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Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Comparative Policy Analysis

9781788111188 Edward Elgar Publishing

Handbooks of Research Methods and Applications series

Edited by B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of Government, University of Pittsburgh, US and Guillaume Fontaine, Senior Researcher, Head of the Comparative Policy Lab, FLACSO, Ecuador

Publication Date: 2020 ISBN: 978 1 78811 118 8 Extent: 424 pp

Public policy research has become increasingly comparative over the past several decades, but the methodological issues involved in this research have not been discussed adequately. This Handbook provides a discussion of the fundamental methodological issues in comparative policy research, as well as descriptions and analyses of major techniques used for that research. The techniques discussed are both quantitative and qualitative, and all are embedded in the broader discussion of comparative research design.

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Contributors

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This timely Handbook offers a wide-ranging examination of contemporary comparative policy analysis (CPA), advancing the understanding of methodology in the study of comparative public policies, and broadening the array of methods and techniques deployed by scholars in the field.

Internationally acclaimed contributors overcome the current concentration on quantitative techniques, engaging with a more conscious and comprehensive selection of methods to improve the quality of CPA. Providing an overview of the major theoretical issues currently under discussion in CPA and the methodological shift in social sciences, this Handbook argues for the utilization of a range of alternative approaches to maximize the utility of the research.

Far-reaching and comprehensive, this Handbook offers an insightful overview of methods for researchers of CPA looking to broaden their methodological repertoire. It will also be useful for students of public policy and the social sciences in need of a guide to contemporary research methods and applications.

Critical Acclaim

‘The Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Comparative Policy Analysis is a must-read book for those interested in advancing in the field of public policy.’
– Gabriela Lotta, Brazilian Political Science Review

‘An excellent, timely and accessible collection by internationally renowned contributors, this Handbook provides cutting-edge treatment of methods in comparative public policy, as well as their strengths and weaknesses for addressing theoretical issues. It is an absolute must for students, teachers and policy analysts, and I warmly recommend it to them.’
– Moshe Maor, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Contributors

Contributors: C. Anckar, D. Beach, L. Chaqués-Bonafont, D. Dickson, K. Dowding, A.S. Dubé, W.N. Dunn, T. Erkkilä, G. Fontaine, I. Geva-May, F. Gilardi, A.D. Henry, D.C. Hoffman, K. Ingold, G. Jaramillo, P. John, M.D. Jones, A. Kay, P. Marier, A. Molenveld, J. Muhleisen, D. Nohrstedt, R. Pacheco-Vega, B.G. Peters, O. Porto de Oliveira, J. Schnepf, H.B. Seeberg, A. Smith-Walter, E. Thomann, J. Tosun, C.M. Weible, B. Wüest

Contents

Contents:

List of contributors xi
1 Introduction to the Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in
Comparative Policy Analysis 1
B. Guy Peters and Guillaume Fontaine

PART I THE METHODOLOGICAL DEBATE
2 The comparative method and comparative policy analysis 20
B. Guy Peters

3 The most-similar and most-different systems design in comparative
policy analysis 33
Carsten Anckar

4 Can a case study test a theory? Types and tokens in comparative policy
analysis 49
Keith Dowding

PART II THEORETICAL CHALLENGES
5 Comparing policy processes: insights and lessons from the Advocacy
Coalition Framework research program 67
Daniel Nohrstedt, Christopher M. Weible, Karin Ingold and Adam D. Henry

6 Comparing agenda-settings: the Comparative Agendas Project 90
Laura Chaqués Bonafont, Christoffer Green-Pedersen and Henrik Bech Seeberg

7 Comparing historical cases: advances in comparative historical research 113
Grace Jaramillo

8 Comparing international policy transfers 134
Osmany Porto de Oliveira

PART III MEASUREMENT AND EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
9 Using experiments in comparative policy analysis: from policy evaluation
to the policy process 153
Peter John

10 Measuring change in comparative policy analysis: concepts and empirical
approaches 167
Jale Tosun and Julia Schnepf

11 Using indexes in comparative policy analysis: global comparisons 186
Tero Erkkilä

12 Using text-as-data methods in comparative policy analysis 203
Fabrizio Gilardi and Bruno Wüest

PART IV MIXED METHODS AND MULTI-METHODS
13 Critical multiplism for comparative policy analysis 219
William N. Dunn and B. Guy Peters

14 Causal case studies for comparative policy analysis 238
Derek Beach

15 Qualitative Comparative Analysis for comparative policy analysis 254
Eva Thomann

16 Process tracing for comparative policy analysis: a realist approach 277
Guillaume Fontaine

PART V QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES
17 Using focus groups in comparative policy analysis 297
Patrik Marier, Daniel Dickson and Anne-Sophie Dubé

18 Using ethnography in comparative policy analysis: premises, promises
and perils 312
Raul Pacheco-Vega

19 Using Q methodology in comparative policy analysis 333
Astrid Molenveld

20 Using the Narrative Policy Framework in comparative policy analysis 348
Aaron Smith-Walter and Michael D. Jones

PART VI ISSUES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
21 Trends in the development of comparative policy analysis 367
Iris Geva-May, David C. Hoffman and Joselyn Muhleisen

22 Evolutionary theory in comparative policy analysis 385
Adrian Kay

Index 401