Qualitative Approaches
These pages cover the close-reading and case-based methods I supervise most often. The analyst’s judgment is central here: you decide what the evidence means, why a comparison is fair, and how far the claim can travel.
Students often combine these methods with each other. They also pair them with computational tools for sampling or validation. For that side of the split, see Computational & Quantitative Approaches.
Common qualitative methods
Comparative Case Study
Compare cases under an explicit selection logic, usually MSSD or MDSD
Process Tracing
Trace a proposed causal mechanism inside a case
Framing Analysis
Study how texts define a problem and make some responses seem sensible
Discourse Analysis
Analyze how language makes identities, threats, and authority
Combining qualitative and computational approaches
Qualitative and computational methods can be paired when each has a defined role. Common pairings include these.
- Framing analysis + topic analysis. A topic model surfaces candidate frames in a large corpus, and you read closely within each cluster.
- Discourse analysis + keyword-in-context tooling. The computational side locates passages worth reading, while the interpretive judgment stays with you.
- Comparative case study + descriptive corpus statistics. Aggregate measures such as volume or keyword prevalence can support the cross-case interpretation.
- Process tracing + digital archives. Computational search helps identify causal-process observations you might otherwise miss.
The Computational & Quantitative Approaches page covers the methods on the other side of the split.
Overview and other methods
Still choosing a path? Return to the Methods overview.