Now with new introductory material, Charles Ragin’s The Comparative Method proposes a synthetic new strategy, based on an application of Boolean algebra that, by combining the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative sociology, serves as a model of inquiry across the social sciences.

Charles C. Ragin is Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University.

"If the book is taken as seriously as I think it should be, in a very short time it could transform the way in which comparative sociological research is done."—Social Forces

"Without a doubt, Ragin has made an important contribution with this book. . . . [It] should be studied by any researcher doing case by case comparisons, whether those cases be societies or organizations. This book opens a new field of comparative methodology. It will create new research possibilities. It will stir new methodological debates. Most important, it will allow us all, in a more sophisticated way, to get down to the task of comparing cases."—Gary G. Hamilton, Contemporary Sociology

"In an interesting and clearly written fashion, [Ragin] deals with the very genuine problem in the social sciences of finding an appropriate methodology to link ideas and evidence."—R. P. Haining, Environment and Planning

"This is a readable and useful book . . . an extended essay on one particular method, which is easy to understand, easy to apply, and generally useful. The method itself is implemented in a computer technique. . . . This method will systematize the analysis and produce an elegant statement of the combination of conditions which lead to a divided working class—provided there are no contradictions in the data. Where there are contradictions, Ragin's method will identify these combinations of conditions that lead to an ambiguous result."—William Miller, Study of Public Policy

"This splendidly original work . . . will become an epistemological landmark appreciated by many different schools of thought that have wrestled with the methodological problems Ragin raises and answers."—Daniel Chirot, University of Washington

"Charles Ragin has produced a well-argued and highly provocative contribution to the growing literature on methods of comparative and historical sociology. While not everyone will agree, all will learn from this book. The result will be to intensify the dialogue between theory and evidence in comparative research, furthering a fruitful symbiosis of 'quantitative' and 'qualitative' methods."—Theda Skocpol, Harvard University

Fourth Stein Rokkan Prize, International Social Science Council