方法对比

	比较解释性研究	多案例研究
领域	研究设计	质性
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1843 (Mill); contemporary social-science formalisation 1971–1987	1980s–1990s (Yin's first edition 1984; Stake's collective case study concept 1995)
提出者	John Stuart Mill (methods of agreement and difference, 1843); formalised in social science by Arend Lijphart and Charles Ragin	Robert K. Yin (systematic replication logic); Robert E. Stake (naturalistic/collective case tradition)
类型	Observational explanatory research design	Qualitative research method
开创性文献	Ragin, C. C. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. University of California Press. ISBN: 978-0520063167	Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th ed.). Sage. ISBN: 978-1506336169
别名	comparative explanation, explanatory comparative design, cross-case explanatory research, comparative causal analysis	comparative case study, multi-site case study, collective case study, cross-case analysis
相关	4	6
摘要	Comparative explanatory research is an observational design that systematically examines two or more groups, nations, organisations, or time points in order to explain why differences in outcomes occur. Rather than merely describing variation, it seeks causal or contributing mechanisms by holding some conditions constant while contrasting others — drawing on Mill's classical methods of agreement and difference.	Multiple-case study design investigates two or more bounded real-world cases using the same research protocol, then compares findings across cases to identify patterns, contrasts, and explanatory insights that a single case could not produce. Developed primarily through Robert Yin's replication logic and Robert Stake's collective case tradition, the approach is particularly powerful when a researcher needs to determine whether a phenomenon occurs under varied conditions or to test an emerging theoretical explanation against rival contexts.