Measurement and Data Aggregation in Small-n Social Scientific Research

Leuffen, Dirk; Shikano, Susumu; Walter, Stefanie

Measurement and Data Aggregation in Small-n Social Scientific Research

Dateien

Leuffen_194283.pdfGröße: 301.69 KBDownloads: 404

Datum

2012

Autor:innen

Leuffen, Dirk

Shikano, Susumu

Walter, Stefanie

Open Access-Veröffentlichung

Open Access Green

Sammlungen

Politik- und Verwaltungswissenschaft

Publikationstyp

Zeitschriftenartikel

Publikationsstatus

Published

Erschienen in

European Political Science. 2012, 12(1), pp. 40-51. ISSN 1680-4333. eISSN 1682-0983. Available under: doi: 10.1057/eps.2012.8

Zusammenfassung

How should small-n researchers aggregate the information collected during their research in an effort to measure the relevant theoretical concepts with high levels of validity and reliability? This article specifically focuses on the method of triangulation, which is frequently used in process-tracing approaches. We introduce and theorise different aggregation strategies commonly used in triangulation, such as weighted and simple averages or ‘the winner takes it all’ strategy. We then evaluate their performance with regard to their proneness to measurement error using computer simulations. Our simulation results show that averaging different information sources, in general, outperforms other aggregation strategies. However, this is not the case if poorly informed sources are biased in a similar direction; in these situations the 'winner takes it all' strategy shows a superior performance.

Fachgebiet (DDC)

320 Politik

Zitieren

ISO 690

LEUFFEN, Dirk, Susumu SHIKANO, Stefanie WALTER, 2012. Measurement and Data Aggregation in Small-n Social Scientific Research. In: European Political Science. 2012, 12(1), pp. 40-51. ISSN 1680-4333. eISSN 1682-0983. Available under: doi: 10.1057/eps.2012.8

BibTex

@article{Leuffen2012Measu-19428,
  year={2012},
  doi={10.1057/eps.2012.8},
  title={Measurement and Data Aggregation in Small-n Social Scientific Research},
  number={1},
  volume={12},
  issn={1680-4333},
  journal={European Political Science},
  pages={40--51},
  author={Leuffen, Dirk and Shikano, Susumu and Walter, Stefanie}
}

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Universitätsbibliographie

Ja