In the fall of 2002, over 1,000 members of the American Political Science Association—including 28 former Association Presidents and seven former APSR editors—signed a petition to launch a new APSA Organized Section for Qualitative Methods. The proposed section would sponsor training and...

Careful work with concepts is a cornerstone of good social science methodology. This book, Concepts and Method in Social Science, demonstrates the crucial role of concepts, drawing on both the classic contributions of Giovanni Sartori and the writing of a younger generation of scholars. Part 1...

With innovative new chapters on process tracing, regression analysis, and natural experiments, the second edition of Rethinking Social Inquiry further extends the reach of this path-breaking book. The original debate with King, Keohane, and Verba remains central to the volume, and the new...

The set-theoretic comparative method (STCM) — including very centrally Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) — has formulated valuable goals for comparative research. This symposium raises serious concerns about the specific analytic tools advocated for pursuing these important goals....

This symposium brings together ten essays that explore hypotheses about critical junctures, understood as major episodes of institutional innovation that generate an enduring legacy. Scholars routinely focus on episodes of innovation that occur in contrasting ways across cases, which in turn...

Analysts who developed the set-theoretic comparative method (STCM) have formulated valuable goals for researchers who work in the qualitative and multi-method tradition. This method includes above all Charles Ragin's Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), along with further systematization of...

Analysts who developed the set-theoretic comparative method (STCM) have formulated admirable goals for researchers who work in the qualitative and multi-method tradition. This method includes above all Charles Ragin’s innovative approach of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA). However, the...