Integrated Inferences : Causal Models for Qualitative and Mixed-Method Research

Introduces a Bayesian approach to the use of causal models to design and carry out qualitative and mixed-methods research. Addressed to researchers across the social sciences, this book shows how causal models allow us to combine extensive and intensive data strategies to answer both general and case-specific causal questions.

There is a growing consensus in the social sciences on the virtues of research strategies that combine quantitative with qualitative tools of inference. Integrated Inferences develops a framework for using causal models and Bayesian updating for qualitative and mixed-methods research. By making, updating, and querying causal models, researchers are able to integrate information from different data sources while connecting theory and empirics in a far more systematic and transparent manner than standard qualitative and quantitative approaches allow. This book provides an introduction to fundamental principles of causal inference and Bayesian updating and shows how these tools can be used to implement and justify inferences using within-case (process tracing) evidence, correlational patterns across many cases, or a mix of the two. The authors also demonstrate how causal models can guide research design, informing choices about which cases, observations, and mixes of methods will be most useful for addressing any given question.