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Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case forNon-probability Sampling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2007

Oisín Tansey
Oisín Tansey
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Extract

This article explores the relationship between the method of processtracing and the data collection technique of elite interviewing. Theprocess tracing method has become an increasingly used and citedtool in qualitative research, a trend that has recently acceleratedwith the publication of Alexander George and Andrew Bennett's text(2005), Case Studies andTheory Development in the Social Sciences. That bookoutlines and explores the process tracing method in detail,highlighting its advantages for exploring causal processes andanalyzing complex decision-making. Yet while the book presents arigorous and compelling account of the process tracing method andits critical importance to case study research, the value of themethod itself remains contested in some quarters, and there areaspects of George and Bennett's treatment of it that require furtherexploration.

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Type
THE PROFESSION
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PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , October 2007 , pp. 765 - 772
Copyright
© 2007 The American Political Science Association

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