John Gerring

a unified framework

Social science methodology

Strom C. Thacker

This book outlines the importance of political institutions in achieving good governance within a democratic polity.

A Centripetal Theory of Democratic Governance

Brendan Apfeld

Tore Wig

Andreas Forø Tollefsen

This book explores the deep roots of modern democracy, focusing on geography and long-term patterns of global diffusion. Its geographic argument centers on access to the sea, afforded by natural harbors which enhance the mobility of people, goods, capital, and ideas. The extraordinary connectivity of harbor regions thereby affected economic development, the structure of the military, statebuilding, and openness to the world – and, through these pathways, the development of representative democracy. The authors' second argument focuses on the global diffusion of representative democracy. Beginning around 1500, Europeans started to populate distant places abroad. Where Europeans were numerous they established some form of representative democracy, often with restrictions limiting suffrage to those of European heritage. Where they were in the minority, Europeans were more reticent about popular rule and often actively resisted democratization. Where Europeans were entirely absent, the concept of representative democracy was unfamiliar and its practice undeveloped.

Geography and the Diffusion of Political Institutions

The Deep Roots of Modern Democracy

Jason Seawright

The most important step in social science research is the first step - finding a topic. Unfortunately, little guidance on this crucial and difficult challenge is available. Methodological studies and courses tend to focus on theory testing rather than theory generation. This book aims to redress that imbalance. The first part of the book offers an overview of the book's central concerns. How do social scientists arrive at ideas for their work? What are the different ways in which a study can contribute to knowledge in a field? The second part of the book offers suggestions about how to think creatively, including general strategies for finding a topic and heuristics for discovery. The third part of the book shows how data exploration may assist in generating theories and hypotheses. The fourth part of the book offers suggestions about how to fashion disparate ideas into a theory.

The Research Sandbox

Finding Your Social Science Project

Dino Christenson

This textbook provides a clear, concise, and comprehensive introduction to methodological issues encountered by the various social science disciplines. It emphasizes applications, with detailed examples, so that readers can put these methods to work in their research. Within a unified framework, John Gerring and Dino Christenson integrate a variety of methods - descriptive and causal, observational and experimental, qualitative and quantitative. The text covers a wide range of topics including research design, data-gathering techniques, statistics, theoretical frameworks, and social science writing. It is designed both for those attempting to make sense of social science, as well as those aiming to conduct original research. The text is accompanied by online practice questions, exercises, examples, and additional resources, including related readings and websites. An essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate programs in communications, criminal justice, economics, business, finance, management, education, environmental policy, international development, law, political science, public health, public policy, social work, sociology, and urban planning.

An Introductory Guide

Applied Social Science Methodology

John Gerring's exceptional textbook has been thoroughly revised in this second edition. It offers a one-volume introduction to social science methodology relevant to the disciplines of anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology and sociology. This new edition has been extensively developed with the introduction of new material and a thorough treatment of essential elements such as conceptualization, measurement, causality and research design. It is written for students, long-time practitioners and methodologists and covers both qualitative and quantitative methods. It synthesizes the vast and diverse field of methodology in a way that is clear, concise and comprehensive. While offering a handy overview of the subject, the book is also an argument about how we should conceptualize methodological problems. Thinking about methodology through this lens provides a new framework for understanding work in the social sciences.

A Unified Framework

Social Science Methodology

There is no question that golf is a challenging game that draws players of all ages and abilities to beautiful courses around the world. For any golfer, learning occurs at a deliberate pace, just like their swing. With that in mind, seasoned golf professional and teacher, John Gerring, shares a collection of lessons and insights into the game that teach a simple way to play and achieve results. Gerringa PGA Hall of Fame member and master professional who has given thousands of lessons to beginners, advanced, and professional golfersemploys a unique style through personal reflections and anecdotes that lead golfers through his coaching experiences and game fundamentals while teaching straightforward methods to hit a golf ball, gracefully finish a swing, and accurately aim for a target. Through his lessons, golfers will also learn how to geometrically align their feet and shoulders, eliminate distractions, maintain the same style and swing for every shot, reduce the number of putts, fertilize strengths, and work toward goals in small, continuous bursts. Simple Enough shares comprehensive golf lessons from a PGA professional that return to the basics and teach players of all levels that when it comes to the game of golf, one is never done learning.

Insights and Lessons from a Pga Hall of Fame Member and Master Professional

Simple Enough

James Mahoney

Colin Elman

Enhancing Progress in Social Science

The Production of Knowledge

Case Study Research: Principles and Practices aims to provide a general understanding of the case study method as well as specific tools for its successful implementation. These tools can be utilized in all fields where the case study method is prominent, including business, anthropology, communications, economics, education, medicine, political science, social work, and sociology. Topics include the definition of a 'case study,' the strengths and weaknesses of this distinctive method, strategies for choosing cases, an experimental template for understanding research design, and the role of singular observations in case study research. It is argued that a diversity of approaches - experimental, observational, qualitative, quantitative, ethnographic - may be successfully integrated into case study research. This book breaks down traditional boundaries between qualitative and quantitative, experimental and nonexperimental, positivist and interpretivist.

Principles and Practices

Case Study Research

Wouter Veenendaal

Analyzes scale effects across a range of political dimensions, encompassing different political levels using a multi-method approach.

John Gerring

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