Özet:

Process tracing is an essential analytical tool for causal and temporal inference in qualitative research. This article examines process tracing as a set theoretic method for within-case analysis, its inferential advantages and application for theory generation, identification of causal mechanisms, and theory testing. It explains the functions of process-tracing by referring to the qualitative and quantitative methodology distinction. It also elucidates the advantages of this method in approaching the issue of ‘plurality of causes’ by examples from the comparative politics literature, and demonstrates the process-tracing techniques application based on Bayesian logic for theory testing with case studies on Turkey’s indecision to participate in the Iraq War, the end of Cold War and Soviet ‘new thinking’, and local elections and urban politics in Turkey. It illustrates theory development strategies with case studies on the recognition of Turkish minorities in Balkans, the developmental states in East Asia, and the legacies of liberalism in Central America.

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