Compare methods

	Comparative Historical Analysis	Process Tracing
Field	Political Science	Psychometrics
Family	Process / pipeline	Latent structure
Year of origin	1979	2005
Originator	Theda Skocpol, Barrington Moore, James Mahoney & Dietrich Rueschemeyer (tradition)	Alexander George, Andrew Bennett
Type	Macro-causal, case-based comparative method with temporal emphasis	Qualitative causal inference
Seminal source	Mahoney, J., & Rueschemeyer, D. (Eds.) (2003). Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9780521016452	Bennett, A., & Checkel, J. T. (Eds.). (2015). Process Tracing: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool. Cambridge University Press.
Aliases	CHA, Macro-causal analysis, Historical-comparative method, Comparative historical sociology	—
Related	4	5
Summary	Comparative historical analysis (CHA) is a macro-causal research tradition that explains large-scale outcomes — revolutions, regime change, welfare states, development paths — by systematically comparing a small number of cases reconstructed in depth across historical time. It combines cross-case comparison with close attention to temporality: sequences, timing, critical junctures, and path dependence. Associated with Barrington Moore, Theda Skocpol, and codified by Mahoney and Rueschemeyer, CHA treats history not as background but as the medium through which causes operate.	Process Tracing is a qualitative research method developed by George and Bennett (2005) for studying causal mechanisms and causal chains within individual cases. It involves examining the sequence of events and decision-making processes within a case to infer whether a hypothesized causal mechanism actually operated. Process tracing aims to strengthen causal inference in case studies by looking beyond correlation to understand how causes produce effects.