scholarly journals The Comparative Method in Practice: Case Selection and the Social Science of Revolution

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Case Methodology ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Methodology ◽  
Methodological Practice ◽  
Over Time

Formalization of comparative case methodology has given the appearance of growing consensus and cross-disciplinary acceptance around a set of best practices. Yet how researchers use a method may differ widely from what methodologists believe, which is the crux of institutionalization of a method. This study examines whether comparative methodology has, in fact, institutionalized within the social sciences using evidence from the entire corpus of comparative studies of revolution published from 1970 to 2009. Content analysis of methods of case selection within the revolution subfield reveals a wide diversity of strategies with only modest methodological awareness by practitioners, a lack of consensus among which case selection strategies to use, and little convergence over time. Thus, the comparative method has not yet institutionalized in its practice. Methodological practice has implications for the coverage of cases of revolution and what is substantively known about the phenomenon.

scholarly journals The Comparative Method in Practice: Case Selection and the Social Science of Revolution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin J Beck
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Case Methodology ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Methodology ◽  
Methodological Practice ◽  
Over Time

Formalization of comparative case methodology has given the appearance of growing consensus and cross-disciplinary acceptance around a set of best practices. Yet how researchers actually use a method may differ widely from what methodologists believe, which is the crux of institutionalization of a method. This study examines whether comparative methodology has, in fact, institutionalized within the social sciences using evidence from the entire corpus of comparative studies of revolution published from 1970 to 2009. Content analysis of methods of case selection within the revolution subfield reveals a wide diversity of strategies with only modest methodological awareness by practitioners, a lack of consensus among which case selection strategies to use, and little convergence over time. Thus, the comparative method has not yet institutionalized in its practice. Methodological practice has implications for the coverage of cases of revolution and what is substantively known about the phenomenon.

scholarly journals Spatial Tools for Case Selection: Using LISA Statistics to Design Mixed-Methods Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-763
Author(s):  
Matthew C Ingram ◽  
Imke Harbers
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Theory Development ◽  
Omitted Variables ◽  
Selection Strategies ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
The Social ◽  
Level Of Analysis

AbstractMixed-methods designs, especially those in which case selection is regression-based, have become popular across the social sciences. In this paper, we highlight why tools from spatial analysis—which have largely been overlooked in the mixed-methods literature—can be used for case selection and be particularly fruitful for theory development. We discuss two tools for integrating quantitative and qualitative analysis: (1) spatial autocorrelation in the outcome of interest; and (2) spatial autocorrelation in the residuals of a regression model. The case selection strategies presented here enable scholars to systematically use geography to learn more about their data and select cases that help identify scope conditions, evaluate the appropriate unit or level of analysis, examine causal mechanisms, and uncover previously omitted variables.

Comparative Area Studies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Köllner ◽  
Rudra Sil ◽  
Ariel I. Ahram
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Area Studies ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
The Social ◽  
Small N ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
Science Disciplines

Two convictions lie at the heart of this volume. First, area studies scholarship remains indispensable for the social sciences, both as a means to expand our fount of observations and as a source of theoretical ideas. Second, this scholarship risks becoming marginalized without more efforts to demonstrate its broader relevance and utility. Comparative Area Studies (CAS) is one such effort, seeking to balance attention to regional and local contextual attributes with use of the comparative method in search of portable causal links and mechanisms. CAS engages scholarly discourse in relevant area studies communities while employing concepts intelligible to social science disciplines. In practice, CAS encourages a distinctive style of small-N analysis, cross-regional contextualized comparison. As the contributions to this volume show, this approach does not subsume or replace area studies scholarship but creates new pathways to “middle range” theoretical arguments of interest to both area studies and the social sciences.

History and the Study of Inequality

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-441
Author(s):  
Herbert S. Klein
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Global Inequality ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Oxford Group ◽  
Over Time

Economic inequality has become one of the most important themes in the social sciences. The debate has revolved around two basic models. Was Kuznets correct in his prediction that inequality declines with economic growth, or was Piketty, along with others in the Berkeley/Paris/Oxford group, correct to counter that capitalism without severe constraints inevitably leads to increasing inequality? The resolution will depend on long-term historical analysis. In Global Inequality, Milanovic proposed new models to analyze the social, economic, political, and historical factors that influence changes in inequality over time and space. In Capitalism, Alone, he changes direction to examine what patterns of capitalism and inequality will look like in the twenty-first century and beyond, as well as how inequality might be reduced without violence.

“Folia Turistica” in 1990-2018 – a Bibliometric Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-3
Author(s):  
Bartosz Szczechowicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Editorial Staff ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Scholarly Publications ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Very High ◽  
Participatory Observation ◽  
Over Time

Purpose. The aim of this article is to investigate the characteristics of “Folia Turistica” (FT), covering such questions as thematic profile, authors, and affiliations, internationalization, taking into account the content of issues from the origins of the magazine (1990) to the present (2018). Method. The aim of the work was achieved through two research methods, which were used in a complementary fashion: bibliometric analysis (in which data that quantitatively expressed the content of the relevant issues of FT was gathered, processed, and interpreted) and participatory observation, from the author’s participation in FT’s editorial staff. Results. FT is predominantly concerned with issues in the social sciences, it is closely tied to the humanities, and the natural sciences are also present, though this profile has changed over time. Contributors to FT have included more than 400 Polish authors over thirty years, representing almost ninety schools, from academies of physical education and universities to economic, agriculture, natural science, and technical colleges, and others. Though the number of foreign authors is limited, we should stress that they represent academies on four continents, and in many cases are figures with very high positions in the international community. Research and conclusions limitations. The limitations derive from the properties of the methods used, primarily displayed in the identification of FT’s thematic profile. This arbitrarily identified profile subordinates every article to a single overriding field of study – while many articles published in FT are multi- or interdisciplinary. Practical implications. This diagnosis of FT includes postulates for how the magazine might develop in the future. Originality. The specialist literature (especially Polish) fairly seldom makes critical evaluations of scholarly publications. Type of article. Empirical.

scholarly journals “I’ve had it!” Group therapy for interdisciplinary researchers

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Jurmu ◽  
Johanna Ylipulli ◽  
Anna Luusua
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Group Therapy ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Industrial Design ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common ◽  
Common Problems

<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span>In this workshop, we reflect on and share the fun and frustrations of working in interdisciplinary research. We ask participants to openly reflect on their experiences of interdisciplinarity. What approaches have worked and what have failed? In addition to identifying phenomena, we aim to sketch out the next decade of interdisciplinary research in computing, especially in HCI. The third paradigm of Human-Computer Interaction focuses on the qualitative aspects of use experience and the situatedness of technologies. This new orientation has drawn in researchers from various other research and arts backgrounds and traditions, including the social sciences, architecture and industrial design among others. Therefore, we consider this third paradigm to be inherently interdisciplinary. Through workshop participants’ reflection of their own experiences, we strive to identify the common problems and pitfalls of interdisciplinary research, and to celebrate successes, as well as share best practices. </span></p></div></div></div>

Longitudinal Surveys

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Sunshine Hillygus ◽  
Steven Snell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Panel Surveys ◽  
Longitudinal Surveys ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The Social ◽  
Panel Attrition ◽  
Panel Conditioning ◽  
Over Time

Longitudinal or panel surveys, in which the same individuals are interviewed repeatedly over time, are increasingly common in the social sciences. The benefit of such surveys is that they track the same respondents so that researchers can measure individual-level change over time, offering greater causal leverage than cross-sectional surveys. Panel surveys share the challenges of other surveys while also facing several unique issues in design, implementation, and analysis. This chapter considers three such challenges: (1) the tension between continuity and innovation in the questionnaire design; (2) panel attrition, whereby some individuals who complete the first wave of the survey fail to participate in subsequent waves; and (3) specific types of measurement error—panel conditioning and seam bias. It includes an overview of these issues and their implications for data quality and outlines approaches for diagnosing and correcting for these issues in the design and analysis of panel surveys.

scholarly journals Causes and Consequences of Coalitional Cognition

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mina Cikara
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Intergroup Dynamics ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Coalitional Psychology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Category Labels ◽  
Over Time

What is a group? How do we know to which groups we belong? How do we assign others to groups? A great deal of theorizing across the social sciences has conceptualized ‘groups’ as synonymous with ‘categories,’ however there are a number of limitations to this approach: particularly for making predictions about novel intergroup contexts or about how intergroup dynamics will change over time. Here I join a growing chorus of researchers striving to systematize the conditions under which a generalized coalitional psychology gets activated—the recognition of another’s capacity for and likelihood of coordination not only with oneself but with others. First I review some recent developments in the cognitive processes that give rise to the inference of coalitions and group-biased preferences (even in the absence of category labels). Then I review downstream consequences of inferences about capacity and likelihood of coordination for valuation, emotions, attribution, and inter-coalitional harm. Finally I review examples of how we can use these psychological levers to attenuate intergroup hostility.

Dictionary Plus Social Sciences

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
The Social ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
Ongoing Project ◽  
Over Time

This dictionary comprises authoritative, highly accessible entries relating to the social sciences—from politics, economics, and geography, to sociology, history, and psychology, among many other subjects. These entries are supplementary to other social science-related titles in the Quick Reference collection, and are written by specialist authors. The dictionary is an ongoing project, and more entries will be added over time.

Puzzling the Picture using Grounded Theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-94
Author(s):  
Elisabeth E. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Substantive Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Coding Strategies ◽  
First Time ◽  
Over Time

Since the first publication by Glaser and Strauss in 1967, Grounded Theory has become a highly influential research approach in the social sciences. The approach provides techniques and coding strategies for building theory inductively from the “ground up” as concepts within the data earn relevance into an evolving substantive theory. Over time, Grounded Theory has undergone development and adaptations, and the first phases of analysis have been successfully applied to other types of inductive approaches, such as basic qualitative and case studies. The methodological literature can be difficult to navigate for new researchers as well as experienced analysts using the approach for the first time. This article synthesizes the work of various seminal scholars to address the value of grounded theorizing and it builds a picture of what it means to do grounded theory.

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