Causal claims in single or comparative case studies

During this webinar, Dr. Ferdi De Ville will discuss the long-standing thorny issue in small-n qualitative research how to make claims about causality. According to some critics of qualitative research, it is even impossible to make causal claims without looking for (co-)variation in independent and dependent variables in a large number of cases. In this seminar, we will discuss ways to convincingly make causal claims based on single or comparative case studies. In order to demonstrate the strengths of small-n qualitative research in making causal claims, this seminar will use the process-tracing methodology as an example. However, the insights and techniques gained through this seminar will also be useful for researchers doing other types of small-n qualitative research. More specifically, the seminar will focus on the following stages of qualitative research: conceptualization of a causal relationship; operationalization of a theoretical mechanism; collecting evidence and; evaluating evidence in light of the research question and the state of the literature. 

Ferdi De Ville is an Associate Professor in European Political Economy at Ghent University. His research and teaching focus on the political economy of European integration, and of EU trade policy in particular. He also teaches a course on political science research methods, with a focus on qualitative research. He is the co-author (with Gabriel Siles-Brügge) of TTIP: The Truth about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (2016, Polity) and (with Mattias Vermeiren) of Rising Powers and Economic Crisis in the Euro Area (2016, Palgrave). He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, including Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, British Journal of Politics and International Relations and New Political Economy.