Process Tracing in Crisis Decision Making

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Beach
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Causal Process ◽  
Foreign Policy Analysis ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Causal Processes

Process tracing is an in-depth case study method that can be used to study how causal processes play out within cases. Given its focus on processes and temporality, process tracing is a useful method for analyzing crisis and crisis decision making in the fields of foreign policy analysis and public policy. As can be seen from its name, process tracing involves theorizing a causal process that is then traced by investigating the observable manifestations of the operation of the process as a whole in the more minimalist variant, or for each of its parts in the more maximalist variant. Minimalist process tracing is typically used early in a research program as a form of plausibility probe to understand what types of processes might be linking a crisis event with particular outcomes like policy change. Maximalist process tracing can then be used once there is preliminary knowledge about processes, and where the goals become gaining a better theoretical understanding of how they operate, and making stronger causal inferences using more direct evidence of their operation.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Robustness of Causal Claims Based on Case Study Research on Conflict Zones: Observations from Fieldwork in Donbas

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Stefan Wolff
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Conflict Zones ◽  
Central Case ◽  
Data Requirements

Abstract Focusing on process tracing and using the example of fieldwork in Donbas, I develop an argument on what theoretically grounded and empirically detailed methodological solutions can be considered to mitigate the challenges of research on conflict zones and assure the robustness of any causal claims made. I first outline my assumptions about process tracing as the central case study method and its application to research on conflict zones, and then discuss in more detail data requirements, data collection, and data analysis. Using two examples of case studies on the war in and over Donbas, I illustrate how three standards of best-practice in process tracing—the need for a theory-guided inquiry, the necessity to enhance causal inference by paying attention to (and ruling out) rival explanations, and the importance of transparency in the design and execution of research—can be applied in the challenging circumstances of fieldwork-based case studies of conflict zones. I conclude by suggesting that as a minimum threshold for reliance upon causal inferences, these three standards also should align with a standard of evidence that requires both the theoretical and empirical plausibility of any conclusions drawn.

Causal Mechanisms and Process Tracing

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Goertz ◽  
James Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Case Analysis ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Causal Process ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Multimethod Research ◽  
Case Study Analysis ◽  
Causal Mechanisms

This chapter examines how the qualitative and quantitative research traditions empirically assess theories about mechanisms when making causal inferences. In the qualitative paradigm, researchers carry out this assessment by attempting to observe causal mechanisms through process tracing and through the analysis of causal-process observations. In the qualitative paradigm, the within-case analysis of specific cases is combined with the effort to observe mechanisms. By contrast, statistical methods are not designed to observe mechanisms within particular cases. The chapter considers the importance of mechanisms in causal inference as well as the use of process tracing in multimethod vs. qualitative research. It shows that multimethod research, which integrates regression and case study analysis, is increasingly regarded as a best practice.

scholarly journals Participative decision making in schools in individualist and collectivist cultures: The micro-politics behind distributed leadership

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110013
Author(s):  
Mor Hodaya Or ◽  
Izhak Berkovich
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Extreme Case ◽  
Public High Schools ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
Shed Light

Despite the popularity of distributed leadership theory, the investigation of the micro-political aspects of such models have scarcely been explored, and insights on the cultural variety of distributed practices in schools are limited. The present study aimed to explore what micro-political aspects emerge in participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures. To this end, a multiple case study method was adopted, focusing on four Israeli public high schools. Schools were chosen to represent an ‘extreme’ case selection rationale: two non-religious urban schools representing individualist cases, and two communal schools in religious kibbutzim representing communal schools. The analysis shed light on three micro-political points of comparison between the prototypes of participative decision making in collectivist and individualist cultures related to control, actors, and stage crafting. The findings and implications are discussed.

scholarly journals Towards reafirmation of the case study research method: From „building blocks“ and „process tracing“ to typological theories

Sociologija ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-167
Author(s):  
Ivana Milovanovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Study Research

This paper represents a contribution to the consideration of the characteristics of the case study research method in sociological researches. In the first part of paper, some specifics of case study method are described, in the second part we represented ways of use of this method in field research. finally, third part of this paper indicates certain ?sub methods? within case study method, such as ?building blocks? and ?process tracing?, which are, at the same time, conditions for developing typological theories. Those ?sub methods? indicate evolution of case study method in social sciences during last few decades, as well as importance of existence and use of such ?elastic? method in all, especially field researches where researcher is facing with a series of cognitive concerns.

scholarly journals Influence of portofolio management in decision-making

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 406
Author(s):  
Rolney Baptestone ◽  
Roque Rabechini
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Financial Organization ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

This research aims to demonstrate how portfolio management influences the decision-making process in the projects of a financial organization. And to achieve this goal was used the single case study method. In order to reach this goal, the study began by means of bibliometric research on the subject of portfolio management and subsequent bibliographic research on the theme, decision making. Next, the relationships between portfolio management and decision making were studied. The results of the data collected confirmed the relationship between "the use of the project identification process in portfolio management to influence decision making" in order to add value to the business. It is also possible to demonstrate moderately that "the use of criteria for project selection influences the consequences of decision making", helping in the strategic management of the organization. One of the academic contributions was to note a migration of the portfolio management process, such as a tool that only controls the projects that will compose the portfolio of an organization, for a process that aims at a direct alignment with the strategic management of the organization. Regarding the practical implications, it was verified the importance of portfolio analysis for decision making, to the detriment of the evaluation of only one project. Taking into account the profitability and the return on investment of the projects, as the most important aspects for a decision making.

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPREHENSIVE MIDWIFERY CARE

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
Netty Herawaty Purba ◽  
Septi Maisyaroh Ulina Panggabean ◽  
Masriani Situmorang
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Case ◽  
Research Result ◽  
Independent Practice ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Midwifery Care ◽  
Mortality And Morbidity ◽  
Clinical Case Study ◽  
Making Choices

The research aims: To provide comprehensive midwifery services to mothers since pregnancy, childbirth, newborns and contraception services. Research methods: The research design used is descriptive, with a clinical case study method. Research result: From the results of the assessment of Mrs. M aged 23 and the comprehensive midwifery care that had been given and it was found that everything was in normal condition. After doing Comprehensive Midwifery Care at Independent Practice Midwives/ BPM Nurkhairiyah, comprehensive midwifery care has been given. The client says he is satisfied and understands the care he has received, and provides great benefits for the client and the baby and family and for the client in providing family planning care, the client has not decided to choose a contraceptive will be used.. Conclusion: From the midwifery care obtained, the mother said she felt satisfied and appreciated, both in the care of pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, newborn and the period of choice of using contraception. the mother feels that she can play a role in making choices regarding needs as well as in decision making. Suggestion: Midwives should be able to carry out comprehensive care on an ongoing basis so that in the hope of reducing maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, it can be achieved.

Intuition in Decision-Making on the Example of a Non-Profit Organization

2017 ◽  
pp. 378-399
Author(s):  
Kamila Magdalena Malewska
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Research Subject ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Non Profit Organizations

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the level of intuitive potential and the extent of its use in decision-making processes in non-profit organizations, and to identify what factors determine the use of intuition in practice. To this end, a non-profit organization called “I Have a Dream” Foundation is analysed using the case study method. This chapter consists of five main parts. Firstly, the concept of intuition is defined and its importance in management and decision-making in particular is identified. Then, the issue of management of non-profit organizations and the emerging professionalization trends in this area are discussed. At the same time, the author seeks to answer the question of whether it is an opportunity or a threat. Further, the research subject, “I Have a Dream” Foundation, and the research sample are characterized. The final part of the chapter presents cognitive results of the study.

Process Tracing and International Political Economy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T. Checkel
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Process Tracing ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Narrative Style ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Research Designs

As a methodological choice, process tracing and qualitative International Political Economy (IPE) would seem a natural fit. These scholars employ case study research designs and theorize in terms of processes and mechanisms—a combination that leads to process tracing as a key method. Yet, in qualitative IPE, one sees little process tracing; or better said, it is there, but only partly operationalized or used implicitly. Surveying the contemporary qualitative IPE literature, this chapter advances two arguments. First, these scholars utilize a narrative style that hides their methods, including process tracing. The result is an empirics–method disconnect, where readers are unsure how data for the narrative was gathered and causal inferences or interpretive understandings gleaned from it. Second, qualitative IPE scholars should do their process tracing better. However, in making this methodological move they should resist the temptation to pull process tracing “off the shelf” and use it. Rather, they should address three cutting-edge issues for process tracers: transparency and formalization; within process-tracing methods; and developing a robust interpretive variant.

The Role of the Case Study Method in the Foundations of Psychoanalysis

1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolf Grünbaum
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Data ◽  
Clinical Investigation ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Negative Answer ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
Causal Inferences ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Clinical Theory ◽  
Psychoanalytic Method

In my 1984 book on The Foundations of Psychoanalysis, I addressed two main questions: (1) Are the analyst’s observations in the clinical setting reliable as ‘data,’ and (2) if so, can they actually support the major hypotheses of the theory of repression or psychic conflict, which is the cornerstone of the psychoanalytic edifice, as we know? In the book, I argued for giving a negative answer to both of these questions. Clearly, if the evidence from the couch is unreliable from the outset, then this defect alone suffices to jeopardize the very foundations of the clinical theory. But, as I strongly emphasized, even if clinical data were not contaminated by the analyst’s influence, the inability of the psychoanalytic method of clinical investigation by free association to warrant the required sort of causal inferences leaves the major pillars of the theory of psychic conflict ill-supported (1984, 172). Thus, I see a two-fold threat to the psychoanalytic case-study method as a means of scientific inquiry.It is an immediate corollary of my challenge that it applies not only to Freud’s own original hypotheses, but also to any and all post-Freudian versions of psychoanalysis that rely on his clinical methods of validating causal inferences, though the specific content of their theories of psychic conflict is different. After all, the alteration in the content of the hypotheses hardly makes their validation more secure. Therefore, as Morris Eagle documented in a recent publication (1983), those analysts who have objected to my critique as anachronistic have simply not come to grips with it. For example, such inadequate engagement is present, in my view, in the recent Freud Anniversary Lecture ‘Psychoanalysis as a Science: A Response to the New Challenges,’ given by Robert Wallerstein (1986), the current president of the International Psychoanalytical Association. As he tells us (1988, 6, n.1), ‘The Freud Anniversary Lecture was intended primarily as a response to Grünbaum.’ Yet he does not come to grips at all with the gravamen of my challenge: Even if clinical data could be taken at face value as being uncontaminated epistemically, the inability of the psychoanalytic method of clinical investigation by free association to warrant causal inferences leaves the major pillars of the clinical theory of repression ill-supported.

scholarly journals Towards data-driven culture in a Spanish automobile manufacturer: A case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 228
Author(s):  
Maria Esteller-Cucala ◽  
Vicenc Fernandez ◽  
Diego Villuendas
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Organizational Change ◽  
Organizational Transformation ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Website Design ◽  
Design Decision ◽  
Case Study Method ◽  
A Company

Purpose: Data-driven decision-making is a growing trend that lots of companies are nowadays willing to adopt. However, the organizational transformation needed is not always as simple and logical as it could seem and the comfort of the old habits can dim the change effort. The purpose of this study is to identify the potential problems that may arise in a real company’s transformation from a traditional intuition-driven decision-making model to a data-driven model. Design/methodology/approach: In order to reach this goal, a single case study method was used. Initially a literature review was conducted to analyze both the importance of the change to a data-driven culture and the process of organizational change. Thus, a case study method was adopted in a company of the automotive sector that included experimentation in the website design decision-making process. Findings: As a result of the case study, it was found that all the most cited risks for the organizational change process commented in the literature appeared in the project. However, even being warned of potential dangers the specific actions to prevent the damages were not trivial.Originality/value: The study presents in detail, the application of an organizational change model in a company. Important insights can be extracted from the specific case of a digitalization performed inside traditional industrial company.

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