Data, Field Work, and Extracting New Ideas at Close Range

Abstract

Good research in comparative politics depends on the collection and availability of many different forms of data, and also on diverse approaches to data analysis. Attention must be given to collecting and archiving of quantitative data sets; to the role of intensive field research; and to the opportunities for publishing studies based on rich qualitative data. Although organizing research by moving from theory to data is a fundamental component of the comparative politics enterprise, inductive, case-study research driven by a process of “extracting new ideas at close range” likewise makes a major contribution, and it is essential to the intellectual breadth of comparative politics.