Case Selection via Matching

Richard A. Nielsen

Sociological Methods & Research, 2016, vol. 45, issue 3, 569-597

Abstract: This article shows how statistical matching methods can be used to select “most similar†cases for qualitative analysis. I first offer a methodological justification for research designs based on selecting most similar cases. I then discuss the applicability of existing matching methods to the task of selecting most similar cases and propose adaptations to meet the unique requirements of qualitative analysis. Through several applications, I show that matching methods have advantages over traditional selection in “most similar†case designs: They ensure that most similar cases are in fact most similar; they make scope conditions, assumptions, and measurement explicit; and they make case selection transparent and replicable.

Keywords: case selection; matching; most similar systems; qualitative methods; research design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:somere:v:45:y:2016:i:3:p:569-597

DOI: 10.1177/0049124114547054

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