Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool

342 Pages·2015·1.594 MB·English

by  Andrew Bennett, Jeffrey T. Checkel

Process Tracing
Advances in qualitative methods and recent developments in the philosophy of
sciencehaveledtoanemphasisonexplanationviareferencetocausalmechanisms.
Thisbookarguesthatthemethodknownasprocesstracingisparticularlywellsuited
to developing and assessing theories about such mechanisms. The editors begin by
establishingaphilosophicalbasisforprocesstracing–onethatcapturesmainstream
useswhilesimultaneouslybeingopentoapplicationsbyinterpretivescholars.Equally
important, they go on to establish best practices for individual process-tracing
accounts – how micro to go, when to start (and stop), and how to deal with the
problem of equifinality. The contributors then explore the application of process
tracingacrossarangeofsubfieldsandtheoriesinpoliticalscience.Thisisanapplied
methods book which seeks to shrink the gap between the broad assertion that
“process tracing is good” and the precise claim “this is an instance of good process
tracing.”
Andrew Bennett is Professor of Government at Georgetown University. He is also
President of the Consortium on Qualitative ResearchMethods, which sponsors the
annualInstitute onQualitativeand Multi-Method Research at Syracuse University.
He is the co-author, with Alexander L. George, of Case Studies and Theory
Development (2005), which won the Giovanni Sartori Prize in 2005 for the best
bookonqualitativemethods.
Jeffrey T. Checkel is Professor of International Studies and Simons Chair in
International Law and Human Security at Simon Fraser University. He is also a
Global Research Fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo. He has published
extensivelyinleadingEuropeanandNorthAmericanjournals,andistheauthorof
IdeasandInternationalPoliticalChange:Soviet/RussianBehaviorandtheEndofthe
Cold War (1997), editor of International Institutions and Socialization in Europe
(CambridgeUniversityPress,2007),co-editor(withPeterJ.Katzenstein)ofEuropean
Identity(CambridgeUniversityPress,2009),andeditorofTransnationalDynamicsof
CivilWar(CambridgeUniversityPress,2013).
17:58:49
Strategies for Social Inquiry
Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool
Editors
ColinElman,MaxwellSchoolofSyracuseUniversity
JohnGerring,BostonUniversity
JamesMahoney,NorthwesternUniversity
Editorialboard
BearBraumoeller,DavidCollier,FrancescoGuala,PeterHedström,
TheodoreHopf,UskaliMaki,RoseMcDermott,CharlesRagin,ThedaSkocpol,
PeterSpiegler,DavidWaldner,LisaWedeen,ChristopherWinship
Thisnewbookseriespresentstextsonawiderangeofissuesbearinguponthepractice
ofsocialinquiry.Strategiesareconstruedbroadlytoembracethefullspectrumof
approachestoanalysis,aswellasrelevantissuesinphilosophyofsocialscience.
Publishedtitles
JohnGerring,SocialScienceMethodology:AUnifiedFramework,2ndedition
MichaelCoppedge,DemocratizationandResearchMethods
ThadDunning,NaturalExperimentsintheSocialSciences:ADesign-BasedApproach
CarstenQ.SchneiderandClaudiusWagemann,Set-TheoreticMethodsfortheSocial
Sciences:AGuidetoQualitativeComparativeAnalysis
NicholasWellerandJebBarnes,FindingPathways:Mixed-MethodResearchfor
StudyingCausalMechanisms
Forthcomingtitles
DianaKapiszewski,LaurenM.MacLeanandBenjaminL.Read,FieldResearchin
PoliticalScience:PracticesandPrinciples
JasonSeawright,Multi-MethodSocialScience:CombiningQualitativeand
QuantitativeTools
PeterSpiegler,AConstructiveCritiqueofEconomicModeling
17:58:49
Process Tracing
From Metaphor to Analytic Tool
Editedby
Andrew Bennett
GeorgetownUniversity
Jeffrey T. Checkel
SimonFraserUniversity
17:58:49
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107686373
©CambridgeUniversityPress2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2015
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyClays,StIvesplc
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Processtracing:frommetaphortoanalytictool/editedbyAndrewBennett,GeorgetownUniversity,
JeffreyT.Checkel,SimonFraserUniversity.
pages cm.–(Strategiesforsocialinquiry)
ISBN978-1-107-04452-4(hardback)–ISBN978-1-107-68637-3(paperback)
1. Politicalscience–Methodology. 2. Causation. 3. Casemethod. 4. Qualitative
research. 5. Socialsciences–Methodology. I. Bennett,Andrew,1960–editor. II. Checkel,
JeffreyT.,1959–editor.
JA71.P756 2015
320.01–dc23
2014021292
ISBN978-1-107-04452-4Hardback
ISBN978-1-107-68637-3Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain,
accurateorappropriate.
17:58:49
Contents
Listoffigures pagevii
Listoftables viii
Listofcontributors ix
Preface xi
Part I Introduction 1
1 Processtracing:fromphilosophicalrootstobestpractices 3
AndrewBennettandJeffreyT.Checkel
Part II Process tracing in action 39
2 Processtracingtheeffectsofideas 41
AlanM.Jacobs
3 Mechanisms,process,andthestudyofinternationalinstitutions 74
JeffreyT.Checkel
4 Efficientprocesstracing:analyzingthecausalmechanismsofEuropean
integration 98
FrankSchimmelfennig
5 Whatmakesprocesstracinggood?Causalmechanisms,causalinference,
andthecompletenessstandardincomparativepolitics 126
DavidWaldner
6 ExplainingtheColdWar’send:processtracingallthewaydown? 153
MatthewEvangelista
7 Processtracing,causalinference,andcivilwar 186
JasonLyall
Downloaded from Cambridge Books Online by IP 130.132.123.28 on Fri Dec 26 18:11:30
vi Contents
Part III Extensions, controversies, and conclusions 209
8 Improvingprocesstracing:thecaseofmulti-methodresearch 211
ThadDunning
9 Practicetracing 237
VincentPouliot
10 Beyondmetaphors:standards,theory,andthe“wherenext”forprocess
tracing 260
JeffreyT.CheckelandAndrewBennett
Appendix: Discipliningourconjectures:systematizingprocess
tracingwithBayesiananalysis 276
AndrewBennett
References 299
Index 320
Downloaded from Cambridge Books Online by IP 130.132.123.28 on Fri Dec 26 18:11:30
Figures
4.1 Thecausalmechanismin“ThePathtoEuropeanIntegration.”From
Pierson,Paul.“ThePathtoEuropeanIntegration:AHistorical
InstitutionalistAnalysis.”ComparativePoliticalStudies29/2:
123–163©1996.ReprintedbypermissionofSAGEPublications. page114
5.1 Acausalgraph 131
5.2 ComparativestaticsinTheSourcesofDemocraticConsolidation
(Alexander2000) 134
5.3 Wood’scausalgraphofpost-insurgencydemocratictransition
inElSalvadorandSouthAfrica 138
5.4 Twocausalmodels 138
5.5 Spruyt’sgenerictheoryofinstitutionalemergence 144
5.6 Gorski’scausalmodelofCalvinismandstatepower 148
7.1 Numberofarticlespublishedoncivilwaronsetordynamics
infifteenpoliticalsciencejournals,1995–2012 188
A.1 Classificationofevidentiarytests 285
A.2 Propertiesof“straw-in-the-wind”evidentiarytest 287
A.3 Propertiesof“hoop”evidentiarytest 287
A.4 Propertiesof“smoking-gun”evidentiarytest 288
A.5 Propertiesof“doublydecisive”evidentiarytest 288
17:58:57
Tables
1.1 Processtracingbestpractices page21
2.1 Strategiesofprocesstracingideationaleffects 50
4.1 “Good/best-practice”and“efficient”processtracingcompared 108
4.2 Process-tracingframeworkofTheChoiceforEurope 109
4.3 ModesofactioninTheEU,NATO,andtheIntegration
ofEurope 122
7.1 MechanismsandmeasuresasproposedbyCedermanetal.(2010) 196
7.2 Sampleresearchdesignforassessingeffectsofcivilianvictimization
usingprocesstracing 201
7.3 Possiblemechanismslinkingcivilianvictimizationtoinsurgent
recruitmentandviolence 202
10.1 Processtracingbestpractices 261
17:58:53
Contributors
Andrew Bennett, Professor, Department of Government, Georgetown
University
Jeffrey T. Checkel, Professor and Simons Chair, School for International
Studies, Simon Fraser University, and Global Research Fellow, Peace
ResearchInstituteOslo
Thad Dunning, Robson Professor of Political Science, Department of
PoliticalScience,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
Matthew Evangelista, President White Professor of History and Political
Science,DepartmentofGovernment,CornellUniversity
Alan M. Jacobs, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science,
UniversityofBritishColumbia
Jason Lyall, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale
University
Vincent Pouliot, Associate Professor and William Dawson Scholar,
DepartmentofPoliticalScience,McGillUniversity
Frank Schimmelfennig, Professor of European Politics, Swiss Federal
InstituteofTechnology,Zürich
David Waldner, Associate Professor, Woodrow Wilson Department of
Politics,UniversityofVirginia
18:01:10
18:01:10