Comparative Area Studies Quiz 1

What is Comparative Area Studies?

something being examined with a comparative method to show linkages across world regions (two or more areas)

Epistemology

HOW we know what is out there

Positivist ontology

FINDING the truth using a scientific method - believe that there is an objective truth

Interpretivist paradigm

there is no objective truth

Qualitative research in CAS

positivist, interpretive and critical

Critical theory

emphasizes underlying causes

Philosophical assumptions

paradigms

Strategies of inquiry

methodologies

Approaches to gathering empirical material and analyze it

methods

Scientific methods

Experimental and non-experimental

Non-experimental methods

statistical, comparative, case study

Mill’s comparative method

method of difference and method of agreement

Method of Difference (MSSD)

cases share the same features except for one - the one difference is the cause

Method of Agreement (MDSD)

cases do not share the same features except for one - the one similarity is the cause

Statistical method

quasi-experimental and look at correlation

Comparative method

comparative analysis on a small number of cases - too few to apply statistical analysis

Case study method

single number case

Typical case study

likely supporting existing theories

Deviant case study

does not support existing theories

What can CAS compare?

institutions

Formal institutions

constitutions, laws, structures of government, political parties

Normative institutionalism

institutions composed of norms and rules that shape individual behaviour through developing a “logic of appropriateness”