Synopses & Reviews
What is a relevant research problem? How can I improve concepts and measurements? Which and how many variables and cases should I select? How do I evaluate rival explanations and which theoretical conclusions can I draw? This book offers practical guidelines on these core issues of design for qualitative and quantitative research in political science. It puts special emphasis on the trade-offs involved in design decisions and on illustrations from actual research.
Review
"The internal structure of each of the chapters nicely fits the hands-on approach taken in this book. Each chapter starts by introducing and discussing the specific research design issue addressed within it. Five to ten practical guidelines are then given as to how to translate the abstract reasoning into concrete research. Finally, examples of real research are used to illustrate the abstract discussion and to provide flesh to the guidelines. The second strong point is the distinction made between outcome-centric and factor-centric research, or in other words research that seeks to identify the causes of an outcome (or effect) and that research that is interested in the effect of a specific cause. While others have made this distinction before, this book elaborates on the consequences of this distinction for several elements of the research design such as the implications for the function of typologies (chapter by Lehnert) and the selection of independent variables (Sieberer)…the volume devotes a chapter to the very start of the research process - the identification of the research question. Here the emphasis is on increasing the relevance of the research question by discussing theoretical and societal relevance."-- Markus Haverland, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands in
European Political Science, December 2010
Synopsis
The Stability and Growth Pact provides for the systematic surveillance of the fiscal policies of a large and heterogeneous group of twenty-five EU Member States. On this basis, this book provides a comprehensive overview of central themes in current fiscal policy, including the impact of ageing populations on fiscal sustainability, fiscal policy over the cycle, fiscal decentralization and expenditure reforms.
Synopsis
Designing Research in Political Science; T.Gschwend & F.Schimmelfennig Increasing the Relevance of Research Questions; M.Lehnert, B.Miller & A.Wonka Concept Specification in Political Science Research; A.Wonka Typologies in Social Inquiry; M.Lehnert Making Measures Capture Concepts; B.Miller Achieving Comparability of Secondary Data; J.Rathke Dealing Effectively with Selection Bias in Large-n Research; J.Thiem Case Selection and Selection Bias in Small-n Research; D.Leuffen Selecting Independent Variables; U.Sieberer Discriminating among Rival Explanations: Some Tools for Small-n Researchers; A.D r Falsification in Theory-Guided Empirical Social Research; D.De Bi vre Lessons for the Dialogue between Theory and Data; T.Gschwend & F.Schimmelfennig
Synopsis
When embarking on a new research project students face the same core research design issues. This volume provides readers with practical guidelines for both qualitative and quantitative designs, discussing the typical trade-offs involved in choosing them and is rich in examples from real research.
About the Author
THOMAS GSCHWEND is Professor of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Department of Political Science, Germany. His work has been published, inter alia, in
Political Analysis,
British Journal of Political Science,
Electoral Studies and the
European Journal of Political Research.
FRANK SCHIMMELFENNIG is Professor of European Politics at ETH Zurich, Centre for Comparative and International Studies, Switzerland. His work on European integration has been published, inter alia, in Comparative Political Studies, European Union Politics, International Organization, Journal of Common Market Studies, and Journal of European Public Policy.
Table of Contents
Designing Research in Political Science;
T.Gschwend &
F.SchimmelfennigIncreasing the Relevance of Research Questions; M.Lehnert, B.Miller & A.Wonka
Concept Specification in Political Science Research; A.Wonka
Typologies in Social Inquiry; M.Lehnert
Making Measures Capture Concepts; B.Miller
Achieving Comparability of Secondary Data; J.Rathke
Dealing Effectively with Selection Bias in Large-n Research; J.Thiem
Case Selection and Selection Bias in Small-n Research; D.Leuffen
Selecting Independent Variables; U.Sieberer
Discriminating among Rival Explanations: Some Tools for Small-n Researchers; A.Dür
Falsification in Theory-Guided Empirical Social Research; D.De Bièvre
Lessons for the Dialogue between Theory and Data; T.Gschwend & F.Schimmelfennig