Comparative Methods and Process Tracing

AbstractIn view of the major methodological challenges which confront researchers in public diplomacy (PD), the paper recognizes the method of comparative-historical analysis (CHA) as an eminently suitable approach for robust empirical studies. The paper starts by exploring different conceptualizations and operationalizations of public diplomacy. Subsequently, four defining characteristics of CHA are identified: (1) CHA starts from a positivist epistemological perspective; (2) CHA-based research usually is concerned with “big questions;” (3) comparative methods are applied in CHA, either across different cases or within cases across time, allowing for in-depth analyses; (4) by considering respective starting points, specific historical developments, and cultural particulars, CHA is committed to methods drawn from historical research, including process tracing and causal narrative. The paper demonstrates that CHA, in view of these characteristics and with its highly interdisciplinary pedigree and methodological eclecticism, is eminently suited for studies exploring PD practices and outcomes. To provide a tailor-made approach for such endeavors, CHA is innovatively combined with the method of structured, focused comparison. Finally, drawing on both the different operationalizations of PD and the requirements of CHA, a comprehensive matrix for CHA-based PD research is presented, offering a tangible framework for future empirical analyses.

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Process Tracing Methods

International Relations ◽

10.1093/obo/9780199743292-0227 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Derek Beach

Keyword(s):

Single Case ◽

Comparative Methods ◽

Process Tracing ◽

Detailed Knowledge ◽

Historical Case ◽

Actual Case ◽

Causal Mechanisms ◽

Causal Processes ◽

The Social ◽

Core Components

Process tracing is an in-depth within-case study method used in the social sciences for tracing causal mechanisms and how they play out within an actual case. Process tracing can be used to build and test theories of processes that link causes and outcomes in a bounded population of causally similar cases, in combination with comparative methods, or, when used in a more pragmatic fashion, to gain a greater understanding of the causal dynamics that produced the outcome of a particular historical case. The strength of process tracing is that detailed knowledge is gained through the collection of within-case, mechanistic evidence about how causal processes work in real-world cases. Process tracing enables only within-case inferences to be made, making comparative methods necessary to enable inferences to causally similar cases. Comparisons make generalization possible because we can then claim that as a set of other cases are causally similar to the studied one, we should expect similar mechanisms to also be operative in these cases. Process tracing as a method can be broken down into three core components: theorization about causal mechanisms linking causes and outcomes, the development and analysis of the observable empirical manifestations of the operation of parts of theorized mechanisms, and the complementary use of comparative methods to enable generalizations of findings from single case studies to other causally similar cases.

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