Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

7.1 Explain the importance of case study designs to the study of political phenomena.

7.2 Identify the purposes of case study designs.

7.3 Describe the logic underlying the selection of cases and case comparison.

7.4 Explain the difference between a counterfactual and a mechanistic understanding of causation.

7.5 Describe how process tracing is used to establish causation.

7.6 Understand the limits to generalizing from case studies.