Quantifying theory in politics: Identification, interpretation, and the role of structural methods

Nathan Canen and Kristopher Ramsay
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Kristopher Ramsay: Department of Politics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2024, vol. 36, issue 4, 301-327

Abstract: The best empirical research in political science clearly defines substantive parameters of interest, presents a set of assumptions that guarantees their identification, and uses an appropriate estimator. We argue for the importance of explicitly integrating rigorous theory into this process and focus on the advantages of doing so. By integrating a theoretical structure into one’s empirical strategy, researchers can quantify the effects of competing mechanisms, consider the ex-ante effects of new policies, extrapolate findings to new environments, estimate model-specific theoretical parameters, evaluate the fit of a theoretical model, and test competing models that aim to explain the same phenomena. As a guide to such a methodology, we provide an overview of structural estimation, including formal definitions, implementation suggestions, examples, and comparisons to other methods.

Keywords: Counterfactuals; formal theory; identification; quantitative methods; research designs; structural methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09516298241281059 (text/html)

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Working Paper: Quantifying Theory in Politics: Identification, Interpretation and the Role of Structural Methods (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:36:y:2024:i:4:p:301-327

DOI: 10.1177/09516298241281059

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