ABSTRACT
Process-tracing (PT) is a research method where causal mechanisms are traced using in-depth single case studies. While originally developed for studying psychological decision making, it has been developed into a general case study method with a broad range of applications for studying social science research problems. The focus on causal mechanisms enables strong inferences about whether there is a causal relationship between causes and outcomes to be made because they are traced empirically. At the same time, tracing mechanisms also sheds light on how a given theoretical cause (or set of causes) produces an outcome. The drawbacks of doing case studies with PT include: 1) the low external validity of findings gained from within-case studies; and 2) the large amount of research resources required to conduct PT properly.
