Sequence will tell! Integrating temporality into set-theoretic multi-method research combining comparative process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis

Abstract

This article brings together recent developments in the methodological literature on case selection in multi-method research (MMR), design of process tracing studies and the relevance of temporality in the explanation of political processes. It presents an extension of set-theoretic MMR by introducing a comparative process tracing (CPT) framework based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. To facilitate case selection for CPT, different types of cases in qualitative comparative analysis are defined. The CPT framework, then, specifies the cases to be compared in theory-testing or theory-building process tracing designs where the emphasis lies on the elaboration of the importance of timing and sequencing of conditions leading to an outcome.