Case Studies and (Causal-) Process Tracing

Abstract

Case-study research has been defined by Yin as an in-depth investigation of (contemporary) phenomena in a real-life context, particularly equipped to answer how and why questions (2009: pp. 8–18). Yin and other authors of case studies offer various analytical strategies for studying one of a few cases in depth, ranging from theoretically informed pattern matching (Yin, 2009) to strongly inductive approaches (Stake, 1995). This chapter deals with one specific approach: Causal-Process Tracing (CPT). This methodological approach is particularly well suited to answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions because it focuses on the causal conditions, configurations and mechanisms which make a specific outcome possible. It is outcome (Y)-centred, which means that the researcher is interested in the many and complex causes of a specific outcome and not so much in the effects of a specific cause (X). In other words, CPT is geared to answer questions like ‘why did this (Y) happen?’ Furthermore, its aim is to reveal the sequential and situational interplay between causal conditions and mechanisms in order to show in detail how these causal factors generate the outcome of interest.