Small-N And Case Study Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Small-n and case studies are two methods of qualitative research used in political science and other social sciences. Small-n studies (with n referring to the number of subjects or cases in a study) are the opposite of large-N quantitative projects that involve significant amounts of data or observations.

Central to small-n studies is the idea that by only using a limited number of subjects or cases, a researcher can develop a much more detailed and nuanced set of information. Consequently, researchers may be better able to identify casual relationships, such as if A, then B. One major problem of small-n studies is their limited ability to account for all variables that led to a particular outcome.

A case study is a comprehensive analysis of an individual, group, model, or historical period (small-n studies can be case studies). Case studies do not necessarily seek to develop broad general theories, but instead present casual relationships that exist under a specific set of circumstances that may or may not be replicable elsewhere. Some case studies, generally known as deviant or extreme, seek to explain why some cases do not conform to expected norms, while others, known as paradigmatic do allow researchers to develop generalizations about cause and effect.

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