Chapter 1 - The Comparative Approach

Dependent Variable

Effect or outcome expected to be acted on by the independent variable

Concepts

Ideas comparatists use to think about the processes we study; ideas we attempt to define as we ask and answer our questions; help us make sense of all the events that take place; democracy, justice, nationalism, identity, etc.; good concepts are clear, consistent, and coherent

Operationalism

Process of making concepts measurable and usable; we can only start to explain cause and effect when we have clarified what we are talking about and can measure it

Open-ended Question

Question that is open to numerous possible answer; empirical versus normative arguments; valid research questions don't have to begin with why?

Independent Variable

acts on or changes the value of the dependent variable

Comparative Politics

aims to analyze cases using the comparative method; who, what, where, when versus WHY??

Cases

an example of a phenomenon to be studied; can be countries, events, groups, eras, etc.

Within Case Comparison

comparative analysis variation that takes place over time or in distinct parts of a single case

Normative

concerned with what is morally or ethically justified; how the world OUGHT to be; why is democracy preferable to authoritarianism?

Conceptualization

creating and selecting social science concepts

Empirical

drawn from observations; link cause and effect, they uncover answers to why the world IS the way it is; argument we mainly address, i.e. "why are some countries democratic and other authoritarian?"

Variables

element or factor that is likely to change from case to case

Argument

evidence in support of a position of claim

Evidence

facts or observations used to support a proposition or hypothesis

Sartori's ladder of abstraction

general concepts on top, specific concepts on bottom in correlation tot he questions being asked and cases being examined

Empirical Evidence

must be relevant to the issue at hand; should be at the same level of analysis as the claim you are making - that is at the societal, organizational, or individual level; i.e. you cannot ask a small group of men about the gender attitudes in Saudi Arabia

Democratization

process by which rights and liberties are extended to all adults in a country

Comparative Checking

process of testing conclusions from a set of comparisons against additional cases or evidence

Generalizability

quality of being applicable to a number of cases

Most Different Systems design (MDS)

research design where we compare cases that differ with respect to multiple factors but in which the outcome is the same; if different, why similar outcomes

Most Similar Systems Designs (MSS)

research designs where we compare cases that are similar with respect to a number of factors but with distinct outcomes; if similar, why different outcomes; logic is so that analysts can rule out similar outcomes

Outcome (effect)

something produced or changed by the social or political process

Variations

the similarities and differences between cases