Process Tracing Methodology I – Foundations and Design - Rasmus Brun Pedersen

This course is an introduction to Process Tracing methodology as a within-case research design. The relative strength of Process Tracing methods is that they enable us to study causal mechanisms in single case studies. Causal mechanisms are theories that detail how an outcome is produced. The course starts with an introduction to recent innovations in PT research design, and discusses how it differs from other case study methods, along with internal debates about what exactly PT is. The course then turns to an introduction of the ontological and epistemological foundations of the method, followed by a practical introduction to topics such as how we should conceptualize theoretical concepts and causal mechanisms in a manner that can be studied empirically using PT, case selection strategies, and how PT studies can be nested in mixed-methods designs in order to enable us to infer beyond the bounds of the single case. The course can be taken as a stand-alone course that introduces the PT research design, but the course is best taken together with the second week course (Process-tracing II), which discusses how PT can be used to make causal inferences, and practical questions relating to working with in-depth, qualitative evidence in case studies. The course requires active participation. Most benefit is to be expected if participants are able to use parts of their own research in the exercises during the course. Short Bio Rasmus Pedersen is an Associate Professor at the University of Aarhus. His research areas include Foreign Policy, European Integration and Qualitative Methods development. He has published several articles. He has co-authored a book on Process Tracing methodology that was published in 2013 (University of Michigan Press), and currently is engaged in writing a book on Causal Case Study Methods together with Derek Beach (contracted with University of Michigan Press).

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