
Paradigms and Sand Castles
Theory Building and Research Design in Comparative Politics
Barbara Geddes(Author)
The University of Michigan Press
Published on 8. August 2003
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-0-472-06835-7 (ISBN)
Description
Paradigms and Sand Castles demonstrates the relationship between thoughtful research design and the collection of persuasive evidence in support of theory. It teaches the craft of research through interesting and carefully selected examples from the field of comparative development studies.
Barbara Geddes is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Barbara Geddes is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Reviews / Votes
To read this book is to witness a teacher and problem solver at work. Geddes takes inspiration from the literature in comparative politics and develops strategies for evaluating its claims. In doing so, she accompanies students as they transit from being readers and consumers of texts to producers of knowledge. Geddes launches this journey from an engagement with the macrolevel themes that dominate our field and that bring to it the young and the committed; and she equips scholars to render these themes not only subjects of debate but also subjects of inquiry. There is a rich mind and skilled mentor behind this work."-Robert H. Bates, Harvard University"The quest for cumulative knowledge in comparative politics is Sisyphean in nature. Yet Barbara Geddes is able to push her boulder pretty far up that mountain. As she shows with examples from her own meticulous research designs, comparativists can succeed only by theorizing processes and putting the implications of their theories to test. Those who ignore the sage counsel presented in Paradigms and Sand Castles should prepare themselves for an avalanche of methodological criticism."-David D. Laitin, Stanford University
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
18 drawings, 47 tables
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 140 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-472-06835-7 (9780472068357)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Barbara Geddes is Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles.