Redesigning social inquiry : fuzzy sets and beyond

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Title:

Author:

Ragin, Charles C.

ISBN:

9780226702735

9780226702759

Personal Author:

Ragin, Charles C.

Publication Information:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2008.

Physical Description:

viii, 225 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.

Contents:

Part I. Set-Theoretic versus Correlational Connections -- Set Relations in Social Research: Basic Concepts -- Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy-Set Relations -- Evaluating Set Relations: Consistency and Coverage -- Part II. Calibration versus Measurement -- Why Calibrate? -- Calibrating Fuzzy Sets -- Part III. Configurations of Conditions versus "Independent" Variables -- Configurational Thinking -- Configurational Analysis Using Fuzzy Sets and Truth Tables -- Part IV. Analysis of Causal Complexity versus Analysis of Net Effects -- Limited Diversity and Counterfactual Cases coauthored with John Sonnett -- Easy versus Difficult Counterfactuals -- The Limitations of Net Effects Thinking -- Net Effects versus Configurations: An Empirical Demonstration coauthored with Peer Fiss.

Subject Term:

Social sciences -- Research -- Methodology.

Fuzzy sets.

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025418530	300.72 R142R 2008	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

For over twenty years Charles C. Ragin has been at the forefront of the development of innovative methods for social scientists. In Redesigning Social Inquiry , he continues his campaign to revitalize the field, challenging major aspects of the conventional template for social science research while offering a clear alternative.
Redesigning Social Inquiry provides a substantive critique of the standard approach to social research--namely, assessing the relative importance of causal variables drawn from competing theories. Instead, Ragin proposes the use of set-theoretic methods to find a middle path between quantitative and qualitative research. Through a series of contrasts between fuzzy-set analysis and conventional quantitative research, Ragin demonstrates the capacity for set-theoretic methods to strengthen connections between qualitative researchers' deep knowledge of their cases and quantitative researchers' elaboration of cross-case patterns. Packed with useful examples, Redesigning Social Inquiry will be indispensable to experienced professionals and to budding scholars about to embark on their first project.