Qualitative Causal Inference and Explanation by David Waldner

Qualitative Causal Inference and Explanation by David Waldner

While existing qualitative, case-study methods deliver specific explanations, quantitative approaches to causal inference emphasize valid inferences at the expense of explanations. In this book, David Waldner presents a hybrid method drawing on both approaches to ensure that explanations are based on validly inferred causes and to avoid making valid inferences that have limited explanatory power. Qualitative Causal Inference and Explanation integrates a qualitative identification strategy based on graph-theoretic analysis into traditional process-tracing methods by introducing three novel methodological concepts: hypothetical interventions, invariant causal mechanisms, and event-history maps. This new approach provides clear and feasible standards for making valid, unit-level causal inferences. The result is a groundbreaking approach to explaining complex social and political phenomena, one that better avoids false positives while providing explanations that satisfy the criteria of explanatory depth, density, relevance, and unification.

'Waldner equips qualitative researchers with a shared language for making causal explanations explicit, debatable, and cumulative across cases, subfields, disciplines, and generationsThe payoff of rigorous standards, he shows, is liberation, not constraint: scholars gain the questions they must ask of one another's work-and their own-to deepen what we know.' Jake Bowers, Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Statistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
'In this outstanding book, David Waldner argues that process tracing-like detective work-is critical to making compelling inferences about causality in the social sciences but concerns about confounding and other common sources of bias often receive too little attention. Waldner offers important remedies and criteria that will help scholars marry the best of qualitative and quantitative traditions.' Thad Dunning, Author of 'Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences: A Design-Based Approach' and Robson Professor of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley
'A ground-breaking blend of causal analysis common in quantitative methods, and the focus on explanation prevalent in qualitative approaches. David Waldner's precise, erudite reasoning shows how this merger will help scholars better understand why the world is the way it is. A great achievement.' Sean Gailmard, Author of 'Agents of Empire: Imperial Governance and the Making of American Political Institutions' and Herman Royer Professor of Political Economy, University of California, Berkeley
'This book is a monumental achievement. With his characteristic philosophical and methodological erudition, Waldner reaffirms our belief in the possibility of unit-level causal inference. He puts the so-called 'credibility revolution' in conversation with qualitative methods. In so doing, Waldner advances theoretical and empirical standards for case study research that will strengthen the next generation of scholarship oriented towards uncovering causal processes.' Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos, Professor of Comparative and Judicial Politics, University of Oxford
'Waldner breaks new ground by formulating a notion of causal inference suited to qualitative case studies and specifying a set of procedures to improve the credibility of causal claims based on qualitative research. This is a bold book that calls on qualitative researchers to go beyond current thinking about process tracing and makes a major contribution to qualitative methodology.' Gerardo L. Munck, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, University of Southern California

David Waldner is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia where he studies long-term political and economic development using case-study methods. He is the author of State Building & Late Development (Cornell University Press, 1999) and Rethinking the Resource Curse (with Benjamin Smith, Cambridge University Press, 2021), as well as many articles and book chapters on the dynamics of political regime change and qualitative methods.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781009769563
ISBN 10	1009769561
Title	Qualitative Causal Inference and Explanation
Author	David Waldner
Series	Strategies For Social Inquiry
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2026-06-30
Number of pages	380
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.