What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?

Gerring, John

doi:10.4135/9781473915480.n7

Cited by 283 publications

(373 citation statements)

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“…55 A theory of the conditions under which gross human rights violations are more likely to be carried out can be tested through careful case selection.…”

Section: Building From the Ground Upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigorous Morality: Norms, Values, and the Comparative Politics of Human Rights

Landman¹

2016

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This paper argues that there is a strong role for empirical analysis to be used to address fundamental normative questions. Using human rights as an example, the article shows that the evolution of the international regime of human rights provides a standard against which country level performance can be both judged and explained through the application of empirical approaches in comparative politics. It argues further that different kinds of human rights measures (events, standards, surveys, and official statistics) and comparative methods (large-N, small-N and single-country studies) offer systematic ways in which to map, explain, and understand the variation in human rights abuse around the world. In this way, the comparative politics of human rights is prime example of how the 'is' of the world can be used to address the 'ought' of international human rights theory, philosophy, and law. The example of human rights analysis in comparative politics shows a strong role for value-based and problem-based research that remains systematic in its approach while at the same producing outputs that are of public value.1 IntroductionIn late 1989, I was working in the photographic laboratory in the Lauinger Library at Georgetown University when a Jesuit Priest arrived one morning with a roll of film that he wanted us to develop. He asked that we make ten copies of the pictures on the roll. In those pre-digital days, my boss and I stood in the darkroom shaking the can, drying the film, and then printing the pictures. We were not prepared for what we were about to see. The pictures had been smuggled out of El Salvador and were of the scene at the Pastoral Centre of José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) where six Jesuit priests along with a maid and her daughter were killed. 1 The images that confronted us were not what was reported in the mainstream press (i.e. that they were simply shot). Rather, we saw the brutal end results not only of a 'simple' set of extra-judicial killings, but the result of a manner of killing that has left an indelible mark on me ever since. The official truth commission in El Salvador presented strong evidence that not only had the military given the orders to carry out the murders but that the officers involved also engaged in a cover up. 2 The facts of the case and the images that I developed those many years ago illustrate a basic point about the enduring capacity of human beings to do horrible things to one another, which for me led to the deontological conclusion that what I saw was morally wrong and which has galvanised my commitment to a lifetime of human rights research.In 2000, I found myself in João Pessoa, the Eastern most tip of South America for lectures and a field visit to the contested countryside in the state of Paraíba, which is dominated by agriculture and the production of leather. Our field visit was to the sugar cane fields to the West of João Pessoa to meet with officials of the Comissão Pastoral da Terra (Pastoral Land Commission, CPT) and activists f...

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“…55 A theory of the conditions under which gross human rights violations are more likely to be carried out can be tested through careful case selection.…”

Section: Building From the Ground Upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigorous Morality: Norms, Values, and the Comparative Politics of Human Rights

Landman¹

2016

hrq

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Notably, in this study, it is risky to claim that the comparability requirement of doing multi-case study is favorably met, since the controlled comparison across cases is almost not possible for nature events (George and Bennett 2005;Gerring 2004), and the three cases are hierarchically at two levels (one generic case of national mitigation policy making and two nested cases of specific mitigation programs). However, since all the three cases follow the same analytic framework and share overlapping timeframe, some factors and features are summarized to reflect the commonality or uniqueness of China's climate change policy processes.…”

Section: Results Of the Cross-case Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The purpose of the using multi-case study approach is to enhance the generality of understanding a broader phenomenon (Gerring 2004), and enhance the probability of capturing novel findings that may exist in data (Eisenhart 1989). The three cases of different policy arrangements can contribute to a better understanding of the nature of China's policy making process on climate change and of roles and influences of policy networks involved in the process.…”

Section: Results Of the Cross-case Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the multiple case study design may implicitly enhance the representativeness of the study, making case studies more generalizable, the cross-case analysis also suggests a weakness of comparability. As Gerring (2004) claims, the tradeoff between comparability and representativeness is intrinsic to the case study choice of research design. Given that three selected cases are different but mutually related mitigation arrangements, it should be noted that in the study, the cross-case analysis is used to comparatively generalize some commonalities of key features in processing climate mitigation policies in China.…”

Section: Within-case Analysis and Cross-case Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The other cases will be nested within this broad case, and aim to provide unique evidence linking policy networks and outcomes. This arrangement generally belongs to the "hierarchical time-series and comparative-historical" type of case research design developed by Gerring (2004).…”

Section: Case Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Understanding China’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy Development: Structures, Processes and Outcomes

Liu¹

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The study finds that the Chinese central government dominates domestic climate change policy making; however, expanded action networks that involve actors at all levels have emerged in correspondence to diverse climate mitigation policy arrangements. The improved openness and accessibility of climate change policy network have contributed to its proactive engagement in promoting mitigation outcomes.In conclusion, the research suggests that the policy network approach provides a useful tool for studying China's climate change policy making process. The involvement of various types of state and non-state actors has shaped new relations and affected the policy outcomes and changes. In addition, through the cross-case analysis, the study challenges the "fragmented authoritarianism" model and argues that this once-influential model is not appropriate in explaining new development and changes of policy making processes in contemporary China.

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Outsourcing Canadian Armed Forces logistics in a foreign theatre

2015

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Successful outsourcing of military logistics depends much on cooperation and efficiency, and this article provides an in‐depth analysis of challenges this may pose using collaborative competence theory. Using an exploratory approach, this paper is based on a review of the existing literature and on the experience of the Canadian Armed Forces in a foreign theatre. Specifically, the information collected comes from on‐site observation during the UN mission in Bosnia, semistructured interviews, and archives. Our analysis shows that outsourcing military logistics activities in a foreign theatre should be seen as building and managing a “temporary network.” In order to overcome challenges in such a situation, the Armed Forces must specifically act on the adaptability of all individuals in the theatre. The approach should be based on “collaborative competence.” Copyright © 2015 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?

Cited by 283 publications

References 0 publications

Rigorous Morality: Norms, Values, and the Comparative Politics of Human Rights

Rigorous Morality: Norms, Values, and the Comparative Politics of Human Rights

Understanding China’s Climate Change Mitigation Policy Development: Structures, Processes and Outcomes

Outsourcing Canadian Armed Forces logistics in a foreign theatre

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