Typological Theory
Typological theory is a configurational approach to theory building in which the researcher specifies types — distinct combinations of the values of explanatory variables — and develops contingent generalizations about the outcomes associated with each combination. Codified by Alexander George and Andrew Bennett and refined by Colin Elman's explanatory typologies, it organizes cases into the cells of a property space defined by the interaction of variables, using case studies to populate and refine the types. It embraces causal complexity by treating combinations, not isolated variables, as the units of explanation.
Source record
Citations copied verbatim from the method’s source record. No claim-level verification is inferred from them.
- George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. · ISBN 9780262572224
- Elman, C. (2005). Explanatory Typologies in Qualitative Studies of International Politics. International Organization, 59(2), 293–326. · DOI 10.1017/S0020818305050101
Curated claims
Claims persisted in the evidence ledger, each with its own assessment.
This view does not invent a claim assessment when the ledger has none.
Related methods
Generated from the method graph and shown as machine-suggested relations — no evidence claim is inferred.