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Monday 2 ꟷ Friday 6 August 2021
2 hours of live teaching per day
10:00 ꟷ 12:00 or 14:00 - 16:00 CEST
This seminar-type course provides a highly interactive online teaching and learning environment, using state of the art online pedagogical tools. It is designed for a demanding audience (researchers, professional analysts, advanced students) and capped at a maximum of 12 participants so that the Instructor can cater to the specific needs of each individual.
You will have learned about all elements of comparative case studies and process tracing, and be able to implement a sound case study.
3 credits Engage fully with class activities
4 credits Complete a post-class assignment
Ingo Rohlfing is Professor of Methods of Empirical Social Research at the University of Passau
He researches social science methods with a focus on qualitative methods (case studies and process tracing), Qualitative Comparative Analysis and multimethod research.
Ingo is author of Case Studies and Causal Inference (Palgrave Macmillan) and he has published articles in Comparative Political Studies, Sociological Methods & Research and Political Analysis.
The course organisation follows the research process.
We will cover each of the following topics step by step.
You will learn about the landscape of case study designs and identify the design that fits your research question. Starting with a brief discussion of concepts, we will also briefly discuss the role and importance of populations.
You will learn about the menu of types of cases that you can choose for analysis (typical, most-likely, etc) and how to choose the case you need to achieve your research goal.
We introduce different types of comparisons, how they relate to the types of cases and their choice, and what the benefits and limits of informed comparisons are.
We introduce process tracing and learn how it can be used to study mechanisms. This includes a discussion of the pros and cons of different types of sources and their organisation in the research process.
We arrange all elements in a broader picture and discuss the generalisation challenge in small-n research.
Our course will consist of multiple components.
First, pre-recorded sessions introduce you to the methodological principles of case study research. The recordings come with small quizzes and sets of questions for self-paced practice. Watch the videos before the course starts. Interactive live online sessions use Zoom, along with tools such as etherpads.
The live sessions will involve Q&A sessions on the recordings. The main part will be the application of general methodological principles to published case studies and your individual projects. Each live session will last about 180 minutes in total per day.
Prior training in research design and qualitative methods is recommended, but not required.
Day | Topic | Details |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction to essentials of the case study method |
Lecture ~90 min
Lab ~60 min
|
2 | Causation and modes of causal inference |
Lecture ~100 min
Lab ~60 min
|
4 | Types of cases and case selection |
Discussion of assignment from day 3 ~45 min Lecture ~90 min
Lab ~45 min
|
3 | Concepts and specification of population |
Discussion of assignment from day 2 ~30 min Lecture ~100 min
Lab ~60 min
|
5 | Types of cases and case selection |
Discussion of assignment from day 3 ~45 min Lecture ~90 min
Lab ~45 min
|
6 | Within-case analysis: method and practice |
Assignment / lab ~90 min, done in class
Lecture ~90 min
|
7 | Cross-case comparisons: advanced issues |
Discussion of assignment from day 6 ~45 min Lecture ~120 min
|
8 | Within-case analysis: method and practice |
Assignment/lab ~90 min, done in class
Lecture ~90 min
|
9 | From observations to inferences |
Discussion of assignment from day 8 ~45 min Lecture ~140 min
|
10 | Generalisation, summary and Q&A |
Lecture ~90 min
Q&A ~90 min |
Day | Readings |
---|---|
1 |
Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary Gerring, John (2004) |
2 |
Brady, Henry A. (2008) Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary (causation and causal inference) Machamer, Peter, Lindley Darden, and Carl F. Craver (2000) Machamer, Peter (2004) Gerring, John (2005) Hedström, Peter and Petri Ylikoski (2010) Lebow, Richard Ned (2010) Goertz, Gary and James Mahoney (2012) Voluntary (Bayesianism) Bennett, Andrew (2010) Beach, Derek and Rasmus Brun Pedersen (2012) Rohlfing, Ingo (forthcoming) Rohlfing, Ingo (2013) |
3 |
Goertz, Gary (2006) Ragin, Charles C. (2000) Voluntary Sartori, Giovanni (1970) Walker, Henry A. and Bernard P. Cohen (1985) Adcock, Robert and David Collier (2001) |
4 |
Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary (types of cases) Lijphart, Arend (1971) Eckstein, Harry (1975) Skocpol, Theda (2003) Voluntary (case selection) King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane and Sidney Verba (1994) Collier, David and James Mahoney (1996) Seawright, Jason and John Gerring (2008) |
5 |
Same as day 4 |
6 |
Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary Lijphart, Arend (1971) Lieberson, Stanley (1991) Savolainen, Jukka (1994) Lieberson, Stanley (1994) George, Alexander L. and Andrew Bennett (2005) Mahoney, James (1999) Tarrow, Sidney (2010) Slater, Dan and Daniel Ziblatt (2013) |
7 |
Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary George, Alexander L. (1979) Mahoney, James (2000) George, Alexander L. and Andrew Bennett (2005) Gerring, John, and Rose McDermott (2007) Anckar, Carsten (2008) |
8 |
Bennett, Andrew and Jeffrey Checkel (2014) Voluntary Collier, David, Henry Brady and Jason Seawright (2004) Checkel, Jeffrey T. (2008) Gerring, John (2008) Hall, Peter A. (2008) Beach, Derek and Rasmus Brun Pedersen (2013) |
9 |
Romney and Weller (1990) Jörg Blasius, Victor Thiessen (2006) |
10 |
Rohlfing, Ingo (2012) Voluntary Rueschemeyer, Dietrich (2003) Ruzzene, Attilia (2012) Schatz, Edward and Elena Maltseva (2012) |