.10−(0.95)16.Malaysia−8.8216.Lithuania−5.12
17.UnitedStates21.72−(0.89)17.Philippines−8.6017.Malaysia−5.04
18.Malaysia21.98−(0.87)18.India−8.4518.Colombia−4.98
19.Turkey22.23−(0.84)19.CostaRica−7.6619.Greece−4.71
20.CostaRica22.43−(0.82)20.Turkey−7.2320.St.Vincent/Grenada−4.33
21.Pakistan22.80−(0.79)21.Mauritius−6.8221.Trinidad/Tobago−4.15
22.Mauritius23.26−(0.74)22.Nepal−4.9922.India−3.41
23.Mongolia24.38−(0.63)23.Panama−4.9823.Panama−3.36
(continued)
199
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tableE.1(continued)
DescriptiveAnalysisBivariateAnalysisMultivariateAnalysis
CountryExp.ZscoreCountryRes.1CountryRes.2
24.Panama24.71−(0.60)24.Bolivia−4.8724.Grenada−3.25
25.Canada25.04−(0.57)25.Madagascar−4.4425.Latvia−3.17
26.Lithuania25.22−(0.55)26.Iceland−3.4626.Australia−2.99
27.Australia25.33−(0.54)27.Russia−3.4427.Chile−2.79
28.Russia25.39−(0.53)28.Germany−3.1028.Fiji−2.44
29.Switzerland26.64−(0.41)29.Lithuania−2.8329.Ireland−1.99
30.Grenada28.11−(0.27)30.Uruguay−2.7830.Mexico−1.64
31.Trinidad/Tobago28.13−(0.26)31.NewZealand−2.6731.Denmark−1.24
32.Fiji28.61−(0.22)32.Trinidad/Tobago−2.6032.Luxembourg−1.19
33.Uruguay28.88−(0.19)33.Grenada−1.4933.Mongolia−0.97
34.St.Vincent/Grenada29.16−(0.16)34.Cyprus,Greek−1.4034.Norway−0.95
35.PapuaNewGuinea29.21−(0.16)35.Pakistan−1.3135.Albania−0.80
36.SriLanka29.33−(0.15)36.Greece−1.0736.Bolivia−0.77
37.Vanuatu29.34−(0.15)37.Fiji−0.6137.Venezuela−0.48
38.SouthAfrica30.57−(0.03)38.SouthAfrica0.1138.Cyprus,Greek−0.17
39.Albania31.01(0.02)39.St.Vincent/Grenada0.2039.UnitedStates−0.14
40.Romania31.78(0.09)40.Spain0.5840.Vanuatu−0.07
41.Latvia32.20(0.13)41.Mongolia1.0041.Estonia−0.03
42.NewZealand32.32(0.15)42.Ireland1.3642.Switzerland0.04
43.Cyprus,Greek32.60(0.17)43.Luxembourg1.6643.Spain0.05
44.Greece32.70(0.18)44.Norway1.7744.Uruguay0.39
45.Congo,Rep.32.82(0.19)45.Vanuatu2.1345.PapuaNewGuinea0.50
46.Iceland32.88(0.20)46.PapuaNewGuinea2.8746.Slovenia0.59
47.Germany33.72(0.28)47.Latvia3.8547.CzechRep.1.11
48.Nicaragua34.09(0.32)48.SriLanka3.9348.Portugal1.14
49.Lebanon35.18(0.43)49.Denmark4.1249.SouthAfrica1.45
50.Spain35.22(0.43)50.Romania4.4550.Philippines1.58
200
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51.Namibia35.43(0.45)51.CzechRep.4.9351.Botswana1.74
52.Jamaica35.44(0.45)52.Finland4.9752.Finland1.80
53.Estonia35.51(0.46)53.Austria5.1853.Germany2.09
54.Moldova35.72(0.48)54.Estonia5.4954.UnitedKingdom2.25
55.Botswana35.98(0.50)55.UnitedKingdom5.5755.Malta2.33
56.CzechRep.36.21(0.53)56.Albania5.5756.Austria2.38
57.Ireland36.67(0.57)57.Lebanon5.7457.Namibia3.35
58.Norway38.93(0.79)58.Botswana6.1058.Romania3.50
59.Malta39.06(0.81)59.Malta6.1359.Jamaica4.69
60.Luxembourg39.67(0.87)60.Jamaica6.5960.Lebanon4.89
61.Slovenia39.92(0.89)61.Namibia6.7061.SriLanka4.99
62.Poland40.35(0.93)62.Slovenia6.7062.Russia5.04
63.Portugal40.81(0.98)63.Portugal7.1763.Sweden5.54
64.Bulgaria40.96(0.99)64.Congo,Rep.7.1864.Bulgaria6.16
65.UnitedKingdom41.04(1.00)65.France9.5165.Moldova6.49
66.Finland41.25(1.02)66.Moldova10.4966.Israel6.53
67.Denmark41.36(1.03)67.Nicaragua10.5467.Pakistan7.48
68.Austria41.91(1.08)68.Poland10.8168.Congo,Rep.8.28
69.France45.98(1.48)69.Sweden11.0469.Netherlands9.15
70.Israel47.18(1.60)70.Belgium11.0970.Nicaragua9.83
71.Sweden47.54(1.64)71.Netherlands11.9971.Poland10.27
72.Belgium47.61(1.64)72.Israel12.3472.France12.64
73.Italy48.13(1.69)73.Italy12.7073.Hungary13.18
74.Netherlands48.46(1.73)74.Bulgaria13.3174.Italy13.50
75.Hungary49.39(1.82)75.Hungary18.5575.Belgium13.56
76.Lesotho49.53(1.83)76.Seychelles20.5676.Lesotho19.97
77.Seychelles52.75(2.15)77.Lesotho25.4077.Seychelles23.83
Exp.=centralgovernmentexpenditure/GDP.Zscore=standarddeviationsfromthemean.Res.=residualsfromequationsE.1andE.2,
respectively.
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202 Case Study Research
Why is the United States so poorly explained by this bivariate model?
Why does this very rich country tax and spend at such low rates? While
there are many hypotheses, drawn from a rich and storied research tra-
dition,24
I shall restrict myself here to the role of political institutions.
Arguably, democratic institutions that centralize power, strengthen political
parties, and condition an inclusive style of governance stimulate the
growth of a welfare state.25
Hence, one ought to find larger welfare
states in countries with unitary (rather than federal) constitutions, listproportional
(rather than majoritarian or preferential-vote) electoral systems,
and parliamentary (rather than presidential) executives. In order to
test these propositions across country-cases, one must code extant countries
on all three dimensions. Since these are complicated institutional features,
with many admixtures, I employ the following three-point scales
for each variable. UNITARISM: 1 = federal, 2 = semifederal, 3 = unitary.
PR: 1 = majoritarian or preferential-vote, 2 = mixed electoral system,
3 = proportional. PARL: 1 = presidential, 2 = semipresidential,
3 = parliamentary.26
With this information for each of the world’s
seventy-seven democracies, one may then regress expenditure levels on
GDP per capita plus these additional factors:
Expenditure = − 3.92 + 2.52GDPpc + 2.66Unitarism
(E.2)
+ 1.19PR + 3.60Parl
R2 = .445 N = 77
Residuals from this equation are presented in the third column of
Table E.1. The striking result is that the U.S. case has lost its outlier status.
Indeed, it lies extremely close to the predicted value of the multivariate
model.
One might conclude from this analysis that one has effectively “explained”
the American case. Of course, any such conclusion rests on lots
of assumptions pertaining to the veracity of the general model, the statistical
technique, possible measurement error, the homogeneity of the
population, and so forth. One can think of many different ways to model
this problem, and one would probably want to make use of time-series
data in doing so. I have kept things simple with the goal of illustrating
the potential of nested analysis, when circumstances warrant.
Note that even if the model provides a good fit for the case of
special interest, as in equation E.2, there still may be strong reasons for
24 Marks and Lipset (2000).
25 Huber and Stephens (2001); Huber, Ragin, and Stephens (1993); Swank (2002).
26 Details on these coding procedures are explained in Gerring, Thacker, and Moreno
(2005b) and in Gerring and Thacker (forthcoming).
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 203
supplementing nested analysis with a more intensive analysis of the
case of special interest or of adjoining cases, as discussed in subsequent
sections. However, in this circumstance the purpose of a researcher’s
case-based analysis is likely to shift from (a) exogenous causal factors to
(b) causal mechanisms. How might American political institutions have
contributed to the country’s welfare state trajectory? Are these the critical
causal variables that the general model supposes (or are there reasons to
doubt)?
If, on the other hand, a case is poorly explained by a general model (i.e.,
when the residual is high), this also offers important clues for subsequent
analysis. Specifically, one has strong reason to presume that additional
factors are at work – or, alternatively, that the outcome is a product of
pure chance (something that cannot be subjected to general explanation).
Regardless of how the evidence shakes out, one has presumably learned
a good deal about the outcome of special interest – the American welfare
state – by exploiting available evidence from a large sample of adjacent
cases. This is the purpose of nested analysis.
Most-Similar Analysis
We have already discussed the most-similar method (see Chapter Five).
It is no different in the context of a single-outcome analysis, with the
exception that one of the most-similar cases is preselected. It follows that
the chosen comparison case (or cases) should be that which is most similar
to the case of special interest in all respects except the dimension(s) of
interest to the researcher.
If the researcher has no hunch about the possible causes of American
welfare state development, then the search for a most-similar case involves
matching the United States to another case that has a higher level of
government expenditures and is fairly similar on various dimensions that
might affect this outcome. Britain or Canada might fit the bill, since both
have similar political cultures and larger welfare states. The research then
consists of examining these cases closely to try to identify some contrasting
feature that might explain their different trajectories. This is most-similar
analysis in an exploratory format.
If the researcher has a hunch about why the United States has low
levels of welfare spending, then the task of finding a paired comparison is
more determinate. In this situation, one searches for a country with higher
levels of welfare spending, a different status on the variable of interest,
and similarities on all other factors that might affect the outcome. Let us
say that the researcher’s hypothesis concerns the constitutional separation
between executive and legislature – the American doctrine of “separation
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204 Case Study Research
of powers.” In this circumstance, Canada might be the most appropriate
choice for a most-similar analysis, since that country has a parliamentary
executive but shares many other political, cultural, and social features
with the United States.27
If an offhand survey of available cases is insufficient to identify a mostsimilar
case – either because the number of potential candidates is large
and/or because the similarities and differences among them are not well
known – the researcher may resort to truth tables (with comprehensive
listings of attributes) or matching techniques (see Chapter Five) as a way
of identifying appropriate cases.
Thus far, I have discussed the spatial components of most-similar comparison
– where variation across cases is essentially static (there is no
change, or at least no change of trend, in the variables of interest across
the chosen cases). This conforms to a Spatial Comparison, as discussed
in Chapter Six. Wherever comparative cases embody longitudinal variation,
they offer an additional dimension for causal analysis. Indeed, the
best choice for most-similar analysis is a pairing that provides a Dynamic
Comparison – replicating the virtues of a classic experiment (but without
a manipulated intervention). Here, one can compare the outcome of
interest before and after an intervention to see what effect it may have
had in that case – a sort of pre- and post-test. Unfortunately, for purposes
of exploring the role of the separation of powers in U.S. welfare state
development, there are no obvious comparison cases of this nature. That
is, no countries that are reasonably well matched with the United States
have instituted constitutional changes in their executive (e.g., from presidential
to parliamentary, or vice versa).28
Nor, for that matter, has the
United States.
Within-Case Analysis
Regardless of how informative cross-case evidence (either large-N or
small-N) might be, one is unlikely to be satisfied that one has satisfactorily
explained an outcome until one has explored within-case evidence.
If there is a specific hypothesis that organizes the research, research designs
may be Dynamic, Spatial, Longitudinal, or Counterfactual (see Table 6.1).
27 The United States/Canada comparison is a fairly common one, though not all scholars
reach the same conclusions (e.g., Epstein 1964; Lipset 1990).
28 France adopted a semipresidential system in 1958. However, the primary locus of
legislative sovereignty still resides in parliament, so it is not a good test of the
theory.
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 205
Let us return to the previous hypothesis – the structure of the executive in
conditioning a weak welfare state in the United States – to see how these
research designs might play out.
Since states within the union also pursue welfare policies, and since
their causal relationships may be similar to those that obtain at a national
level, one might exploit variation within and across states to illuminate
causal factors operative at the national level, where our ultimate theoretical
interest lies. Suppose that a state decides to abolish its executive office
(the governor), creating what is, effectively, a parliamentary system at
the state level. Here is a terrific opportunity for a Dynamic Comparison.
That state’s welfare levels can be measured before and after the intervention,
and that state may also be compared to another state(s) that did not
undergo constitutional change.
Suppose that at least one state in the union has always possessed a
parliamentary system of government (from 1776 to the present). Under
this circumstance there is no intervention that can be studied, and no
pre- and post-test may be administered. Still, one might compare levels
of spending in that state to those in similar states that have separatepowers
constitutions in an attempt to judge the effects of constitutional
structure on social policy and political development. This constitutes a
Spatial Comparison.
A Longitudinal Comparison might be established at the national level.
The American welfare state has been growing for some time, and whatever
causal dynamics are at work today have presumably been operative for
some time. Granted, there has never been a parliamentary executive in the
United States, so there is no change on the variable of theoretical interest.
However, there have been changes in the relative strength of the president
and Congress, and this may offer some leverage on the question. There
are also periods during which both branches have been controlled by the
same party, and periods of divided party control. These may be compared
according to the level of new legislation that they produce. This provides
a picture of what the U.S. welfare state might look like today if all periods
of American history had been periods of single-party rule.29
To be sure,
it may be doubted whether such brief periods of unified party control
approximate the political circumstances of parliamentary systems; this is,
at best, a poor substitute for a change in constitutional status, the actual
variable of interest.
29 Mayhew (1991).
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206 Case Study Research
Evidently, with this particular research question the opportunities for
within-case empirical analysis are quite limited. As a consequence, the
researcher who wishes to apply a “parliamentary” explanation to the
American welfare state is likely to lean heavily upon Counterfactual Comparison.
What course would the American welfare state have taken if the
United States possessed a parliamentary system? This is a difficult matter
to reconstruct. However, intelligent speculation on this point may be
highly informative.30
The employment of counterfactual reasoning in the analysis of individual
outcomes is well established. Yet it also raises dicey questions of causal
logic – for, in principle, virtually any event occurring prior to the outcome
and having some plausible causal connection to it might be invoked as a
necessary antecedent cause. The laggard American welfare state might be
attributed to the American Revolution, the Civil War, early democratization,
weak and porous (and generally corrupt) bureaucracies, the failure
of the Knights of Labor in the 1880s, Progressive-era reforms, World War
One, the 1920s, the New Deal, the compromise between representatives
of capital and labor after World War Two, the Cold War, and so forth.
Each of these prior developments has been considered critical, by at least
some historians, to the subsequent development (i.e., nondevelopment) of
the American welfare state. And all of these arguments are more or less
plausible.
This is not an atypical situation, for most outcomes can be traced back
to a wide variety of prior “turning points.” The causal regress is, in principle,
infinite, as is the number of possible counterfactual scenarios. (What
if Gompers had failed to maintain control over the AFL? What if businesses
had not been so hostile to the organization of labor unions in the
interwar period?) Recall that in a generalizing case study, one’s consideration
of causal factors is limited to those that might plausibly explain
variation across a broader population of cases. But no such restriction
applies to single-outcome studies. Consequently, this genre of endeavor
is rather intractable, for the outcome is radically overdetermined. There
are too many possible – and probable – causes. The options are, quite
literally, infinite.
Mitigating this problem is a special restriction that applies to the counterfactual
analysis of individual outcomes. Philosophers and social scientists
have come to agree that the most sensible counterfactual within a field
30 See, e.g., Sundquist (1992).
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 207
of possible counterfactuals is that which demands the smallest alteration
in the course of actual events, as they really did happen. This principle
of causal reconstruction has come to be known as the minimal-rewrite
rule.31
The author should play God with history with as light a hand as
possible. All other things being equal, when deciding between two explanations
of a given outcome the researcher should choose the cause that is
most contingent. It is the turning point, the critical juncture, that rightly
deserves the label “cause” – not the factors that probably could not have
been otherwise. The effect of this criterion is to eliminate absurd conjectures
about the course of history. One might suppose, for example, that
the American welfare state would have developed differently if Europeans
had never discovered America. While perhaps true, this counterfactual is
not a very useful reconstruction of history because it envisions a scenario
that departs radically from the actual course of events. Of course, the
minimal-rewrite rule will not discriminate among all the hypotheses that
might be generated through the counterfactual analysis of a single outcome.
But, at least it will narrow the field.32
Putting Cross-Case and Within-Case Evidence Together
Having reviewed three fundamental methods of single-outcome analysis –
nested analysis, most-similar analysis, and within-case analysis – the easy
conclusion is that all three of these methods ought to be employed, wherever
possible. We gain leverage on a causal question by framing the
research design in different ways and evaluating the evidence drawn from
those separate and independent analyses. To the extent that a particular
explanation of an outcome is confirmed by nested analysis, most-similar
analysis, and within-case analysis, one has successfully triangulated.
However, it is not always possible to employ all three methods. Or,
to put it more delicately, these three methods are not always equally
31 Bunzl (2004); Cowley (2001); Einhorn and Hogarth (1986); Elster (1978); Fearon (1991);
Hart and Honore (1959: 32–3; 1966: 225); Hawthorn (1991); Holland (1986); Mackie
(1965/1993: 39); Marini and Singer (1988: 353); Taylor (1970: 53); Tetlock and Belkin
(1996: 23–5); Weber (1905/1949). Also known as “cotenability” (Goodman 1947) and
“compossibility” (Elster 1978).
32 Note that the minimal-rewrite rule has the additional effect of nudging single-event analysis
away from general, structural causes and toward unique, proximate causes, which
are (almost by definition) more contingent. Compare two classic explanations of American
exceptionalism: (a) the great frontier (Turner 1893/1972) and (b) the failure of the
Knights of Labor in the 1880s (Voss 1993). Evidently, the second event is more likely to
have turned out differently than the first.
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208 Case Study Research
viable. And even when all three are possible and viable, sometimes the
conclusions reached are inconsistent. For example, cross-case evidence
may suggest one causal factor and within-case analysis another. The three
methods reviewed here might even suggest three different causal factors.
This sort of dissonance is mildly problematic in the generalizing case
study, where the purpose of the investigation is to shed light on crosscase
causal relationships. Here, one can reasonably dismiss idiosyncratic
findings drawn from a single case as “noise” – stochastic variation or
variation that for some reason remains unexplained. In single-outcome
studies, however, the purpose of the study is to explain that particular case.
Here, varying results from cross-case and within-case analyses cannot be
treated lightly. And here, because the objective is to provide a reasonably
complete explanation, it is not permissible to dismiss evidence as part of
the error term (noise).
Complicating matters further, certain hypotheses garnered from
within-case analysis may be effectively untestable in a cross-case setting.
Consider the following arguments that the research team of Acemoglu,
Johnson, and Robinson provide to explain Botswana’s good policies and
institutions and, from thence, its extraordinary economic success in the
post-independence era.
1. Botswana possessed precolonial tribal institutions that encouraged broad-based
participation and placed constraints on political elites. 2. British colonization had
a limited effect on these precolonial institutions because of the peripheral nature
of Botswana to the British Empire. 3. Upon independence, the most important
rural interests, chiefs and cattle owners, were politically powerful, and it was in
their economic interest to enforce property rights. 4. The revenues from diamonds
generated enough rents for the main political actors, increasing the opportunity
cost of, and discouraging, further rent seeking. 5. Finally, the post-independence
political leaders, in particular Seretse Khama and Quett Masire, made a number
of sensible decisions.33
All these factors are adduced to help explain why Botswana adopted
good (market-augmenting) policies and institutions. But few are easily
tested across a wide range of country-cases. Does the existence of certain
Tswana-like tribal institutions lead to broad-based political participation
and constrained elites in other polities? Does “light” imperial control lead
to better post-independence politics? Is it advantageous for rural interests
to dominate a country politically? Each of these statements, if generalized
to include a broad set of country-cases, is questionable. But few are easy to
33 Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson (2003: 113).
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Epilogue: Single-Outcome Studies 209
test. The final argument, having to do with leadership, is true everywhere
almost by definition (good leadership is usually understood as leadership
that leads to good policy outcomes), and therefore does not tell us very
much. To be sure, the authors present these five arguments as conjoint
causes; perhaps all must be present in order for salubrious results to ensue.
If so, then the argument is virtually incapable of broader application. This
means that we must accept the authors’ claims based largely on withincase
evidence (plus a smattering of two-case comparisons that address
different elements of the story).
It is quite common in single-outcome analysis to rest an inference or a
set of inferences upon evidence drawn from that case alone, and there is
nothing in principle wrong with this style of argumentation. Nonetheless,
Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson would be able to make a stronger and
more convincing argument if they could show more cross-case evidence
for their various propositions. In a few instances, statements made with
reference to Botswana seem to fly in the face of other countries’ historical
experiences. For example, while the authors attribute Botswana’s success
to its light-handed, noninterventionist colonial history, it seems likely that
growth rates in countries around the world are positively correlated with
the length and intensity of colonial control – particularly if the colonial
power is British, as it was in Botswana.34
It is possible, of course, that
the effect of a rather crude variable like colonialism is not uniform across
all countries. Indeed, there is no reason that we should accept uncritically
the results of a cross-country regression that tells this particular story. But
we have no cause to dismiss it either.
The point of this discussion is not to argue for or against any particular
style of evidence but rather to point to a vexing methodological problem
that affects virtually all single-outcome analysis. Cross-case and withincase
evidence often tell somewhat different stories, and there is usually
no easy way to adjudicate between them. About all that one can say is
that the strength of each sort of evidence rests upon the particulars of the
evidence. Thus, if the cross-case analysis is sketchy – if, for example,
the author is suspicious of how key variables have been operationalized,
the specification of the model, or the robustness of the results – then she
may choose to place less emphasis on these results. Likewise, if the withincase
evidence is sketchy – if, for example, the case might be reconstructed
in a variety of different ways, each of which provides a plausible fit for
34 Grier (1999); La Porta et al. (1999).
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210 Case Study Research
the theory and the evidence – then she may choose to place less emphasis
on these results. In short, it all depends.
Conclusion
At this juncture, the reader may have come to the conclusion that singleoutcome
analysis is singularly difficult, and case study analysis correspondingly
easy. This is not the message I wish to convey. Indeed, I indicated
at the outset of this chapter that single-outcome arguments are often
less uncertain than the corresponding cross-case arguments (for which the
case study might be employed as a mode of analysis). A murder may be
easier to solve than general problems related to criminal activity.
However, the sort of single-outcome studies that social scientists focus
on explaining are also typically the sort that are difficult to parse. And this,
in turn, rests upon their singularity. It is the unusualness of the outcome,
not the method applied to the single-outcome study, that makes these
studies so recalcitrant. The American welfare state will never have a conclusive
explanation. The United States is too different from other nations,
and there are too few other nations, to allow for this degree of certainty.
The same might be said about World War One and the French Revolution.
The more unique an outcome the more difficult it is to explain, because
we have fewer comparison cases, and the few cases that do present themselves
suffer problems of causal comparability. With crimes it is different.
This is why judges and juries charged with rendering verdicts generally
show greater confidence in their judgments than academics charged with
explaining crime (in general).
But academics do not write case studies of individual crimes – unless,
of course, those cases are sufficiently unusual to warrant individual treatment
(e.g., crimes with immense political repercussions, such as the Watergate
burglary). Again, one finds that the single-outcome study is problematic
not by reason of any inherent methodological difficulty but rather
by virtue of the situations in which it is typically deployed. There is
little need for single-outcome studies of typical outcomes. Consequently,
single-outcome studies tend to be singular-outcome studies. In sum, it is
the choice of topic – not the method – that renders this genre problematic.
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Glossary
This glossary was constructed in consultation with other glossaries, including
Schwandt (1997), Seawright and Collier (2004), and Vogt (1993). Italicized words
are found elsewhere in the glossary. (Very common words such as “case” are
typically not italicized.)
Antecedent cause See causal order.
Attribute An aspect of a topic or, more specifically, of an observation. Synonyms:
dimension, property, characteristic. May be measured by a variable.
Bias Characterizes a sample that is not representative of a population, with respect
to some inference. Contrast: representativeness. (In statistical parlance, bias
refers to the properties of multiple samples drawn from the same population. This
is similar, but not identical, to my usage in the text.)
Binary See level of measurement.
Breadth See population.
Case A spatially and temporally delimited phenomenon observed at a single
point in time or over some period of time – for example, a political or social
group, institution, or event. A case lies at the same level of analysis as the principal
inference. Thus, if an inference pertains to the behavior of nation-states, cases
in that study will be comprised of nation-states. An individual case may also be
broken down into one or more observations, sometimes referred to as within-case
observations. Compare: case study.
Case-based analysis A variety of analyses that focus on a small number of relatively
bounded units. May refer to case studies, single-outcome studies, or – more
tenuously – Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA).
Case selection The identification of cases chosen for analysis in a study. The first,
and perhaps most important, component of case study research design.
Case study The intensive study of a single case for the purpose of understanding
a larger class of similar units (a population of cases). Synonyms: single-unit
study, single-case study, within-case study. Note that while “case study” is
singular – focusing on a single unit – a case study research design may refer to
211
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212 Glossary
a work that includes several case studies (e.g., comparative-historical analysis or
the comparative method). Contrast: single-outcome study and cross-case study.
Causal effect The impact of an explanatory factor on an outcome. Understood
as the change in Y corresponding to a given change in X. Applicable either to a
particular case or across a set of cases (averaged).
Causal distance A distal (or structural) cause lies far from the effect it is intended
to explain. A promixal (or proximate) cause lies close to the effect it is intended
to explain. Causal mechanisms are generally composed of proximal causes; they
are, in any case, more proximal than the structural cause they are enlisted to help
explain.
Causal factor See independent variable.
Causal inference A causal relationship is one where – minimally – a causal factor
(X) may be said to raise the probability of an effect occurring (Y). Contrast:
descriptive inference. See Gerring (2005).
Causal mechanism That which explains a covariational relationship between
X and Y. The causal pathway, or connecting thread, between X and Y, usually
embodied in a theory or model. See causal order.
Causal order A causal argument may be conceptualized as consisting of a structural
(a.k.a. antecedent, exogenous) cause (X1), an intermediate cause (X1a), and
an outcome (Y). The intermediate cause(s) performs the role of a causal mechanism,
a pathway from X1 to Y.
Ceteris paribus All other things being equal. In the context of research design, this
means that whatever variation is being exploited for the purpose of investigating
causal relationships is the product of the causal factor of interest (X1) and not
of other confounding factors (X2). If the researcher is comparing a case before
and after an intervention to see what effects the intervention might have had on
some outcome (Y), she must assume that the case remains similar, pre- and postintervention,
in all other respects that might affect Y (and cannot be attributed to
X1). If the researcher is comparing two cases that differ in their properties on a
causal factor of interest (X1), she must assume that they are the same on all other
dimensions (X2) that might affect Y.
Comparative method Causal analysis focused on a small number of regions
or states where spatial variation assumes a most-similar format. There may, or
may not, be temporal variation encompassing the causal factor(s) of interest. See
Collier (1993).
Comparative-historical analysis Causal analysis focused on a small number of
regions or states where spatial variation assumes a most-similar format and temporal
variation includes the causal factor(s) of special interest. A species of the
comparative method in which spatial and temporal variation are combined in a
single study. See Mahoney and Rueschemeyer (2003).
Continuous (scalar) variable See level of measurement.
Correlation See covariation.
Counterfactual comparison See experimental template.
Counterfactual thought experiment An attempt to replay the events in a particular
case history in order to determine what the result might have been under
a different set of circumstances. An essential tool of causal analysis when the
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Glossary 213
possibilities of real (observable) variation are meager or where the outcome of
interest lies in the past (and cannot be effectively re-created).
Covariation The association of two factors (variables), said to covary. Covariational
patterns may be diachronic (a.k.a. temporal, time-series, longitudinal,
historical), synchronic (a.k.a. spatial, cross-sectional), or both. Covariation may
be located at different levels of analysis. Synonyms: correlation, association.
Critical juncture/path dependence A critical juncture refers to the contingent
moment in a longer trajectory. It is followed by a period of path dependence
in which a given trajectory is maintained, and perhaps reinforced (“increasing
returns”).
Cross-case study Refers in this text to a large-sample study where the sample
consists of multiple cases (representing the same units that comprise the central
inference), analyzed statistically. Contrast: case study.
Cross-sectional See covariation.
Crucial case A case that offers particularly compelling evidence for, or against, a
proposition. Synonym: critical case. Assumes two varieties: least-likely and mostlikely.
A least-likely case is one that is very unlikely to validate the predictions of
a model or a hypothesis. If a least-likely case is found to be valid, this may be
regarded as strong confirmatory evidence. A most-likely case is one that is very
likely to validate the predictions of a model or a hypothesis. If a most-likely case
is found to be invalid, this may be regarded as strong disconfirming evidence.
Dependent variable See variable.
Descriptive inference Answers questions about who, what, when, and how. May
include proximate causes. Contrast: causal inference.
Deterministic An invariant causal relationship; there are no random (stochastic)
components. Usually, deterministic arguments take the shape of necessary, sufficient,
or necessary-and-sufficient causal relationships. Contrast: probabilistic.
Deviant case A case exemplifying deviant values according to some general
model.
Diachronic See covariation.
Dichotomous scale See level of measurement.
Distal cause See causal distance.
Diverse case A case exemplifying diverse values along relevant dimensions (X1,
Y, or X1/Y). Uses: to illuminate (a) the full range of variation on X1 or Y (an
open-ended probe), or (b) the various causal pathways or causal types exhibited
by X1/Y (a more determinate hypothesis).
Domain See population.
Dynamic comparison See experimental template.
Endogenous cause See causal order.
Equifinality Multiple causal paths leading to the same outcome.
Ethnography Work conducted “in the field,” that is, in some naturalistic setting
where the researcher observes her topic. Near-synonyms: field research, participant
observation.
Exogenous cause See causal order.
Experimental research design A design where the causal factor of interest (the
treatment) is manipulated by the researcher. May also incorporate a randomized
control group. Contrast: observational research design.
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214 Glossary
Experimental template Classic experimental research designs achieve variation
through time and across space, thus maximizing leverage on the fundamental
problem of causal inference. When this template is adopted for use in case study
research, the latter may be understood as part of a matrix with four cells (see Figure
6.1). The Dynamic Comparison mirrors the paradigmatic laboratory experiment,
since it exploits temporal and spatial variation. The Longitudinal Comparison
employs only temporal variation and is similar in design to the experiment without
control. The Spatial Comparison employs only spatial variation; it purports to
measure the outcome of interventions that occurred at some point in the past
(but that are not directly observable). The Counterfactual Comparison relies on
variation (temporal and/or spatial) that is imaginary.
External validity See validity.
Extreme case A case exemplifying unusual values on X1 or Y relative to some
univariate distribution (measured or assumed).
Falsifiability The possibility that a theory or hypothesis may be proven wrong.
A nonfalsifiable hypothesis is one that cannot be disproven by appeal to empirical
evidence.
Field research See ethnography.
Hermeneutics See interpretivism.
Hypothesis A specific, and hence falsifiable, supposition. A causal hypothesis
suggests a specific X1/Y relationship across a (more or less) defined population
of cases – for example, “Proportional representation electoral systems moderate
ethnic conflict (in all democratic polities where substantial ethnic heterogeneity
is present).” A hypothesis may be connected to a larger theory or theoretical
framework (a.k.a. paradigm), or it may stand alone. Near-synonyms: argument,
inference, proposition, thesis.
Independent variable See variable.
Inference See hypothesis.
Influential case A case with a configuration of scores on various independent
variables that strongly influences a general cross-case model of causal relations,
and which therefore may merit close attention (i.e., case study analysis).
Intermediate cause See causal mechanism and causal order.
Internal validity See validity.
Interpretivism Broadly, the study of human meanings and intentions. More narrowly,
the attempt to interpret human behavior in terms of the meanings assigned
to it by the actors themselves. Near-synonyms: hermeneutics, Verstehen.
Intervention Any change in a key causal variable that can be observed through
time, whether experimental (a manipulated treatment) or observational (a natural
treatment).
K The total number of variables in an analysis.
Large-N See observation.
Least-likely case See crucial case.
Level of analysis The level of aggregation at which an analysis takes place. If a
hypothesis is concerned primarily with the behavior of nation-states, then lower
levels of analysis would include individuals, institutions, and other actors at a
substate level. Usually, case study work incorporates evidence at a lower level
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Glossary 215
of analysis than the proposition of primary interest, thus providing within-case
observations.
Level of measurement Measurements (scales) may be dichotomous (a.k.a. binary,
e.g., 0/1), nominal (e.g., yellow, red, green), ordinal (e.g., strongly agree, agree, neither
agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree), interval (e.g., degrees Fahrenheit),
or ratio (an interval scale with a true zero, e.g., degrees Kelvin). Dichotomous,
nominal, and ordinal scales are all categorical. Interval and ratio scales are
continuous.
Longitudinal comparison See experimental template.
Method of difference See most-similar cases.
Minimal-rewrite rule In a single-outcome study, there are always multiple potential
factors that may be invoked as “causes.” From among these potential explanations,
the most useful counterfactual is that which requires the least alteration
in the course of actual events. The researcher should focus on the most contingent
cause, not on more or less permanent features of the landscape.
Most-different cases Cases are different in all respects except the variables of
theoretical interest (X1 and Y). Synonym: method of agreement (J. S. Mill).
Most-similar cases Cases are similar in all respects except the variables of
theoretical interest (X1, Y, or X1/Y). Synonym: Method of difference (J. S.
Mill).
N See observation.
Naturalistic Research settings that are, or resemble, “real-life” settings. Unobtrusive
methods of research. Contrast with laboratory experiments and other
artificial settings.
Natural experiment See quasi-experiment.
Necessary cause See deterministic.
Nested analysis Understood in this text as the employment of a large-N crosscase
analysis in order to shed light on a single outcome. Used in the context of a
single-outcome study. Near-synonym: nested inference.
Nominal scale See level of measurement.
Noncomparable observations Observations that are not comparable (non–unit
homogenous) to one another.
Observation The most basic element of any empirical endeavor. Any piece of
evidence enlisted to support a proposition. Conventionally, the number of observations
in an analysis is referred to by the letter N. (Confusingly, N is also used
to refer to the number of cases.) If observations are comparable they may be
represented as rows in a rectangular dataset.
Observational research design A design where the causal factor of interest is not
manipulated by the researcher. Contrast: experimental research design.
Operationalization Formulation of a concept in terms of measurable indicators,
or of a general theory in terms of testable hypotheses. The issue of operationalization
is the issue of measurement – that is, how do I know concept A or theory
B when I see it?
Ordinal scale See level of measurement.
Participant observation Ethnographic work in which the researcher is a participant
in the activity under study.
Path dependence See critical juncture/path dependence.
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216 Glossary
Pathway case A case that embodies a distinct causal path from X1 to Y such that
potential confounders (X2) are isolated from the analysis and the true relationship
between X1 and Y can be more easily observed. Useful for the identification of
causal mechanisms.
Population The universe of cases and observations to which an inference refers.
Usually, much larger than the sample under investigation. Synonyms: breadth,
domain, scope.
Probabilistic A model or process – specifically, a causal relationship – with random
(stochastic) properties. In a statistical model, these are captured by the error
term.
Process tracing A style of analysis used to reconstruct a causal process that has
occurred within a single case. (Because the event of interest has occurred in the
past, this sort of analysis generally cannot employ a manipulated treatment.) Its
defining features are that (a) multiple types of evidence (noncomparable observations)
are employed for the verification of a single causal outcome and (b) the
causal process itself is usually quite complex, involving a long causal chain and
perhaps multiple switches, feedback loops, and the like.
Proposition See hypothesis.
Proximal (proximate) cause See causal distance.
Qualitative Having few observations (small-N), and hence analyzed with words
rather than numbers. (Another, unrelated meaning of qualitative refers specifically
to variables, specifically those that are categorical rather than continuous.)
Contrast: quantitative.
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) A method of analyzing causal relationships
associated with the work of its inventor, Charles Ragin, that is sensitive
to necessary and sufficient relationships, conjunctural causes, and causal equifinality,
but which also manages to incorporate a large number of cases. Later
versions of QCA, abbreviated “fs/QCA,” incorporate elements of probabilism
and fuzzy-set theory.
Quantitative Having many observations (large-N). Analyzed with numbers
(statistically) rather than words. Contrast: qualitative.
Quasi-experiment An observational study that nonetheless has the properties of
an experimental research design. Synonym: natural experiment.
Randomization A process by which cases in a sample are chosen randomly
(with respect to some subject of interest). An essential element for experiments
that use control groups, since the treatment of control groups must be similar (in
all respects relevant to the inference), and the easiest way to achieve this is through
random selection. Not recommended for case study analysis.
Representativeness A sample is representative when its cases (and observations)
are similar (i.e., comparable, unit homogeneous) to a broader population in all
respects that might affect the causal relationship of interest. Synonym: typical.
Antonym: bias.
Research design Generally, the way in which empirical evidence is brought to
bear on a hypothesis. Includes case selection and case analysis.
Sample The set of cases (and observations) upon which the researcher is
focused. Assumed to be representative of some population, which is usually larger
than the sample. A case study focused on a single case comprises a sample of
one, though the term is rarely used in this context.
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Glossary 217
Scope See population.
Selection bias A form of bias that is introduced whenever the treatment (the
causal factor of interest) is not randomly assigned across cases, thus violating the
ceteris paribus assumption of causal analysis.
Single-outcome study Seeks to explain a single outcome occurring within a single
case. Near-synonyms: particularizing case study, idiographic case study. Contrast:
case study.
Small-N See observation.
Spatial Comparison See experimental template.
Stochastic See probabilistic.
Structural cause See causal order.
Sufficient cause See deterministic.
Synchronic See covariation.
Triangulation The use of multiple methods, often at different levels of analysis.
Typical case A case exemplifying a typical value according to some model. Statistical
measure: a low-residual case (on-lier). Uses: to probe causal mechanisms.
Unit In most situations, equivalent to a case. Pertains to the spatial (not the
temporal) components of a case.
Unit of analysis The species of observations that will be analyzed in a particular
research design. If the design is synchronic, then the unit of analysis is spatial
(e.g., nations or individuals). If the design is diachronic, then the unit of analysis
is temporal (e.g., decades, years, minutes). If the design is both synchronic and
diachronic, then the unit of analysis has both spatial and temporal components
(e.g., country-years). Evidently, the unit of analysis may change in the course of
a given study. Even so, within the context of a particular research design it must
remain constant.
Unit homogeneity The comparability of cases or observations in all respects that
might affect a particular causal relationship. Near-synonyms: causal homogeneity,
equivalence.
Validity Internal validity refers to the correctness of a hypothesis with respect
to the sample (the cases actually studied by the researcher). External validity
refers to the correctness of a hypothesis with respect to the population of an
inference (cases not studied). The key element of external validity thus rests upon
the representativeness of the sample.
Variable An attribute of an observation or a set of observations. Depicted as
vertical columns in a rectangular dataset. In the analysis of causal relations, variables
are understood either as independent (a.k.a. explanatory or exogenous),
denoted X, or as dependent (endogenous), denoted Y. In this text, X1 refers to the
independent variable of theoretical interest (if any), and X2 refers to the vector of
control variables (variables that might affect Y but are not of central theoretical
concern). Note that my usage of the term variable is quite general and does not
presume statistical analysis.
Verstehen See interpretivism.
Within-case study Analysis of observations within a single case. May be small-N
or large-N. Contrast: cross-case study.
X See variable.
X-centered analysis Exploratory research where the puzzle or question concerns
a particular causal factor (X1) but no specific outcome (Y).
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218 Glossary
X1/Y–centered analysis Confirmatory research into a specific, falsifiable causal
hypothesis – the posited relationship between X1 (a particular causal factor) and
Y (the outcome).
Y See variable.
Y-centered analysis Exploratory research where the puzzle or question concerns
a particular outcome (Y) but (at least initially) no particular causal factor (X1).
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Name Index
Abadie, Alberto, 2, 159, 160
Abbott, Andrew, 3, 4, 11, 50, 61, 100
Abell, Peter, 3, 4
Abrami, Regina M., 70
Acemoglu, Daron, 2, 191, 208–10
Achen, Christopher H., 3, 6, 13, 31, 44,
46, 145, 157
Adcock, Robert, 15
Alesina, Alberto, 48, 159
Alexander, Jeffrey, 1
Allen, William Sheridan, 120
Allison, David B., 2, 18, 19, 160, 162
Allison, Graham T., 76
Almond, Gabriel A., 54, 120
Alperovitz, Gar, 191
Alston, Lee, 2
Amenta, Edwin, 22, 106
Anderson, Terry L., 194
Angrist, Joshua D., 44
Anscombe, G. E. M., 70
Athens, Lonnie H., 69
Atkinson, Paul, 69
Bailey, Mary Timney, 2
Baker, Rigina M., 3
Banerjee, Abhijit V., 165–7, 168
Barlow, David H., 2, 6, 7, 18, 19, 30, 51,
91, 162
Barresi, Paul A., 19, 37
Barrett, Christopher B., 69
Barro, Robert J., 127
Bartels, Larry M., 3
Barton, Allen H., 99
Bates, Robert H., 2, 5, 78. 197
Baur, Martin, 75, 164
Beasley, Ryan K., 2
Becker, Howard S., 2, 69, 71
Belkin, Aaron, 4, 166, 207
Belsey, David, 110
Belwood, Marily F., 161
Benbasat, Izak, 2, 19
Bendix, Reinhard, 3, 50
Bennett, Andrew, 2, 4, 5, 17, 44, 61, 69,
75, 76, 81, 98, 99, 115–18, 145, 173,
181, 193
Bentley, Arthur, 54, 120
Berelson, Bernard, 34
Berg-Schlosser, Dirk, 13
Bernard, Luther Lee, 85
Bernhard, H. Russell, 2
Bevan, David, 2
Bhagwati, Jagdish N., 2
Bhaskar, Roy, 5
Bloch, Marc, 69
Blumer, Herbert, 50
Bobo, Lawrence, 157
Bock, Edwin A., 2
Boix, Carles, 95
Bollen, Kenneth A., 3
Bonoma, Thomas V., 2, 39
Bosk, Charles L., 69
Bound, John, 3
Brady, Henry E., 2, 4, 158, 173, 174, 176,
178, 179, 183
Braumoeller, Bear F., 4, 122, 123–6
Breman, Anna, 145
Brenner, Robert, 132
Brooke, Michael Z., 11, 31
Brown, Christine, 2
Brown, James Robert, 166
Brown, Michael E., 195
Browne, Angela, 101
Bryce, James, 27
Buchbinder, Susan, 105
257
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258 Name Index
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, 5
Bunge, Mario, 5
Bunzl, Martin, 207
Burawoy, Michael, 2, 69
Burgess, Ernest W., 69
Burman, Erica, 69
Burton, Alice, 69
B¨uthe, Tim, 4
Caldeira, Gregory A., 160
Cameron, David, 48
Campbell, Angus, 34
Campbell, Donald T., 2, 11, 17, 29, 40–2,
80, 157, 158, 169, 170
Campoy, Renee, 2
Canon, David T., 47
Card, David, 158
Cason, Jeffrey W., 69
Chandra, Kanchan, 2
Chang, Eric C.C., 2
Chatfield, Chris, 3
Chernoff, Brian, 2
Chong, Dennis, 45
Coase, Ronald H., 2
Cochran, William G., 99
Cohen, Morris R., 131, 142
Colby, Anne, 69
Coleman, James S., 30, 110
Collier, David, 2, 4, 15, 27, 54, 75, 80, 81,
99, 101, 109, 110, 120, 139, 142, 145,
173, 211
Collier, Paul, 2
Collier, Ruth Berins, 75, 139, 142
Colomer, Josep M., 123
Converse, Philip E., 139
Cook, Thomas D., 11, 157
Coppedge, Michael J., 106, 198
Cornell, Svante E., 158, 159
Corsini, Raymond J., 2, 19
Costello, Charles G., 18, 19, 160
Coulthard, Malcolm, 69
Cowley, Robert, 166, 207
Cunningham, J. Barton, 19
Danto, Arthur C., 173
Davidson, Donald, 2, 70, 192
Davidson, Patrick Olof, 18, 19, 160
De Meur, Gisele, 13
Defelice, E. Gene, 139, 142
Denzin, Norman K., 69
Desch, Michael C., 115
Dessler, David, 5, 44
Devereaux, Charan, 2
Deyo, Frederic, 101
Dillman, Don A., 69
Dion, Douglas, 104, 120
Diprete, Thomas A., 3
Drass, Kriss, 4
Dufour, Stephane, 2
Dupeux, Georges, 139
Eaton, Kent, 75
Ebbinghaus, Bernhard, 3
Eckstein, Harry, 2, 11, 17, 41–3, 48, 50,
75, 76, 106, 115–17, 118, 120, 121
Efron, Bradley, 11
Eggan, Fred, 131
Eichengreen, Barry, 177
Einhorn, Hillel J., 207
Elman, Colin, 4, 99, 106
Elman, Miriam, 75
Elster, Jon, 5, 44, 166, 207
Elton, Geoffrey R., 69
Emerson, Robert M., 69
Emigh, Rebecca, 102, 106
Epstein, Leon D., 132, 133, 138, 139, 204,
213
Erikson, Robert, 77
Ertman, Thomas, 109
Esping-Andersen, Gosta, 100
Estroff, Sue E., 69
Fauci, Anthony S., 105
Feagin, Joe R., 2, 17, 42–50, 66
Fearon, James D., 4, 166, 207
Fechner, Gustav Theodor, 29, 30
Feng, Yi, 48
Fenno, Richard F., Jr., 69, 72, 179
Ferejohn, John, 70
Fisher, Ronald Aylmer, 157
Fisman, Raymond, 2
Flyvbjerg, Bent, 37, 150
Fogel, Robert W., 182
Forrest, John, 4, 100
Fortin, Dominic, 2
Foster, Peter, 2
Franklin, Ronald D., 2, 18, 19, 160, 162
Freedman, David A., 3, 11–13
Freeman, John, 5, 11, 197
Friedman, Milton, 5, 163
Gadamer, Hans-Georg, 70
Gamson, Joshua, 69
Gangl, Marcus, 3
Gardeazabal, Javier, 2, 159, 160
Garfinkel, Harold, 69
Gaudet, Hazel, 34
Geddes, Barbara, 6, 31, 40, 80, 101, 105,
145
Geertz, Clifford, 70, 75, 104
George, Alexander L., 2, 4, 5, 17, 44, 46,
47, 51, 61–2, 69, 75, 76, 78, 80, 81, 98,
99, 115–18, 145, 173, 181
Gerber, Alan S., 11, 158
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Name Index 259
Gerlagh, Reyer, 48
Gerring, John, 9, 15, 19, 37, 39, 44, 75,
95, 131, 139, 142, 145, 149, 164, 202
Gibbons, Michael T., 70
Gibson, James L., 160
Giddings, Franklin Henry, 29
Gill, Christopher J., 181
Gill, Jeff, 3
Glaeser, Edward, 48
Glaser, Barney G., 45
Glaser, James, 157
Glennan, Stuart S., 5
Goertz, Gary, 4, 102, 120, 189, 191
Golden, Miriam A., 2
Goldstein, David K., 2, 19
Goldstone, Jack A., 4, 45, 76, 173
Goldthorpe, John H., 6, 31, 61, 76–7, 81,
190
Gomm, Roger, 2, 17
Goode, William J., 17
Goodin, Robert E., 115
Goodman, Nelson, 207
Gordon, Sanford C., 85
Gorman, Bernard S., 2, 18, 19, 160, 162
Gosnell, Harold F., 157
Green, Donald P., 11–13, 81, 82
Greene, William H., 95, 158
Greif, Avner, 78
Grier, Robin M., 78, 209
Griffin, Larry J., 4
Gubrium, Jaber F., 69
Gujarati, Damodar N., 91
Gunning, Jan Willem, 2
Gutting, Gary, 53
Hahn, Jinyong, 134
Hall, Peter A., 4, 53, 173
Hamel, Jacques, 2, 17, 69
Hamilton, Gary G., 132
Hammersley, Martyn, 2, 17, 69
Harding, David J., 134
Hardy, Cynthia, 69
Harre, Rom, 5
Hart, H. L. A., 189, 207
Hart, Paul K., 17
Hart, Roderick P., 2
Hawthorne, Geoffrey, 207
Haynes, Barton F., 105
Hedstrom, Peter, 5, 44
Heidbreder, Edna, 162
Helper, Susan, 69
Hempel, Carl G., 5, 117
Herrera, Yoshiko M., 4
Hersen, Michel, 2, 7, 18, 19, 29, 30, 51,
91, 157
Heston, Alan, 95
Hicks, Alexander, 4
Hill, Peter J., 183
Hirano, Keisuke, 134
Hirsch, E. D., 70
Hirschman, Albert O., 70
Ho, Daniel E., 134
Hochschild, Jennifer L., 45
Hogarth, Robin M., 207
Holland, Paul W., 207
Holstein, James A., 69
Honore, A. M., 189, 207
Houser, Daniel, 11, 197
Howard, Marc Morj´e, 69, 140, 141, 142,
143, 144
Howson, Colin, 114–17
Hoy, David Couzens, 70
Hsieh, Chang-Tai, 177, 178, 179, 183, 191
Huber, Evelyne, 202
Huber, John D., 2
Hull, Adrian Prentice, 2
Humphreys, Macartan, 127, 128
Imai, Kosuke, 134
Imbens, Guido W., 134
Iyer, Lakshmi, 165–68
Jackman, Robert W., 3
Jackman, Simon, 95
Jaeger, David A., 3
Jaggers, Keith, 95
Janoski, Thomas, 4
Jenicek, Milos, 105
Jensen, Jason L., 2
Jervis, Robert, 46
Jessor, Richard, 69
Johnson, Simon, 2, 191, 208–10
Kaarbo, Juliet, 2
Kadzin, Alan E., 18
Kagel, John H., 157
Kapur, Devesh, 4
Karl, Terry Lynn, 139, 142
Katz, Jack, 69
Kaufman, Herbert, 179, 211
Kazancigil, Ali, 105
Kazdin, Alan E., 162
Keen, Justin, 2
Kemp, Kathleen, 115
Kendall, Patricia L., 106
Kennedy, Craig H., 2
Kennedy, Peter, 44, 91
Keohane, Robert O., 6, 9, 31, 39, 40, 61,
80, 145, 166, 190
Khong, Yuen Foong, 119
Kinder, Donald, 157, 160, 162
King, Charles, 31
King, Gary, 3, 6, 9, 11, 39, 40, 61, 80, 104,
145, 166, 190
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260 Name Index
Kittel, Bernhard, 3, 4, 55
Kornblum, William, 69
Kratochwill, Thomas R., 6, 18
Krippendorff, Klaus, 69
Kritzer, Herbert M., 68
Kroger, L. A., 69
Krueger, Alan B., 44, 158
Kuh, Edwin, 110
Kuhn, Thomas S., 53
Lakatos, Imre, 106
Lancaster, Thomas D., 164
Lane, Robert, 34, 35, 43
La Porta, Rafael, 209
Lasswell, Harold, 27
Laver, Michael, 69
Lawrence, Robert Z., 2
Lazarsfeld, Paul F., 6, 34, 99
Le Play, Frederic, 2, 11, 31
Leamer, Edward E., 3
Lebow, Richard Ned, 4, 166, 196
Lecroy, Craig Winston, 2
Lee, Allen S., 11
Lepgold, Joseph, 115
Leplin, Jarrett, 5
Levi, Margaret, 5, 37, 78, 116–19
Levine, Ross, 55
Levy, Jack S., 4, 115, 123, 189, 190, 191
Libecap, Gary, 2
Lieberman, Evan S., 69, 156, 198
Lieberson, Stanley, 6, 13, 31, 61, 190
Lijphart, Arend, 2, 6, 17, 27, 54, 75, 120,
131, 139
Lincoln, Yvonna S., 69
Lipset, Seymour Martin, 30, 54, 95, 109,
110, 120, 132, 202, 204
Lipsey, Mark W., 26
Little, Daniel, 5, 173
Lloyd, Keith, 2
Lott, John R., Jr., 174, 176, 183
Lucas, W., 26
Lundberg, George A., 29
Lundervold, Duane A., 161
Lunt, Paul S., 11, 31
Lustick, Ian, 69
Lynch, Julia, 69
Lynd, Helen Merrell, 34, 35, 41–3, 91, 92
Lynd, Robert Staughton, 31, 34, 35, 41–3,
91, 92
Lynn-Jones, Sean M., 195
MacIntyre, Alasdair, 70
MacIntyre, Andrew, 156
Mackie, John L., 126, 207
Mahon, James E., Jr., 4, 15, 101, 145
Mahoney, James, 4, 5, 27, 44, 80, 81, 102,
104, 174, 175, 181, 182
Manski, Charles F., 3
Maoz, Zeev, 2, 6, 13
Marini, Margaret, 207
Marks, Gary, 202
Marshall, Monty, 95
Martin, Cathie Jo, 47
Martin, Lisa L., 47, 78, 145
Mayhew, David R., 205
Mayo, Deborah G., 117
Mays, Nicolas, 2
McAdam, Doug, 5, 192
McCullagh, Peter, 111
McCulloch, Neil, 3
McDermott, Rose, 11, 123, 157, 158, 160
McKay, Andrew, 3
McKeown, Timothy J., 2, 46
McNeill, William H., 191
McNulty, John E., 158
Mead, Melissa, 2
Meckstroth, Theodore, 131, 139
Meehl, Paul E., 3, 6, 29, 50
Meier, Kenneth J., 2
Merriam, Sharan B., 2, 19
Michels, Roberto, 109, 110
Miguel, Edward, 2, 132
Mill, John Stuart, 71, 98, 138, 139, 142,
153, 157, 170
Miller, Steven E., 195
Miron, Jeffrey A., 163
Mitchell, J. Clyde, 17
Mohr, Lawrence B., 13
Monroe, Kristen Renwick, 101
Moore, Barrington, Jr., 81, 139, 142
Moravsik, Andrew, 191
Moreno, Carola, 145, 202
Morgan, Stephen L., 3, 11, 134
Morrow, James D., 123
Most, Benjamin A., 123
Moulder, Frances V., 132
Munck, Gerardo L., 39, 109
Nagel, Ernest, 131, 142
Nelder, J. A., 111
Neta, Ram, 70
Neuendorf, Kimberly A., 69
Nicholson-Crotty, Sean, 2
Nissen, Sylke, 2
Njolstad, Olav, 54, 120
North, Douglass C., 40, 191, 194
Odell, John S., 2, 6, 17
Orum, Anthony M., 2, 17, 41–50, 66
Ostrom, Elinor, 31
Packwood, Tim, 2
Pahre, Robert, 11
Palfrey, Thomas R., 157, 160, 162
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Name Index 261
Pantaleo, Giuseppe, 105
Papyrakis, Elissaios, 48
Parker, Ian, 69
Patterson, W. David, 164
Patton, Michael Quinn, 39, 69, 98
Patzelt, Werner J., 164
Pavlov, Ivan, 162
Phillips, Nelson, 69
Phillpot, Robert, 115
Pierson, Paul, 75
Piore, Michael J., 2
Platt, Jennifer, 2, 7, 18
Pope, Catherine, 2
Popper, Karl, 5, 39, 40–2, 74, 115–17,
118, 120
Porter, Michael, 4, 38, 80
Posen, Barry, 123
Posner, Daniel, 2, 132
Poteete, Amy R., 31
Pressman, Jeffrey L., 165–8, 169, 174, 178,
179
Przeworski, Adam, 3, 26, 27, 50, 79, 95,
131, 139
Putnam, Robert D., 27, 156
Queen, Stuart, 17, 30, 91
Rabinow, Paul, 70
Ragin, Charles C., 2, 3, 4, 11–13, 17,
41–2, 43, 49, 50, 61, 102, 126, 202
Ragsdale, Lynn, 123
Reilly, Ben, 75, 101, 115, 120
Reiss, Julian, 3
Renelt, David, 55
Rice, Stuart A., 29
Richter, Melvin, 27
Ridder, Geert, 134
Roberts, Clayton, 173
Roberts, Michael J., 10
Robinson, Denise L., 2, 19
Robinson, James A., 2, 191, 208–10
Robinson, W. S., 6, 55
Rockman, Bert A., 168
Rodgers, Robert, 2
Rodrik, Dani, 2, 3, 5
Rogowski, Ronald, 54, 104, 120
Rohlfing, Ingo, 145
Romer, Christina D., 177, 178, 179, 183,
191
Rosenbaum, Paul R., 69, 134, 136, 138
Ross, Michael, 48, 125–7, 128
Roth, Alvin E., 157
Rubin, Donald B., 134
Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, 4, 27, 41–3, 46,
47, 61
Rusk, Jerrold G., 123
Russett, Bruce M., 2
Sabin, Lora, 181
Sacerdote, Bruce, 48
Sala-i-Martin, Xavier X., 3
Sarbin, Theodore R., 6
Sartori, Giovanni, 15, 37
Sayer, R. Andrew, 5
Schelling, Thomas C., 123
Schmid, Christopher H., 181
Schuman, Howard, 157
Schwandt, Thomas A., 211
Schwartz, Anna Jacobson, 163
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, 70
Scriven, Michael, 173
Seawright, Jason, 211
Sekhon, Jasjeet S., 6, 115, 145
Sengupta, Somini, 166
Shadish, William R., 157, 170
Shafer, Michael D., 119
Shalev, Michael, 52
Shapiro, Ian, 81, 82
Shelton, Carolyn, 145
Shively, W. Philips, 13
Shugart, Matthew Soberg, 164
Shweder, Richard A., 69
Silber, Jeffrey H., 134, 136, 138
Silverman, David, 69
Simon, Julian Lincoln, 7
Singer, Burton, 207
Sjoberg, Gideon, 2, 17, 50, 66, 81
Skinner, B. F., 162
Skocpol, Theda, 22, 75, 80, 81, 102, 131,
139, 142, 174, 175, 178, 179, 181, 182
Smelser, Neil J., 6, 27
Smith, Alastair, 85
Smith, Carolyn D., 69
Smitsman, Anneloes, 115
Smoke, Richard, 39–43, 46, 51, 75, 76, 78,
80, 99
Snidal, Duncan, 6, 31, 39, 46, 145
Snyder, Richard, 19, 39
Sobel, Michael, 3, 11
Somers, Margaret, 75, 81, 131, 139
Spence, Lester Kenyatta, 160
Srinivasan, T. N., 2
Staiger, Douglas, 3
Stake, Robert E., 2
Stanley, Julian, 17, 29, 41–2, 157
Starr, Harvey, 4, 120, 123
Steadman, Dawnie Wolfe, 2
Stein, Janice Gross, 196
Stephens, John D., 41–50, 202
Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2
Stinchcombe, Arthur L., 115
Stock, James H., 3
Stoecker, Randy, 2, 17
Stoker, Laura, 68, 70
Stouffer, Samuel A., 29, 85, 157
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262 Name Index
Stratmann, Thomas, 75, 164
Strauss, Anselm L., 45
Sullivan, William M., 70
Summers, Robert, 95
Sundquist, James L., 206
Swank, Duane H., 47, 100, 202
Swedberg, Richard, 5, 44
Tarrow, Sidney G., 5, 173, 192
Taylor, Charles, 70, 207
Temple, Jonathan, 40, 55
Tendler, Judith, 101
Tetlock, Philip E., 4, 166, 207
Teune, Henry, 3, 27, 50, 79, 131, 139
Thacker, Strom, 145, 202
Theiss-Morse, Elizabeth, 68
Thies, Cameron G., 17, 69
Thies, Michael F., 47
Thomas, Craig, 40
Thomas, Robert Paul
Thompson, Edward P., 69, 74
Tilly, Charles, 5, 44, 192
Tooley, Michael, 5
Trachtenberg, Marc, 69
Treier, Shawn, 95
Trow, Martin A., 30, 54, 109, 110, 120
Truman, David B., 54, 120
Tsai, Lily, 115–19
Tsay, Angela, 4, 119
Turner, Frederick Jackson, 207
Udry, Christopher, 2, 84
Unger, Danny, 115
Urbach, Peter, 115–17
Van Evera, Stephen, 2, 17, 115–18
Vandenbroucke, Jan P., 2, 40
Verba, Sidney, 6, 9, 31, 39, 40, 61, 80, 145,
166, 190
Verschuren, Piet J. M., 17
Vittinghoff, Eric, 105
Vogt, W. Paul, 211
von Wright, Georg Henrik, 70
Voss, Kim, 207
Vreeland, James Raymond, 2, 75
Wahlke, John C., 146
Waller, Willard, 7
Wand, Jonathan, 158
Wantchekon, Leonard, 158
Warner, Andrew, 2
Warner, W. Lloyd, 11, 31
Watkins, Michael, 2
Wattenberg, Martin P., 164
Weaver, R. Kent, 168
Weber, Max, 207
Weingast, Barry R., 40, 78
Welsch, Roy E., 110
Wildavsky, Aaron, 165–69, 174, 178,
179
Wilson, David B., 26
Wilson, James Q., 167–68
Winch, Peter, 70
Winks, Robin W., 69
Winner, Hannes, 3, 4, 55
Winship, Christopher, 3, 11
Winters, L. Alan, 3
Wolf, Katherine M., 106
Wolin, Sheldon S., 53
Wong, Wilson, 13
Wood, R. O., 69
Woodruff, David M., 70
Wundt, Wilhelm, 162
Yanow, Dvora, 70
Yashar, Deborah J., 139, 142
Yin, Robert K., 2, 17, 75
Young, Oran R., 47
Young, Pauline, 190
Zeng, Langche, 3
Znaniecki, Florian, vi, 3, 50, 55
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Subject Index
analytic narrative, 5, 78
antecedent cause, 211
attribute, 211
bias, 211
binary, 122–126, 211
breadth, 22, 80, 211
case, 5, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26,
27, 29, 30, 37–38, 41, 43, 49, 50, 53,
65, 66, 75, 76, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85,
86, 88, 91, 93, 94, 96, 97, 100, 101,
104, 108, 115–17, 118, 124–7, 131,
133, 139, 143, 144, 145, 146, 150, 211
case selection, 71, 98, 99, 101, 115–17,
139, 147, 149, see Chapter 5
case study, 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12–13, 15, 16, 17,
18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32,
33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,
45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 52, 56–61, 62, 65,
66, 68, 73, 74, 75, 76–7, 78, 79, 80, 83,
84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 97, 100,
121, 122, 126, 130, 138, 139, 142, 143,
145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151–2, 172,
173, 174, 211
case-based analysis, 3, 4, 38, 80, 211
causal complexity, 4, 21, 38, 61–2, 80
causal distance, 212
causal effect, 37, 43–8, 55, 66, 134–9, 212
causal factor, 21, 41, 212
causal inference, 151, 212
causal mechanism, 4, 5, 37, 42, 43–8, 55,
212
causal order, 212
ceteris paribus, 38, 52, 66, 82, 157, 164–8,
171, 212
comparative method, 4, 27, 212
comparative-historical analysis, 4, 212
confirmatory research, 71, 72, 116–19
continuous (scalar) variable, vi, 44, 54,
126–30, 212
Cook’s distance, 111, 112, 113–16, 158,
170
correlation, 212
Counterfactual Comparison, 152, 154,
165–8, 169, 182, 197, 206, 212
counterfactual thought experiment, 4,
212
covariation, 27–9, 30, 41, 44, 73, 213
critical juncture/path dependence, 213
cross-case study, 1, 7, 10, 12–13, 16, 20,
21, 22, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36,
37–9, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49, 50,
51, 52, 53, 54, 56–60, 61, 62, 66, 75,
77, 78, 84, 85, 88, 90, 91, 93–6,
99–100, 102–3, 104, 106–14, 121, 122,
126–30, 134–8, 139, 141, 146, 147,
148, 172, 173, 213
cross-sectional, 3, 21, 28, 32, 77, 213
crucial case, 88, 115–17, 118, 119,
120–21, 147, 213
dependent variable, 6, 21, 28, 71, 101,
104, 110, 111, 113, 135, 136, 213
descriptive inference, 213
deterministic, 54, 126–30, 213
deviant case, 88, 105–7, 108, 110, 146,
147, 153, 213
diachronic, 21, 27, 213
dichotomous scale, 213
distal cause, 213
diverse case, 88, 90, 97–9, 101, 144, 147,
213
domain, 213
263
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264 Subject Index
Dynamic Comparison, 152–4, 157,
164–168, 197, 204, 213
econometrics, 3
endogenous cause, 213
equifinality, 213
ethnography, 17, 18, 213
exogenous cause, 213
experimental research design, 11–12, 213
experimental template, 214
exploratory research, 153
external validity, 37, 43–50, 102, 214
extreme case, 88, 90, 101–2, 104, 147,
153, 214
falsifiability, 74–75, 214
field research, 214
hat matrix, 110–11
hermeneutics, 214
hypothesis, 6, 22, 38, 39–43, 71–4, 76, 78,
79, 82, 84, 92, 93, 99, 114–16, 131,
148, 149, 192, 214
hypothesis-generating studies, 39–43, 72,
80, 116–119
hypothesis-testing studies, 39–43, 72
independent variable, 6, 21, 28, 41, 71, 93,
99, 101, 112, 113, 135, 136, 137, 139,
149, 214
inference, 22, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 214
influential case, 3, 88, 108–110, 114–16,
147, 214
intermediate cause, 214
internal validity, 37, 43–50, 67, 151–2,
172–173, 214
interpretivism, 69, 71, 214
intervention, 214
K, 52, 93, 214
large-N study, 5, 10, 21, 33, 35, 36, 37, 44,
45, 51, 54, 65, 88, 91, 93, 94, 99, 100,
107, 121, 124–6, 127, 137, 138, 139,
141, 142, 172, 183, 214
least-likely case, 115–18, 119, 214
level of analysis, 214
level of measurement, 215
Longitudinal Comparison, 152–4, 156,
160–68, 169, 171, 197, 205, 215
matching procedure, 134–7
meta-analysis, 26
method of difference, 215
minimal-rewrite rule, 215
most-different cases, 31, 139–42, 144, 147,
215
most-similar cases, 88, 131, 136, 137, 138,
139, 144, 147, 189, 203–4, 215
N, 20, 29–33, 52, 112, 114–16, 180, 183,
215
natural experiment, 215
naturalistic, 17, 18, 215
necessary cause, 215
nested analysis, 153, 189, 198–203, 215
nominal scale, 99, 215
observation, 20, 26, 29, 30, 32, 52, 67, 68,
215
observational research design, 11–12, 215
operationalization, 215
optimal sequence matching, 4
ordinal scale, 99, 215
participant observation, 17, 215
path dependence, 3, 75, 215
pathway case, 88, 122, 124–7, 130, 131,
147, 216
population, 20, 21, 22, 26, 37–8, 41, 43,
44, 52, 66, 69, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85,
86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 93, 104, 147, 216
positivism, 5
probabilistic, 216
process tracing, 15, 17, 18, 173, 178–84,
185, 216
proposition, 22, 82, 216
proximal (proximate) cause, 216
qualitative, 9, 10–11, 17, 18, 29, 33, 35,
36, 68, 91, 138, 139, 180, 183, 216
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA),
4, 9, 99, 126–8, 216
quantitative, 9, 10–11, 29, 33, 36, 68, 90,
134, 179, 183, 216
quasi-experiment, 216
randomization, 87, 216
rational choice, 5
realism, 5
representativeness, 92, 96, 216
research design, 18, 184, 216
sample, 20, 21, 22, 35, 83, 86, 87, 93, 100,
102, 144, 145, 147, 216
scope, 217
selection bias, 217
single-outcome study, 8, 187–210, 217
singular observations, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20,
21, 188, 217
small-N study, 17, 18, 33, 65, 87, 91, 94,
100, 124–7, 130, 141, 217
Spatial Comparison, 151–2, 154, 156,
164–5, 168–9, 197, 204, 217
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Subject Index 265
stochastic, 97, 113–16, 217
structural cause, 217
sufficient cause, 217
synchronic, 21, 27, 217
triangulation, 17, 18, 217
typical case, 88, 90, 91, 93, 96, 106, 147,
153, 217
typological theorizing, 98
unit, 217
unit homogeneity, 217
unit of analysis, 217
validity, 43–50, 217
variable, 3, 41, 44, 52, 68, 86, 91, 93,
97, 98, 99, 102, 107, 108, 113, 122,
126–8, 130, 132, 133, 135, 136, 143,
148, 217
Verstehen, 19, 37, 217
within-case analysis, 11, 18, 19, 21, 27, 28,
30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 44, 51, 84, 85,
96, 189, 204–7, 217
X (see also independent variable), 42, 43,
44, 45, 50, 56–61, 71, 72, 73, 75, 99,
102, 104, 105, 111, 112, 143, 148,
164–8, 169, 171, 179, 217
X-centered analysis, 54, 71, 72, 217
X1/Y– centered analysis, 54, 55, 56–60,
71, 72, 193, 218
Y (see also dependent variable), 42, 43, 44,
45, 50, 54, 55, 56–61, 71, 72, 73, 75,
92, 93, 98, 99, 101, 104, 105, 107, 111,
122–6, 127, 128, 130, 138, 139, 143,
144, 147, 148, 151, 152, 154, 164–8,
169, 170, 172, 173, 179, 180, 182, 183,
184, 218
Y-centered analysis, 71, 218