The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies
"If the book is taken as seriously as I think it should be, in a  very  short time it could transform the way in which comparative sociological  research  is done."  --Social Forces"In an interesting and clearly written fashion, [Ragin] deals  with the  very genuine problem in the social sciences of finding an appropriate  methodology to link ideas and evidence."  --R. P. Haining, Environment and  Planning"This is a readable and useful book . . . an extended essay on  one  particular method, which is easy to understand, easy to apply, and  generally  useful. The method itself is implemented in a computer technique. . . .  This  method will systematize the analysis and produce an elegant statement of  the  combination of conditions which lead to a divided working class  --provided there  are no contradictions in the data. Where there are contradictions,  Ragin's  method will identify these combinations of conditions that lead to an  ambiguous  result." (William Miller, Study of Public Policy"Without a doubt, Ragin has made an important contribution with  this  book. . . . [It] should be studied by any researcher doing case by case  comparisons, whether those cases be societies or organizations. This  book opens  a new field of comparative methodology. It will create new research  possibilities. It will stir new methodological debates.  Most important,  it will  allow us all, in a more sophisticated way, to get down to the task of  comparing  cases."  --Gary G. Hamilton, Contemporary Sociology