The Comparative Method
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £3.65
Trade in The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £3.65, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Plus, get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"This is a readable and useful book . . . an extended essay on one particular method, which is easy to understand, easy to apply, and generally useful. The method itself is implemented in a computer technique. . . . This method will systematize the analysis and produce an elegant statement of the combination of conditions which lead to a divided working class--provided there are no contradictions in the data. Where there are contradictions, Ragin's method will identify these combinations of conditions that lead to an ambiguous result."--William Miller, "Study of Public Policy
Product Description
Professor Ragin proposes a synthetic new strategy, based on an application of Boolean algebra, that will combine the strengths of both qualitative and quantitative sociology. Elegantly accessible and germane to the work of all the social sciences, this book will garner interest, debate, and praise from many quarters.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Thinking without comparison is unthinkable. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Thinking without comparison is unthinkable. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ragin's first book on QCA and his comparative method is interesting for its introduction of the topic and the ideas presented, but given the age of the work and the books he has published since, it is certainly not the best introduction to the topic, or the most comprehensive (it certainly won't mention any of the other similar techniques such as fsQCA).
If one is looking for an introduction to the area and wishes to read Ragin's original ideas, without the potential advertisements for his new fsQCA technique, then this is the book for you. On the other hand, Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques gives a nice overview of various methods and covers, in a more succinct way, the crisp-set QCA method while making it much clearer and better defined.
If one is looking for an introduction to the area and wishes to read Ragin's original ideas, without the potential advertisements for his new fsQCA technique, then this is the book for you. On the other hand, Configurational Comparative Methods: Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and Related Techniques gives a nice overview of various methods and covers, in a more succinct way, the crisp-set QCA method while making it much clearer and better defined.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
methodology classic
24 Feb 2011
Format:Paperback
Ragin's classic on comparative analysis is a must for any sociologist or social scientist more generally. Raing spends his early chapters discussing some problems of current (at the time) methodologies: too unlike reality, too focused on independent effects of variables, not configurational enough. Then, Ragin presents his argument for getting beyond the qualitative/quantitative divide by introducing a different method of mathematical analysis of comparative data: Boolean Algebra. By coding for the presence or absence of certain factors, Boolean Algebra allows for the assessment of collections of variables (like interaction terms, only more complex) and seemingly brings together mathematical precision and qualitative depth.
While there are certainly some problems with the book (what on earth are the cases we are considering and how does one select them? How do we determine what are salient "variables" to include in the "truth tables"? etc.), it remains a classic of methodology and the corner stone of the methods that Ragin continues to develop (QCA, Fuzzy Sets, etc.). This is a must for most social scientists. Otherwise, it will make for dry reading.
While there are certainly some problems with the book (what on earth are the cases we are considering and how does one select them? How do we determine what are salient "variables" to include in the "truth tables"? etc.), it remains a classic of methodology and the corner stone of the methods that Ragin continues to develop (QCA, Fuzzy Sets, etc.). This is a must for most social scientists. Otherwise, it will make for dry reading.
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Academic Sociology
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Methodology
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Methodology & Research > Statistics & Research
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Sociology
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
