Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research

by Gary King, Sidney Verba, Robert O. Keohane

Book Overview

While heated arguments between practitioners of qualitative and quantitative research have begun to test the very integrity of the social sciences, Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba have produced a farsighted and timely book that promises to sharpen and strengthen a wide range of research performed in this field. These leading scholars, each representing diverse academic traditions, have developed a unified approach to valid descriptive...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691034710
• ISBN13: 9780691034713
• Release Date: May 1994
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

perfect tool for students and teachers

the KKV (king, Keohane and Verba) is one the best tool for beginners in research for social, political, International Relations students or academics. it delivers advices and problems that researchers will come across at one moment of the research life. it also offers a good overview and critical analysis of what research is. the authors make sure the heavy subject that is reasearch in social sciences is not too heavy to read. the books approaches the different methodologies that research will have to chose. if not owned yet, it is in need to be buy and must belong the student private library.

Qualitative quality

A lot of the other reviews give great insight into what this book is and isn't. I simply want to say that this book is excellent as a guide to what an optimal qualitative reasearch design should be, if it is to be as valid and reliable as possible. Qualitative research seems like a "haven" for researchers that want to follow their "heart" or "feelings", and this book contends unscientific research in a way that surely offends many of these researchers. Not that feelings should be excluded, it's just that the design must be more than a subjective view presented as research, and this book will help, even if you don't agree with everything they say.

All the advantages and disadvantages of statistical reasoning applied to qualitative political scien

This book takes the basic logic of statistical inference and applies it to qualitative research design in political science. As several reviewers note, it is not a book on statistics, nor indeed does it pretend to be. However, it extends the logic of statistical research design into nonquantitative research. That much it does very well. By thinking about how to test hypotheses and how to increase variation in a qualitative research design, it has been very influential. Most important, it has sparked extensive criticism, modifying and delineating its claims. The book has some amusing flaws. Most of the examples come from the authors' colleagues and graduate students at Harvard, which suggests either that good research is not done by people without that connection or that the authors don't read anything written by people who don't have an office down the hall. The two non-quantitative coauthors have both done extensive qualitative research that demonstrably violates the advice given here--both before and after this book. This is evidence that the advice is hard to follow, that they have not read the book, or that good scholars take other factors into consideration when designing research. The last hypothesis is in fact the right one. There are many factors that go into good research design, and positivistic hypothesis testing provides only a few. Even many of the examples they give are less appropriate than appears at first glance, addressing evidence that goes well beyond what this book's advice would be. In short, don't rely on this as a bible. Don't believe its claims that all good research must meet these standards. Still, it's a good handbook for what it seeks to accomplish.

Contrary to what my colleague from the Netherlands thinks...

Hands down, this is one of the best texts of qualitative methodology available for the political scientist. The ideas and arguments made in this volume are very pertinent to study creation. Moreover, King et al. are both willing and able to criticize one of the most common logical fallacies that we find in the literature: the misuse of inference. What my colleague from the Netherlands overlooks is the clear and oft-stated differentiation between correlation and how it applies to THEORIES OF CAUSATION. By not reading the text in a clear way, my colleague has also confused the issue of theory vs. hypothesis as well as the focus of the work on testing hypotheses derived from theories objectively. The mathematical notations used are SPECIFIED as only being applicable in the abstract. In fact, one does not need the math to understand the points made. Moreover, my colleague notes that there are some problems with categorization, despite the fact that King et al acknowledge that if you can't categorize it or find data on it, then you should change your hypotheses and try again. Quite honestly, I question whether or not this gentleman bothered to read the book. I don't see how the points made in this volume could be any clearer. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking an all encompassing approach to qualitative analysis. However, if you are a person that sees little or no value to testing theories or are very polarized in the qualitative vs. quantitative debate, then you are most likely better off reading a good novel than this book.

Want to Avoid Being Hoodwinked? Here's A Way To Learn!

Especially in an election year, the careful and critical examination of public policy and statistical findings is essential. In "Designing Inquiry..." King, Verba and Keohane explain basic statistical and methodological concepts previously only understandable to those studying the advanced social sciences. Concepts such as "endogeneity" and other logical fallacies are explained in language that is easy for the layman to understand, and in enough detail to be a gem for experts in the social sciences. The book explains in simple detail concepts that could be used by anyone to fairly evaluate the results of any study, and does it in a way that anyone can understand. Given the fact that many studies are passed off as "scientific" by journalists, politicians, and special interest groups when, in reality, they are fundamentally flawed, this book offers anyone the opportunity to learn how to critically evaluate studies, and how to reject studies t! hat are often utilized more to fool the voting public and appeal to emotion rather than logic. This book is one of the most significant ones of the decade, and should be read by all wanting to critically participate in a world where the term "scientific study" is often used more as an attempt to convince people of flawed findings rather than logically grounded results.Sean A. McKitrick