The Comparative Method Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies [Paperback]

Charles C. RaginsThe Comparative Methodproposes a synthetic strategy, based on an application of Boolean algebra, that combines the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative sociology. Elegantly accessible and germane to the work of all the social sciences, and now updated with a new introduction, this book will continue to garner interest, debate, and praise.

Charles C. Ragin is Chancellor's Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine.

This splendidly original work . . . will become an epistemological landmark appreciated by many different schools of thought that have wrestled with the methodological problems Ragin raises and answers. Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

Charles Ragin has produced a well-argued and highly provocative contribution to the growing literature on methods of comparative and historical sociology. While not everyone will agree, all will learn from this book. The result will be to intensify the dialogue between theory and evidence in comparative research, furthering a fruitful symbiosis of 'quantitative' and 'qualitative' methods. Theda Skocpol, Harvard University

Preface and Overview
Acknowledgements

1. The Distinctiveness of Comparative social Science
2. Heterogeneity and Causal Complexity
3. Case-Oriented Comparative Methods
4. The Variable-Oriented Approach
5. Combined Versus Synthetic Comparative Strategies
6. A Boolean Approach to Qualitative Comparison: Basic Concepts
7. Extensions of Boolean Methods of Qualitatve Comparison
8. Applications of Boolean Methods of Qualitative Comparison
9. The Dialogue of Ideas and Evidence in Social Research

Bibliography
Index