ARGUMENTS ON THE INFERENCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF CASE STUDY DESIGNS

Abstract

This paper argues about the strong reasons for justification of Case Study designs in political science and in public policy analysis. Cases can be justified from four main reasons: equifinality, causal heterogeneity, counterfactuals, and causal mechanisms, that are different paths to cope with the “Complexity Problem” that is usual in policy analysis. Moreover, it provides an original typology — the KSTC Framework — that are build to understand how to better combine the four constitutive dimensions of a Case Study Design: Contingency (K); Substance (S); Theory (T); and Causation (C). The inferential quality depends on how these four dimensions are arranged in a case design. In the final section it is suggested that there is an effective criterion to design case studies.