“Nested Analysis: Towards the Integration of Comparative Historical Analysis with other Social Science Methods,” in Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis

Author(s): Evan Lieberman 

Status/Format: Published

Date: 2015

Publication Type: Book Chapter

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Page Numbers: 240 - 263

Editor(s): James Mahoney, Kathleen Thelen

Abstract: 

In the decade following publication of the original edited volume, Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences (Mahoney and Rueschemeyer 2003), multimethod research became an important strand of comparative-historical analysis, which now warrants attention and reflection. Almost one-third of books published between 2003 and 2013 at leading university presses using comparative-historical analysis (CHA) also employ some form of quantitative analysis. In this chapter, I review the motivation for multimethod research and focus on a single variant, which I call “nested analysis.” I use that discussion as a point of departure for considering the possible integration of CHA with other forms of empirical analysis, including matching analyses and experimental methods.