Systematic Process Analysis: when and how to use it

“Path-dependent models of the polity often specify an accumulation of interaction effects over time, creating so many divergent contextual effects in the cases that it becomes unreasonable to expect the same causal factor to produce similar effects in each of them (Mahoney, 2000a; Pierson, 2000).”

“…long-standing conventional wisdom about how social science advances.4 Under one rubric or another, it has been practiced to good effect, albeit with some variation, by many scholars, including Moore (1966), Skocpol (1979), Collier and Collier (1991), Rueschemeyer et al. (1992) and Moravcsik (1998).”

“As the familiar adage has it, research in social science is most likely to advance when it focuses on a 'three-cornered fight' among a theory, a rival theory, and a set of empirical observations (Lakatos, 1970).”

“This qualitative research method has been alternatively called “process tracing” (Collier 2011; Steinberg 2007), “systematic process analysis” (Hall 2008), and “causal-process observations” (Collier, Brady, and Seawright 2010).”

“10, Hall 2008, Shively 2006, p. 346).1 In the first scenario, one simply does not know why a certain cross-case pattern is in place and refrains from the formulation of hypotheses prior to the empirical analysis.”

“We employ process-tracing (Checkel, 2005; Hall, 2006) to find out where the proposals come from, who formulated them and when.”

“Detailed process tracing of the respective discussions about offshoring showed how each company came to an (opposed) view of what it saw as economically rational, in spite of similar economic conditions (see the method of process tracing in Hall, 2000, 2007).”

“…can be contrasted to the historically specific, which aims to provide a complete explanation of why a phenomenon occurred in a certain context, and the multivariate, which focuses on identifying a small set of variables that have a measurable impact on a broad class of events (Hall 2006, 25).”

“The above pattern of evidential reasoning is reminiscent of what social scientists have called ‘process tracing’ (George and Bennett, 2005; Hall, 2006; Mahoney and Goertz, 2006).”

“These case studies serve as a preliminary illustration of the theoretical considerations outlined above and are carried out as a ‘theory-oriented process analysis’ based on the reconstruction of events (Hall, 2008, p. 314).”

“Case studies also allow for hypothesis generation, theory confirming and infirming, the interpretation of deviant cases and historical analysis (Lijphart 1971; Hall 2006).”

“Second, we carried out systematic process analysis (Hall, 2006) to assess existing theories more care-fully.”

“Sie beschreiben, auf welche Weise unter bestimmten Bedingungen ein bestimmter Input ein bestimmtes Outcome erzeugt (Beach und Pedersen 2013, S. 1–2; Bennet 2010; George und Bennet 2005; Hall 2008; Hedström und Swedberg 1996, S. 299; Mayntz 2004, S. 241).”

“Supported by deep contextual knowledge, this research strategy enhances the study of political processes through the examination of empirical data with a qualitative and quantitative character (Hall, 2006).”

“A. Indirect method of difference The comparative method has been used by many democratization specialists who concluded that other methodological tools such as statistical or experimental methods are either inappropriate or miss certain key aspects of regime transitions (Hall 2006, 27).”

“To analyse our cases we followed the method of historical process-tracing (George & Bennett, 2005, pp. 205–232; Hall, 2006).”

“This suggestion follows the theory-oriented explanation approach of Hall (2006) based on matching empirical evidence with theoretically derived process patterns.”

“Current research favours the use of process tracing to generate explanations based on the operation of mechanisms (see Beach and Pedersen, 2012, forthcoming; Bennet, 2010; Bennett and Checkel, 2014; Charbonneau et al., forthcoming; Collier, 2011; Falleti, 2016; Hall, 2008).”

“Anstatt solch eines psychologisierenden Zugangs rekonstruierte es mittels einer Prozessanalyse, wie moralische Argumente als soziale Sachverhalte den Verhandlungsverlauf dokumentierbar beeinflussten (vgl. methodologisch hall 2002, 2007).”

“PT was then extensively developed by several scholars (e.g. Collier, 2011; George and Bennett, 2005; Hall, 2006; Mahoney, 2012) and, more recently, introduced into evaluation scholarship (e.”

“…consists in the identification of ‘causal variables said to conduce to a specific type of outcome to be explained as well as an accompanying account, whichmay bemore or less formal, about how those and other variables interact in the causal chain that leads to the outcome’ (Hall 2008, 309).”

“To reveal policy learning and transfer dynamics in Vancouver, we adopt the systematic process analysis (SPA) methodology recommended by Hall (2006) and apply the analytical model for assessing policy transfer introduced by Dolowitz and Marsh (1996); Dolowitz and Marsh (2000)).”

“The study used a qualitative systematic process analysis approach (modelled on Hall, 2008).”

“In the process-tracing method, the investigator begins by formulating a set of theories that identify the potential casual variables thought to have great impacts on the outcome (Hall, 2008).”

“…new light on the interest group literature which has systematically found that advocacy groups prefer to engage in cooperative exchanges with likeminded policymakers rather than persuade opposing policymakers (e.g. Beyers and Hanegraaff 2017; Chalmers 2011; Crombez 2002; Gullberg 2008; Hall 2006).”

“In particular, the article analyzes the correlation between EU aid and changes seen in Macedonia’s police and conducts a process- tracing analysis (Checkel, 2005; Hall, 2006).”

“I employed the process-tracing method (Beach and Pedersen 2019; Hall 2006; Starke 2013) to identify the mechanism that led to the adoption of the externalisation policy in Denmark.”

“…evidence for the variables ideas, interests, and framings with governmental positions and actions: ‘The point is to see if the multiple actions and statements of the actors at each stage of the causal process are consistent with the image of the world implied by the theory’ (Hall 2008, 311).”

“The findings are driven by theory-oriented process tracing (Hall 2008).”

“Hall (2006) suggests that there are four steps in a contextual explanation: theory formation (the research question), deriving predictions (presented here in the literature review), observations (presented in the findings section), and conclusions (presented in the discussion, future research and conclusion sections).…”

“1 Hall (2008) draws a related distinction between ‘historically specific’ and ‘multivariate’ explanations.”

“This approach is also known as systematic process analysis (Hall, 2006).”

“Process tracing is therefore employed to identify institutional development patterns and explicate the mechanisms underlying policy changes (Beach and Pedersen 2013; Hall 2008).”

“We employ a ‘systematic process analysis’ (Hall 2008) to delve into the negotiations and identify the mechanisms leading to the failure of the talks, from the court judgement of May 2019 to the national elections in late 2023.”

“…to incorporate diverse evidence sources (Gonzalez-Ocantos & LaPorte, 2021), conduct within-case analysis (Green et al., 2022), examine evidence in a temporal sequence (Collier et al., 2010) and engage in both theory-testing and theory-building (Hall, 2006; Mahoney, 2015; Schimmelfennig, 2014).”

“It is particularly suitable for this research because it allows incrementally examining developments on the timeline that are part of a sequence of events or “ processes that are path dependent or rooted in strategic interaction ” (Hall, 2006, p. 29; Morgan, 2016; Collier, 2011).”

“Actors and their coalitions will support policy outputs when they resonate with their policy core beliefs (Hall 2006).”

“To capture the role of local institutions and state entanglement for radical tax reforms, this paper uses a systematic process analysis approach after Hall (2006).”

“I analyse the (non‐) decision through the phases of agenda‐setting, negotiation, and removal from the agenda, using systematic process tracing (Hall, 2008) to relate the explanatory categories to the historical narrative.”

“The explanatory function of case study has been subject to query because of the small-N problem (Collier, 1993; Hall, 2008; Lieberson, 1991, 1994; Mahoney & Rueschemeyer, 2003; Ragin, 1997; Rueschemeyer & Stephens, 1997).”

“In contrast to other studies that involve large samples, our investigation of a relatively small number of cases provides a wealth of detail that we can leverage to extract cause–effect relationships from our theoretical constructs (Hall, 2006).”

“Dimitrov (2009), for 1 For instance, see Beach and Pedersen 2013; Bennett and Checkel 2014; Collier and Brady 2010; Hall 2008.”

“19 Therefore, process-tracing constitutes a suitable methodology for studies seeking to unveil the interplay between the conditions and the outcome.”

“HotNews.ro ’s media coverage was used to construct the timeline of Sorina’s trajectory in state care (Figure 1), forming the basis for a systematic process analysis (Hall, 2006).”

“Against this background, the ‘mechanism perspective’ favors ‘small-n research designs’ and ‘systematic process analysis’ (Hall 2006).”

“Finally, a great opportunity lies in using and developing qualitative methods for evaluating design processes, such as Systematic Process Analysis (Hall, 2006).”