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This book draws on the work of many scholars over the past thirty years to raise the standards and explicate the procedures of theory-oriented case study methods. Further experience with theory-oriented case study research will no doubt lead to further refinements. This book seeks to advance earlier discussions of case study methods in three particular areas. First, in contrast to earlier discussions that focus on case comparisons, we emphasize that qualitative research usually involves a combination of cross-case comparisons and within-case analysis using the methods of congruence testing and process-tracing. Within-case methods of analysis can greatly reduce the well-known risks of inferential errors that can arise from using comparative methods alone. Second, we elaborate on the methods of congruence testing and process-tracing, discussing them in detail and providing examples from recent research. Third, we develop the concept of typological theorizing, which resembles both Robert K. Merton’s discussion of “middle-range theory” and Paul Lazarsfeld’s notion of a “property space.” We argue that typological theories involving several variables can better capture the complexity of social life than the two-variable typological theories that are common in the social sciences, and we offer methods for building typological theories in ways that keep this complexity manageable and clarify the task of selecting which cases to study.

In the process of writing this book, we have attempted through conferences, workshops, a web site, and other organized efforts to stimulate interest in improving and disseminating case study methods. In particular, together with Colin Elman of Arizona State University and David Collier of the University of California at Berkeley, we have established the Consortium on Qualitative Research Methods (CQRM), which sponsors an annual training institute in these methods for advanced graduate students and junior faculty. The institute convenes each January at Arizona State University, which generously funds the consortium with member departments and research institutes. In addition, we have assisted David Collier in the creation of a new Qualitative Methods section of the American Political Science Association. Information on both the Qualitative Methods Section and CQRM can be found on their shared web site (www.asu.edu/clas/polisci/cqrm/).

A note is in order regarding the development of our own interests in this subject and the division of labor in this book. Alexander George’s interest in case study methodology developed in the 1960s while he was a researcher at the RAND Corporation working on generic problems of avoiding and managing interstate conflict during the Cold War. The first of these problems concerned extended deterrence on behalf of weaker U.S. allies; soon thereafter the research program extended to problems of using coercive diplomacy to reverse an adversary’s action against an ally or friendly neutrals, and then to managing conflicts to avoid unwanted escalation.

George was interested in finding ways of studying historical instances of these generic problems that would permit valid, usable “lessons” to be drawn from case findings. These lessons should be formulated in ways that would help policy specialists diagnose accurately new cases of each of these phenomena so that informed judgments could be made in deciding whether and how to use one of these strategies in each new situation. George and his RAND colleagues found little in the academic literature that provided methods for studying historical experience from this perspective. Accordingly, it was necessary to devise a case study methodology to analyze past instances of each of these generic problems to identify conditions and procedures that were associated with successful or failed outcomes. The challenge was to find ways of doing comparative analysis of a number of instances of each generic problem in ways that would draw analytical explanations of each case into a broader, more