| ID | 140400 |
| Title Proper | Process tracing and qualitative causal inference |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Waldner, David |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This essay critically reviews this symposium's essays on process tracing and security studies by James Mahoney, Andrew Bennett, and Nina Tannenwald. It covers three major issues that have not been adequately addressed by previous writings on process tracing: the relationship of single case studies to more general causal claims, the conceptualization of causation, and the criteria of valid causal inference. It introduces the “completeness standard,” which combines causal graphs, event history maps, and invariant causal mechanisms. The completeness standard, it argues, bridges unit-level causal inferences and average treatment effects, invokes an epistemologically warranted conceptualization of causation, and better satisfies existing standards of causal inference by making unit homogeneity assumptions more credible. |
| `In' analytical Note | Security Studies Vol. 24, No.2; Apr/Jun 2015: p.239-250 |
| Journal Source | Security Studies Vol: 24 No 2 |
| Key Words | Security Studies ; Qualitative Causal Inference ; Valid Causal Inference ; Combines Causal Graphs ; Homogeneity Assumptions ; Process Tracing |