Research design in political science : how to practice what they preach / edited by Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig.

Originally published: London: Macmillan, 2007.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 226-239) and index.

Designing research in political science / Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig -- Increasing the relevance of research questions / Matthias Lehnert, Bernhard Miller, and Arndt Wonka -- Concept specification in political science research / Arndt Wonka -- Typologies in social inquiry / Matthias Lehnert -- Making measures capture concepts / Bernhard Miller -- Achieving comparability of secondary data / Julia Rathke -- Dealing effectively with selection bias in large-n research / Janina Thiem -- Case selection and selection bias in small-n research / Dirk Leuffen -- Selecting independent variables / Ulrich Sieberer -- Discriminating among rival explanations : some tools for small-n researchers / Andreas Dur̈ -- Falsification in theory-guided empirical social research : how to change a tire while riding your bicycle / Dirk De Biev̀re -- Lessons for the dialogue between theory and data / Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig.

While research designs can be distinguished along various dimensions, we all face the same set of core research design issues. What is a relevant research problem? How can I improve concepts and measurements? Which and how many variables and cases should I select? How can I evaluate rival explanations and which theoretical conclusions can I draw from my research? Which evidence would lead me to reject and reformulate my initial theory? This volume was written to help advanced students of political science and their neighboring fields to think about these issues and come up with practical solutions for their own research. It turns out that the distinction between qualitative and quantitative research is often inadequate. Some solutions to research design problems are common to both types of research; others cross-cut the traditional qualitative-quantitative divide. Moreover, every solution has its strengths and weaknesses and, therefore, involves substantial trade-offs along the way.