The DOI matches its Crossref record; 190 of the 198 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Causal Mechanisms: Yes, But…
Abstract
In recent years, the importance of mechanism-centered explanation has become an article of faith within the social sciences, uniting researchers from a wide variety of methodological traditions—quantitative and qualitative, experimental and nonexperimental, nomothetic and idiographic, formal models and narrative prose. Despite its many virtues, there are reasons to be skeptical of social science’s newfound infatuation with causal mechanisms. First, the concept of a mechanism-centered (“mechanismic”) explanation is fundamentally ambiguous, meaning different things to different people. Second, the minimal objectives associated with the turn to mechanisms—to specify causal mechanisms and engage in detailed causal reasoning—are not at variance with traditional practices in the social sciences and thus hardly qualify as a distinct approach to causal assessment. Finally, the more demanding goal of rigorously testing causal mechanisms in causal arguments is admirable but often unrealistic. To clarify, this is not a polemic against mechanisms. It is a polemic against a dogmatic interpretation of the mechanismic mission. Causal mechanisms are rightly regarded as an important, but secondary, element of causal assessment—by no means a necessary condition.
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Metadata
- Authors
- Gerring, J.
- Affiliations
- Boston University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Gerring, John
- ORCID
- Gerring, John
- Venue
- Comparative Political Studies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-07-28
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1499-1526
- ISSN
- 0010-4140 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3829
- OpenAlex
- W2106833468
- Cited by
- 279
- References
- 198
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 72 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 19
- FWCI
- 49.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Comparative Political Studies (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy of Biology and Scientific Explanation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
- Keywords
- causal mechanisms, causal reasoning, causality assessment, social science methodology, causal inference
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