Lecture 1 - Quant. & Qual Research; Positivist & Interpretive Research
Brady: Data-Set Observations vs. Causal-Process Observations: The 2000 US
Pres. Election
- Data-Set Observations: standard regression analysis
- Causal-Process Observations: diagnostic “nuggets” of data that make a strong contribution
to causal inference, uses process tracing (seeks to establish the "physical and social
processes through which purported causes affect outcomes"
- researchers oriented toward the use of causal-process observations would ask whether the
result makes any sense
- Investigating causal processes in close detail to see if the posited causal effect is probable
Goertz, Gary, Mahoney. A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research in the Social Sciences, Introduction
- qualitative research set apart from quantitative by (1) within-case analysis, such as process
tracing (stats cross-case analysis), (2) logic and set theory, which informs all major qual.
techniques (using logic to formulate theories and conceptualization (vs. stats))
- number of N is correlated with type of research but does not define it, not just “numbers vs.
words”
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, Yanow: Interpretive Research Design. Concepts and
Processes
- distinction between methodology and methods; methodology= presuppositions concerning
ontology and epistemology informing a set of methods
- distinction between quant., qual. And interpretative research
The Politics of Deliberation: Qāt Chews as Public Spheres in Yemen
- minimalist definition of democracy (solely based on contested elections) needs revision
- Habermasian “public sphere” theory: public sphere activities work politically.
, - everyday practices of political contestation outside of electoral channels confound aspects
of both the minimalist and the Habermasian frameworks
- problem with binary classification of regime
- “Rather, I argue that there are different sites for enacting democracy, and a robust
democracy needs to be using them all. Thus, a consideration of democracy also requires
theorizing about aspects of substantive representation that are evident in Yemen, namely,
the widespread, inclusive mobilization of critical, practical discourses in which people
articulate and think through their moral and material demands in public” (p. 63)
- Yemen employs more democratic practices/citizen influence than other countries in the
Middle East ➜ shift attention away from formal considerations of electoral outcomes to
other dimensions of participatory politics
- Qāt Chews: open to public, political in four senses:
➜ policy decisions are made, people make use of them to share information about political
events, they are a forum of negotiating power relationships between elites and
constituencies, public participating is not just social category but existential one
- Habermas theory focused on Europe BUT “Yemen is not a bourgeois society, and the
Yemeni public sphere does not arise out of bourgeois notions of individuality or privacy in
the intimate world of the family” AND “Qāt chews are not predicated on the existence of
robust state institutions but actually thrive in their absence”
- “Qāt chews as an institutionalized everyday practice can serve both ruler and ruled,
providing an authoritarian regime with crucial information while giving ordinary individuals
and an organized opposition more freedom than they would enjoy in other authoritarian
circumstances” (p. 79)
- Example raises distinction between democratic practices and liberal values
- Democratic practices not necessarily mean democratic regime
- We should therefore avoid minimalist view on democracy and instead think of democratic
practices
Brady: Data-Set Observations vs. Causal-Process Observations: The 2000 US
Pres. Election
- Data-Set Observations: standard regression analysis
- Causal-Process Observations: diagnostic “nuggets” of data that make a strong contribution
to causal inference, uses process tracing (seeks to establish the "physical and social
processes through which purported causes affect outcomes"
- researchers oriented toward the use of causal-process observations would ask whether the
result makes any sense
- Investigating causal processes in close detail to see if the posited causal effect is probable
Goertz, Gary, Mahoney. A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative
Research in the Social Sciences, Introduction
- qualitative research set apart from quantitative by (1) within-case analysis, such as process
tracing (stats cross-case analysis), (2) logic and set theory, which informs all major qual.
techniques (using logic to formulate theories and conceptualization (vs. stats))
- number of N is correlated with type of research but does not define it, not just “numbers vs.
words”
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, Yanow: Interpretive Research Design. Concepts and
Processes
- distinction between methodology and methods; methodology= presuppositions concerning
ontology and epistemology informing a set of methods
- distinction between quant., qual. And interpretative research
The Politics of Deliberation: Qāt Chews as Public Spheres in Yemen
- minimalist definition of democracy (solely based on contested elections) needs revision
- Habermasian “public sphere” theory: public sphere activities work politically.
, - everyday practices of political contestation outside of electoral channels confound aspects
of both the minimalist and the Habermasian frameworks
- problem with binary classification of regime
- “Rather, I argue that there are different sites for enacting democracy, and a robust
democracy needs to be using them all. Thus, a consideration of democracy also requires
theorizing about aspects of substantive representation that are evident in Yemen, namely,
the widespread, inclusive mobilization of critical, practical discourses in which people
articulate and think through their moral and material demands in public” (p. 63)
- Yemen employs more democratic practices/citizen influence than other countries in the
Middle East ➜ shift attention away from formal considerations of electoral outcomes to
other dimensions of participatory politics
- Qāt Chews: open to public, political in four senses:
➜ policy decisions are made, people make use of them to share information about political
events, they are a forum of negotiating power relationships between elites and
constituencies, public participating is not just social category but existential one
- Habermas theory focused on Europe BUT “Yemen is not a bourgeois society, and the
Yemeni public sphere does not arise out of bourgeois notions of individuality or privacy in
the intimate world of the family” AND “Qāt chews are not predicated on the existence of
robust state institutions but actually thrive in their absence”
- “Qāt chews as an institutionalized everyday practice can serve both ruler and ruled,
providing an authoritarian regime with crucial information while giving ordinary individuals
and an organized opposition more freedom than they would enjoy in other authoritarian
circumstances” (p. 79)
- Example raises distinction between democratic practices and liberal values
- Democratic practices not necessarily mean democratic regime
- We should therefore avoid minimalist view on democracy and instead think of democratic
practices
