Analytic Induction for Social Research

by Charles C. Ragin (Author)
August 2023
First Edition
Paperback
$34.95, £30.00
Title Details

Rights: Available worldwide
Pages: 140
ISBN: 9780520393738
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.159
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 48 charts, tables, and figures

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About the Book

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

This book explores analytic induction, an approach to the analysis of cross-case evidence on qualitative outcomes that has deep roots in sociology. A popular research technique in the early decades of empirical sociology, analytic induction differs fundamentally as a method of social research from conventional variation-based approaches. In Analytic Induction for Social Research, Charles C. Ragin demonstrates that much is gained from systematizing analytic induction. The approach he introduces here offers a new template for conducting cross-case analysis and provides a new set of tools for answering common research questions that existing methods cannot address.

About the Author

Charles C. Ragin is Chancellor's Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. He is a recipient of the International Science Council's Stein Rokkan Prize, the Policy Studies Organization's Donald Campbell Award, and the American Sociological Association's Paul F. Lazarsfeld Award.

Reviews

"Breaks new ground in introducing analytic induction as an approach distinct from qualitative comparative analysis. Charles Ragin's writing is among the clearest, most accessible, and engaging that I know."—Peer C. Fiss, Jill and Frank Fertitta Chair in Business Administration and Professor of Management and Organization, University of Southern California

"At a time when methodological debates are becoming increasingly mathematical, this intervention is both refreshingly nontechnical and unusually helpful for qualitative researchers in sociology and political science. Because of its clarity, brevity, and usability, qualitative researchers in the social sciences are going to want a copy of this book."—James Mahoney, Gordon Fulcher Professor in Decision-Making and Professor of Sociology and Political Science, Northwestern University

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART ONE. THE LOGIC OF ANALYTIC INDUCTION

1. Classic Analytic Induction
2. Reconciling Disconfirming Cases
3. Explaining Variation versus Explaining Outcomes
4. The Uses of “Negative” Cases in Social Research

PART TWO. GENERALIZED ANALYTIC INDUCTION

5. Classic versus Generalized Analytic Induction
6. The Interpretive Logic of Generalized Analytic Induction
7. Generalized Analytic Induction: A Step-by-Step Guide
8. Using Generalized AI to Reanalyze Viterna’s Study of Women’s Mobilization into the Salvadoran Guerrilla Army
9. Applying Generalized AI to Conventional Quantitative Data
10. Core Features of Generalized Analytic Induction

Appendix A. Brief Overview of Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Appendix B. Fuzzy Sets
Appendix C. Using fsQCA Software to Implement Generalized AI
Appendix D. Converting “Sum-of-Products” Expressions to “Product-of-Sums” Expressions
Appendix E. Measures Used in Logistic Regression Analysis
Notes
References
Index