Process-Tracing Methods: Foundations and Guidelines
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Beach and Pedersen's approach of treating statement X as the evidence and assessing the probability that X is accurate as an additional, distinct, hypothesis-independent component cannot work, because the accuracy of information X must depend on the hypothesis under consideration.
“This approach cannot work, because in general, the accuracy of information X must depend on the hypothesis under consideration”
From Explicit Bayesian Analysis for Process Tracing: Guidelines, Opportunities, and Caveats (2017) · cites this paper as Beach and Pedersen (2013:126-29)
Process-tracing (PT) as a distinct case study methodology involves tracing causal mechanisms that link causes (X) with their effects (Y).
“It is widely agreed that the core of Process-tracing (PT) as a distinct case study methodology is that it involves tracing causal mechanisms that link causes (X) with their effects (i.e. outcomes) (Y)”
From It's all about mechanisms – what process-tracing case studies should be tracing (2016) · cites this paper as Beach and Pedersen, 2013
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- Authors
- Beach, D., & Pedersen, R.
- Venue
- University of Michigan Press eBooks
- Publisher
- University of Michigan Press
- Published
- 2013
- OpenAlex
- W4234465239
- Cited by
- 1,140
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 136 · 2025: 97 · 2024: 98 · 2023: 85 · 2022: 90 · 2021: 69 · 2020: 154 · 2019: 85 · 2018: 123 · 2017: 84 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 39.15
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- University of Michigan Press eBooks (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Qualitative Comparative Analysis Research
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Science Research and Education
- Keywords
- process tracing, causal inference, qualitative research, causal mechanisms, historical causation
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