comparative historical case study

Comparative Historical Analysis, A Methodological Perspective

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First Online: 14 July 2020
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Frank L. K. Ohemeng 2

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Comparative historical analysis is concerned with causal analysis, an emphasis on processes over time, and the use of systematic and contextualized comparison (Mahoney and Rueschemeyer 2003a ).

Comparative historical analysis is a field of research characterized by the use of systematic comparison and the analysis of processes over time to explain large-scale outcomes such as revolutions, political regimes, and welfare states. It can be distinguished from other approaches within historical sociology, such as rational choice analysis and interpretive analysis (Mahoney and Rueschemeyer 2003a ).

Introduction

Among ways of understanding social issues, one that has best stood the test of time is comparative historical analysis (CHA) (Lange 2013 ; Mahoney and Rueschemeyer 2003a ; Mahoney and Terrie 2008 ). Although it has been around as long as anyone can remember, it is, as a number of scholars have noted, only in the past 30...

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Frank L. K. Ohemeng

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Ohemeng, F.L.K. (2020). Comparative Historical Analysis, A Methodological Perspective. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1205-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_1205-1

Received : 20 May 2020

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Published : 14 July 2020

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Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research

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5 Comparative Historical Analysis

Published: September 2014
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This chapter introduces the reader to comparative historical analysis (CHA), one of the oldest methods in the social science repertoire. CHA is characterized by its emphasis on historically contextualized comparisons explicitly aimed at producing causal arguments about the macro-sociological phenomena. After a theoretical overview that discusses the method’s nature, logic, and central concepts, the chapter turns its attention to practical matters. Thus, rather than an extended scientific discussion of what CHA is, the chapter seeks to encourage interested students by providing them with a series of tools and techniques that can be used when doing comparative historical research on social movements and revolutions. More specifically, the chapter offers a five-step approach: research design and puzzle formulation; data identification; the use of data; data analysis; and the writing process. A discussion on the use of technology in the research process is present throughout the practical part of the chapter.

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