Short set of slides on the Limitations to Comparative Analysis, prepared for a graduate course in Comparative Political Economy that I taught in 2004.

1. THE LIMITS TO
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

2. Comparison 101
• Comparison allows us to:
– Validate/refute existing theories
– Develop new theories
– Make inferences
– Draw conclusions
• This begs the question of what kind of
theories, inferences and conclusions
we are making.

3. Distinguishing Approaches
• Nomothetic
– Concerned with applying or deriving
general (global) theories.
– Examines the content of a phenomenon/
relationship.
– Entails examining a large number of
cases.
– Possesses large external validity.

4. Distinguishing Approaches
• Idiographic
– Concerned with particular cases or
occurrences (narrow-guage theorizing).
– More concerned with the context
surrounding a phenomenon/relationship.
– Entails examining a small number of cases.
– Possesses large internal validity.

5. Idiographic v. Nomothetic:
More
An Illustration N
Abstract o
m
LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION
o
t
h
e
t
i
c
More
Specific Idiographic
One Few Many
Case Cases Cases
NUMBER OF CASES