Course Co-Directors: Levente Littvay (CEU Democracy Institute, Budapest) and Inna Melnykovska (European University Institute)
Can we compare apples and pears? Social scientists do it all the time – but meaningful comparison requires careful choices about what, why, and how we compare. This course introduces students to the logic, design, and application of comparative methods for explaining variation, developing theoretical arguments, and drawing causal inferences across cases. Through methodological readings and practical exercises, students learn to formulate comparative research questions, select cases, design systematic comparisons, and assess the strengths and limitations of different comparative approaches.
Module 1: The Logic of Comparison
Introduces comparative research questions, concepts and measurement, units and levels of analysis, case- and variable-oriented approaches, and challenges of causal inference and causal complexity.
Module 2: Choosing and Comparing Cases
Examines case selection and comparative case-study designs, including most-similar and most-different systems, paired comparisons, typical and deviant cases, small-N research, and the combination of cross-case and within-case analysis.
Module 3: From Cases to Configurations – QCA
Introduces Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as a set-theoretic approach to comparison. Topics include necessary and sufficient conditions, equifinality, causal asymmetry, calibration, truth tables, Boolean minimization, and crisp-set and fuzzy-set QCA.