Flashcards
Qualitative practice questions
Cards in this deck (20)
- 1Necessary CauseOne may observe X without Y, but Y cannot occur without X
- 2Example of a necessary causeEconomic crisis is a necessary cause of welfare state retrenchment. That is to say, economic crisis doesn't always lead to WSR, but WSR is always preceded by an economic crisis.
- 3Sufficient cause E.g. sufficient causeThe presence of X is sufficient to produce the outcome Y. X guarantees Y.
E.g. The gross mismanagement of a crisis is a sufficient condition to impeach the president. - 4Method of Agreement (Most Different Systems Design)One compares cases that are as different as possible in order to show the robustness of a relationship between dependent and independent variables. MoA can be used to eliminate potential necessary causes. MoA can be used to eliminate potential necessary causes.
- 5Method of Difference (Most Similar Systems Design)One compares cases that are as similar as possible on the assumption that the more similar the cases being compared, the more possible it should be to isolate the factors responsible for differences between them. MoD can be used to eliminate potential sufficient causes.
- 6Quantitative research - mainstream viewsQR is probabilistic, it looks to find the estimation of average effects of IVs on the DV. The main leverage for causal inference derives from cross-case analysis.
- 7Qualitative research - mainstream viewsQR is primarily deterministic, i.e. it looks to find the cause or causes of a particular event or series of events. The main leverage for causal inference derives from within-case analysis, with cross-case support.
- 8What is a causal mechanism?The processes and intervening variables through which an explanatory variable exerts a causal effect on an outcome variable.
- 9What is process tracing?The effort to infer causality through the identification of causal mechanisms. It is often used to help the small-N analyst avoid mistaking a spurious correlation for a causal association.
- 10What is INUS?An INSUFFICIENT but NECESSARY part of a condition, which is itself an UNNECESSARY but SUFFICIENT for the outcome.
Y = X & (A v B) - 11What is SUIN?A SUFFICIENT but UNNECESSARY part of a condition, which is itself INSUFFICIENT but NECESSARY for the outcome.
Y = X & Z, where Z = A v B - 12The importance of INUS & SUIN(1) INUS & SUIN causes gain importance as they become closer to being individually necessary and sufficient.
(2) They help create a more complex model of causation. - 13What is nominal comparison?Entails the use of categories that are mutually exclusive (cases cannot be classified in more than one category) and collectively exhaustive (one of the categories applies to each case). It is used to eliminate rival explanations based on the logic of necessary and sufficient causation.
The real strength of NC is that it's able to eliminate potential causal factors when only a small no. of cases are selected.
GOAL: description, theory-development, and hypothesis testing.
NC - typically deterministic - 14What is Ordinal comparison?OC ranks cases into three or more categories based on the degree to which a given phenomenon is present. In other words, it classifies cases in terms of ordinal scores. It is based on Mill's Method of Concomitant Variation.
It tries to establish causation by looking at the relation between values on an ordinally measured explanatory variable and values on an ordinally measured outcome variable.
OC is typically probabilistic. - 15What is Within-case analysis?It examines multiple features of what was originally considered only a single case to assess whether associations developed through cross-case analysis are in fact causal.
There are three types of within-case analysis: (1) Process tracing, (2) Pattern matching, (3) Causal narrative - 16What is paired comparison?PC is a research design that compares two different cases that are the same or different on some specific aspects.
- 17Advantages of paired comparison(1) More analytical leverage than a single case study (eliminates rival explanations; dual process tracing); (2) more causal insight than a large-N research strategy; (3) Compatible with correlation analysis and comparison over time.
- 18Disadvantages of paired comparisonComparative case studies often suffer from selection bias, i.e. selecting on the DV.
- 19Hoop testsUsed to establish necessary conditions for confirming a hypothesis. Passing affirms relevance of hypothesis, but does not confirm it. Failing eliminates it.
- 20Smoking gun testsUsed to establish sufficient conditions. Passing confirms hypothesis, but failing doesn't eliminate it.
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- Flashcards on Qualitative practice questions, created by alex.tremurici on 23/01/2015.
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