Can We Generalize from Case Studies?

Paul F. Steinberg

Global Environmental Politics, 2015, vol. 15, issue 3, 152-175

Abstract: This article considers the role of generalization in comparative case studies, using as exemplars the contributions to this special issue on climate change politics. As a research practice, generalization is a logical argument for extending one’s claims beyond the data, positing a connection between events that were studied and those that were not. No methodological tradition is exempt from the requirement to demonstrate a compelling logic of generalization. The article presents a taxonomy of the logics of generalization underlying diverse research methodologies, which often go unstated and unexamined. I introduce the concept of resonance groups, which provide a causeway for cross-system generalization from single case studies. Overall the results suggest that in the comparative study of complex political systems, case study research is, ceteris paribus, on par with large-N research with respect to generalizability.

Keywords: Generalizations; Research; Methods; climate change politics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C1 Q0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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