10 SMALL N'S AND BIG CONCLUSIONS: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases

Stanley Lieberson

This chapter evaluates an approach which is gaining in usage, especially for historical and comparative problems. Namely, we will consider the causal inferences drawn when little more than a handful of nations or organizations - sometimes even fewer - are compared with respect to the forces driving a societal outcome such as a political development or an organizational characteristic.1 Application of this method to a small number of cases is not new to sociology, being in one form or another a variant of the method of analytic induction, described by Znaniecki (1934, p. 236) and analysed succinctly by Robinson (1951) and Turner (1953) [see Chapters 8 and 9 - respectively Editors’ Note].2 These conclusions rely on a formalized internal logic derived from Mill's method of agreement and his method of difference (see the discussion of Mill in Nichols, 1986, pp. 170ff.). The formal rigour...

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About this title
- This is the most comprehensive guide to the current uses and importance of case study methods in social research. The editors bring together key contributions from the field, which reflect different interpretations of the purpose and capacity of case study research. They address issues such as: the problem of generalizing from the study of a small number of cases; and the role of case study in developing and testing theories. The editors offer in-depth assessments of the main arguments. An annotated bibliography of the literature dealing with case study research makes this an exhaustive and indispensable guide.
Table of contents
- - Front Matter
- - Introduction
    - Martyn Hammersley and Roger Gomm
  - Intrinsic Case Study and Generalizability
    - 1 The Case Study Method in Social Inquiry
      - Robert E. Stake
    - 2 The Only Generalization is: There is No Generalization
      - Yvonna S. Lincoln and Egon G. Guba
    - 3 Generalizability and the Single-Case Study
      - Robert Donmoyer
    - 4 Increasing the Generalizability of Qualitative Research
      - Janet Ward Schofield
    - 5 Case Study and Generalization
      - Roger Gomm, Martyn Hammersley and Peter Foster
  - Case Study and Theory
    - 6 Case Study and Theory in Political Science
      - Harry Eckstein
    - 7 Case and Situation Analysis
      - J. Clyde Mitchell
    - 8 The Logical Structure of Analytic Induction
      - W.S. Robinson
    - 9 The Quest for Universals in Sociological Research
      - Ralph H. Turner
    - 10 Small N's and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases
      - Stanley Lieberson
    - 11 Cases, Causes, Conjunctures, Stories and Imagery
      - Howard S. Becker
    - 12 Case Study and Theory
      - Martyn Hammersley, Roger Gomm and Peter Foster
- - Back Matter
    - AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Methods Map
- Research Terms
- Key People
Cases
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