The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology (Oxford Handbooks)

The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science are the essential guide to the state of political science today. With engaging contributions from major international scholars The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology provides the key point of reference for anyone working throughout the discipline. Contents About the Contributors PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Political Science Methodology PART II: APPROACHES TO SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY 2. Normative Methodology 3. Meta-methodology: Clearing the Underbrush 4. Agent-based Modeling PART III: CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENT 5. Concepts, Theories, and Numbers: A Checklist for Constructing, Evaluating, and Using Concepts or Quantitative Measures 6. Measurement 7. Typologies: Forming Concepts and Creating Categorical Variables 8. Measurement versus Calibration: A Set-theoretic Approach 9. The Evolving Influence of Psychometrics in Political Science PART IV: CAUSALITY AND EXPLANATION IN SOCIAL RESEARCH 10. Causation and Explanation in Social Science 11. The Neyman–Rubin Model of Causal Inference and Estimation via Matching Methods 12. On Types of Scientific Enquiry: The Role of Qualitative Reasoning 13. Studying Mechanisms to Strengthen Causal Inferences in Quantitative Research PART V: EXPERIMENTS, QUASI-EXPERIMENTS AND NATURAL EXPERIMENTS 14. Experimentation in Political Science 15. Field Experiments and Natural Experiments PART VI: QUANTITATIVE TOOLS FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND CAUSAL INFERENCE: GENERAL METHODS 16. Survey Methodology 17. Endogeneity and Structural Equation Estimation in Political Science 18. Structural Equation Models 19. Time-series Analysis 20. Time-series Cross-section Methods 21. Bayesian Analysis PART VII: QUANTITATIVE TOOLS FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND CAUSAL INFERENCE: SPECIAL TOPICS 22. Discrete Choice Methods 23. Survival Analysis 24. Cross-level/Ecological Inference 25. Empirical Models of Spatial Interdependence 26. Multilevel Models PART VIII: QUALITATIVE TOOLS FOR DESCRIPTIVE AND CAUSAL INFERENCE 27. Counterfactuals and Case Studies 28. Case Selection for Case-study Analysis: Qualitative and Quantitative Techniques 29. Interviewing and Qualitative Field Methods: Pragmatism and Practicalities 30. Process Tracing: A Bayesian Perspective 31. Case-oriented Configurational Research: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), Fuzzy Sets, and Related Techniques 32. Comparative-historical Analysis in Contemporary Political Science 33. Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods PART IX: ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND MOVEMENTS IN THE FIELD OF METHODOLOGY 34. Qualitative and Multimethod Research: Organizations, Publication, and Reflections on Integration 35. Quantitative Methodology 36. Forty Years of Publishing in Quantitative Methodology 37. The EITM Approach: Origins and Interpretations Name Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Subject Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Political methodology has changed dramatically over the past thirty years, and many new methods and techniques have been developed. Both the Political Methodology Society and the Qualitative/Multi-Methods Section of the American Political Science Association have engaged in ongoing research and training programs that have advanced quantitative and qualitative methodology. The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology presents and synthesizes these developments. The Handbook provides comprehensive overviews of diverse methodological approaches, with an emphasis on three major themes. First, specific methodological tools should be at the service of improved conceptualization, comprehension of meaning, measurement, and data collection. They should increase analysts'leverage in reasoning about causal relationships and evaluating them empirically by contributing to powerful research designs. Second, the authors explore the many different ways of addressing these tasks: through case-studies and large-n designs, with both quantitative and qualitative data, and via techniques ranging from statistical modelling to process tracing. Finally, techniques can cut across traditional methodological boundaries and can be useful for many different kinds of researchers. Many of the authors thus explore how their methods can inform, and be used by, scholars engaged in diverse branches of methodology. Political methodology has changed dramatically over the past thirty years, and many new methods and techniques have been developed. Both the Political Methodology Society and the Qualitative/Multi-Methods Section of the American Political Science Association have engaged in ongoing research and training programs that have advanced quantitative and qualitative methodology. The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology presents and synthesizes these developments. The Handbook provides comprehensive overviews of diverse methodological approaches, with an emphasis on three major themes. First, specific methodological tools should be at the service of improved conceptualization, comprehension of meaning, measurement, and data collection. They should increase analysts' leverage in reasoning about causal relationships and evaluating them empirically by contributing to powerful research designs. Second, the authors explore the many different ways of addressing these tasks: through case-studies and large-n designs, with both quantitative and qualitative data, and via techniques ranging from statistical modelling to process tracing. Finally, techniques can cut across traditional methodological boundaries and can be useful for many different kinds of researchers. Many of the authors thus explore how their methods can inform, and be used by, scholars engaged in diverse branches of methodology