Contents
for Volume 9 (1998)
Volume
9, Number 1 (Winter 1998)
(331 kb)
Collier: Letter from the President: Comparative Method in the
1990s
News and Notes
Discussion: Comparative Method in the 1990s
- Bennett
and George: An Alliance of Statistical and Case Study Methods:
Research on the Interdemocratic Peace
- Locke
and Thelen: Problems of Equivalence in Comparative Politics:
Apples and Oranges, Again
- McKeown:
Why is a Single Case Important?
- Peterson
and Bowen: Mechanisms and Causes in Comparative Studies
- Ragin:
Comparative Methodology, Fuzzy Sets, and the Study of Sufficient
Causes
- Stephens:
Historical Assessment and Causal Analysis in Comparative Research
- Voss
and Lublin: Ecological Inference and the Comparative Method
Datasets
and Archives
- Smith:
The International Social survey Program
Good
Reads
- Laitin:
Various books in the Wilder House Series in Politics, History,
and Culture
Book
Reviews
- Vassoler:
Review of Hagopian, Traditional Politics and Regime Change
in Brazil
- Murillo:
Review of Golden, Heroic Defeats: The Politics of Job Loss
Erratum:
Pages 21-22. Replace the text from "Correlational analysis"
at the beginning of the last paragraph on page 21 to the end
of the article with:
Correlational
analysis, by contrast, would treat many of these cases, especially
those in the upper left corner, as errors, even though no case
above the diagonal contradicts the argument that the causal
combination in question is sufficient for the outcome. Thus,
the rush to correlational analysis that is so common among social
scientists could easily lead to the rejection of the clear demonstration
of causal sufficiency depicted in Figure 1.
Conclusion
While
there are many lessons to be learned from the examination of
necessary causes, the advance of social scientific knowledge
is best served when scholars make as few assumptions about causation
as possible, especially at the outset of an investigation. When
scholars assume maximum causal complexity--that different combinations
of causes may produce the same outcome, they assume that no
single cause is either necessary or sufficient. As I have shown,
analytic social science is possible even when causal complexity
is great. The analysis of causal complexity, in turn, is greatly
facilitated by the use of fuzzy sets. This approach offers a
powerful way to assess the sufficiency of causal conditions,
a task that is outside the domain of conventional correlational
analysis.
Volume
9, Number 2 (Summer 1998) (1.85 mb)
Collier: Letter from the President: Comparative-Historical Analysis:
Where Do We Stand?
News and Notes
Discussion: Is There an International Division of Labor in Political
Science?
- Golden: Editor's Introduction
- Jih-wen: Comparative Politics in East
Asia: A Discipline for the Nation or of the Nations?
- Pasquino: Comparative Politics in Comparative
Perspective
- Tavares de Almeida: Two Academic Traditions
Good Reads
- Golden: Three Studies by Economists
Book Reviews
- Ziblatt: Review of Maier, Dissolution:
The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany
- Lee: Review of Maxfield, Gatekeepers
of Growth: The International Political Economy of Central
Banks in Developing Countries
- Givens: Review of Cox, Making Votes
Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems
- Commercio: Review of Hanson, Time and
Revolution: Marxism and the Design of Soviet Institutions.
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