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Case selection and causal inferences in qualitative comparative research
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Plümper, Thomas, Troeger, Vera and Neumayer, Eric (2019) Case selection and causal inferences in qualitative comparative research. PLoS One, 14 (7). e0219727. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219727 ISSN 1932-6203.
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WRAP-case-selection-causal-inferences-qualitative-comparative-research-Troeger-2019.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (572Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0219727
Abstract
Traditionally, social scientists perceived causality as regularity. As a consequence, qualitative comparative case study research was regarded as unsuitable for drawing causal inferences since a few cases cannot establish regularity. The dominant perception of causality has changed, however. Nowadays, social scientists define and identify causality through the counterfactual effect of a treatment. This brings causal inference in qualitative comparative research back on the agenda since comparative case studies can identify counterfactual treatment effects. We argue that the validity of causal inferences from the comparative study of cases depends on the employed case-selection algorithm. We employ Monte Carlo techniques to demonstrate that different case-selection rules strongly differ in their ex ante reliability for making valid causal inferences and identify the most and the least reliable case selection rules.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics | ||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Sociology -- Research , Social sciences -- Comparative method , Causation, Social sciences -- Research -- Methodology, Case method | ||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | PLoS One | ||||||
Publisher: | Public Library of Science | ||||||
ISSN: | 1932-6203 | ||||||
Official Date: | 24 July 2019 | ||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 14 | ||||||
Number: | 7 | ||||||
Article Number: | e0219727 | ||||||
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0219727 | ||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 13 August 2019 | ||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 14 August 2019 |
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