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Process Tracing Methods

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Handbuch Methoden der Politikwissenschaft

Abstract

Process tracing is a method that aims to trace causal mechanisms as they play out in real-world cases using in-depth case studies. The analytical focus is on understanding the processes whereby causes contribute to produce outcomes, opening up what is going on in the causal arrow in-between. Process tracing can be used to build or test theories of causal mechanisms. Used to test theories, engaging in process tracing first requires theorizing the causal process to some degree, either in more minimalist terms or unpacking the process into parts composed of entities engaging in activities, followed by the operationalization of expected observable manifestations of the operation of the mechanism in a case. Theory building involves a bottom-up search in the empirical record, using existing theories and case knowledge as inspiration, for systematic patterns in the empirical record that can be evidence of an underlying causal mechanism in operation. In order to generalize from the findings of single process tracing case studies, comparative methods are required.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Derek Beach

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  1. Derek Beach
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Correspondence to Derek Beach .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Claudius Wagemann

  2. Institut für Politikwissenschaft (IfP), Universität Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

    Achim Goerres

  3. Hochschule für Politik München, TU München, München, Germany

    Markus B. Siewert

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Beach, D. (2020). Process Tracing Methods. In: Wagemann, C., Goerres, A., Siewert, M.B. (eds) Handbuch Methoden der Politikwissenschaft. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16936-7_43

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-16936-7_43

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