Comparative Strengths andWeaknesses
Jason Seawright
August 10, 2010
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Snow on Cholera
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Three Families of Research
1 Qualitative
2 Quantitative
3 Experimental
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Qual/Quant: RSI
1 Level of Measurement
2 Size of the N
3 Statistical Tests
4 Thick vs. Thin Analysis
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Qual/Quant: RSI
DSOs vs. CPOs
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
1 Approaches to explanation
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
1 Approaches to explanation
2 Concepts of causation
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
1 Approaches to explanation
2 Concepts of causation
3 Multivariate explanations
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
1 Approaches to explanation
2 Concepts of causation
3 Multivariate explanations
4 Equifinality
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
1 Approaches to explanation
2 Concepts of causation
3 Multivariate explanations
4 Equifinality
5 Scope and generalization
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
6 Case selection practices
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
6 Case selection practices
7 Weighting observations
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
6 Case selection practices
7 Weighting observations
8 Substantively important cases
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
6 Case selection practices
7 Weighting observations
8 Substantively important cases
9 Lack of fit
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Qual/Quant: Two Cultures
6 Case selection practices
7 Weighting observations
8 Substantively important cases
9 Lack of fit
10 Concepts and measurement
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Qualitative Research
Archival Work
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Qualitative Research
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
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Qualitative Research
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 8 / 24
Qualitative Research
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
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Qualitative Research
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
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Qualitative Research
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
Participant Observation
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Strengths
Archival Work
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Strengths
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
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Strengths
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 9 / 24
Strengths
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 9 / 24
Strengths
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 9 / 24
Strengths
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
Participant Observation
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Weaknesses
Archival Work
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Weaknesses
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 10 / 24
Weaknesses
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 10 / 24
Weaknesses
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 10 / 24
Weaknesses
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 10 / 24
Weaknesses
Archival Work
In-depth Interviews
Expert Interviews
Content Analysis
Focus Groups
Participant Observation
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Shared Weaknesses
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Quantitative Research
Surveys
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Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
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Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
Ecological Analysis
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Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
Ecological Analysis
Individual-Level Analysis of Records
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Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
Ecological Analysis
Individual-Level Analysis of Records
Event-History Analysis
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 12 / 24
Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
Ecological Analysis
Individual-Level Analysis of Records
Event-History Analysis
Time-Series Analysis
J. Seawright (PolSci) Essex 2010 August 10, 2010 12 / 24
Quantitative Research
Surveys
Cross-National Regression
Ecological Analysis
Individual-Level Analysis of Records
Event-History Analysis
Time-Series Analysis
TSCS Analysis
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Shared Weaknesses
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Experiments
Randomization
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Experiments
Randomization
Manipulation
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Bolstering Methods
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Installing and Using R
http://cran.r-project.org/
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Your Mission...
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