Teaching Process Tracing: Exercises and Examples

Abstract

Learning and teaching process tracing is an important goal, both for qualitative researchers and for scholars who wish to supplement other methodologies with insights from within-case analysis. The examples and exercises presented here are intended to accompany “Understanding Process Tracing” (Collier 2011) and are cross-referenced to that article. The examples span the fields of American politics, international relations, comparative politics, and public health, as well as detective fiction: a Sherlock Holmes mystery story. In the framework of the Collier article, good description and careful causal inference are both central to process tracing. The examples address both of these challenges, and the exercises are grouped according to whether they focus on description or causal assessment.