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Constructing Social Research
Ideal for capstone courses in undergraduate social science, or as an invitation to social research, this innovative short text shows what is common across three major traditions: qualitative research on commonalities; comparative research on diversity; and quantitative research on relationships among variables. These three strategies provide a solid foundation for the study of all social phenomena, from the examination of the complexities of everyday life to the investigation of the power of transnational processes.
Redesigning Social Inquiry
For over twenty years Charles C. Ragin has been at the forefront of the development of innovative methods for social scientists. In Redesigning Social Inquiry, he continues his campaign to revitalize the field, challenging major aspects of the conventional template for social science research while offering a clear alternative. Redesigning Social Inquiry provides a substantive critique of the standard approach to social research—namely, assessing the relative importance of causal variables drawn from competing theories. Instead, Ragin proposes the use of set-theoretic methods to find a middle path between quantitative and qualitative research. Through a series of contrasts between fuzzy-set analysis and conventional quantitative research, Ragin demonstrates the capacity for set-theoretic methods to strengthen connections between qualitative researchers’ deep knowledge of their cases and quantitative researchers’ elaboration of cross-case patterns. Packed with useful examples, Redesigning Social Inquiry will be indispensable to experienced professionals and to budding scholars about to embark on their first project.
Fuzzy-Set Social Science
In this innovative approach to the practice of social scienceÇharles Ragin explores the use of fuzzy sets to bridge the divide between quantitive and qualitative methods. He argues that fuzzy sets allow a far richer dialogue between ideas and evidence in social research than previously possible.
Configurational Comparative Methods
This new addition to the Applied Social Research Methods series is unrivalled, it is written by leaders in the growing field of rigorous, comparative techniques.
The Comparative Method
[The book] proposes a synthetic strategy, based on an application of Boolean algebra, that combines the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative sociology. [Publisher]
Intersectional Inequality
In this guidebook, we have a powerful contribution to social science methodology in a context where methodology is contested, and is therefore political: different methodologies can produce quite different results or findings using the same evidence. The evidence in Ragin and Fiss s book is survey data. Ragin s has developed for 25 years a way to bridge the case study method and the large n statistical study. He calls it the set analytic method --making use of fuzzy sets to bridge the divide between quantitative and qualitative methods. Paradoxically, the fuzzy set is a powerful tool because it replaces an unwieldy, "fuzzy" instrumentthe variable, which establishes only the positions of case...
What Is a Case?
The concept of the case is a basic feature of social science research and yet many questions about how a case should be defined, selected, and judged are far from settled. The contributors to this volume probe the nature of the case and the ways in which different understandings of the concept affect the conduct and the results of research. The contributions demonstrate that the work of any given researcher is often characterised by some hybrid of these basic approaches, and it is important to understand that most research involves multiple definitions and uses of cases, as both specific empirical phenomena and as general theoretical categories.
The SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods
Case-based methods have a long history in the social sciences. They are extensively used and raise many practical and theoretical questions. This book provides a comprehensive, critical examination of case-oriented research. It offers concrete proposals about the best research methods and provides an unparalleled guide to the emergence and complexity of the field. The Handbook: - Situates the reader in the essential theoretical and practical issues; - Demonstrates the unity and diversity of case-oriented research through an examination of case-based methods; - Distinguishes between case-based and case study research; - Elucidates the philosophical issues around case based methods; - Examines case-based work in the context of both social theory and theories of research methods.
Qualitative Comparative Analysis
"Social phenomena can rarely be attributed to single causes. Drawing on set theory and the language of necessary and sufficient conditions, Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a case-based research method that is ideally suited to capture causal complexity. QCA regards cases as combinations of conditions. It compares the conditions of each case in a structured way to identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for an outcome. While QCA has become increasingly popular and seen a substantial increase of applications across the social sciences and management, introductory textbooks have not kept pace with this development. In this textbook, Patrick A. Mello teaches students, scholars, and self-learners the fundamentals of QCA, research design, interpretation of results, and how to communicate findings. This concise and accessible textbook provides a hands-on introduction to QCA that will be ideal for use within a broader qualitative methods course and in intensive short courses"--
Handbook of Causal Analysis for Social Research
What constitutes a causal explanation, and must an explanation be causal? What warrants a causal inference, as opposed to a descriptive regularity? What techniques are available to detect when causal effects are present, and when can these techniques be used to identify the relative importance of these effects? What complications do the interactions of individuals create for these techniques? When can mixed methods of analysis be used to deepen causal accounts? Must causal claims include generative mechanisms, and how effective are empirical methods designed to discover them? The Handbook of Causal Analysis for Social Research tackles these questions with nineteen chapters from leading scholars in sociology, statistics, public health, computer science, and human development.
