ABSTRACT
The issue of generalizability has long haunted qualitative social researchers. In this chapter we demonstrate why the nominalist assumptions of generalizing related to representativeness and randomization cannot be applied to qualitative research, much less to biographical research. Instead, we propose that the logic of purposive sampling and of casing should be the starting point for delineating the scope conditions of the causal connections researchers have identified for a phenomenon of interest. In addition, we show how generalizing through case studies is tied up with explaining causally the social. Typological theorizing and causal processes are what biographical researchers can generalize by means of abductive thinking. In underlining the role of contrastive comparison for theory development, we illustrate this kind of theoretical generalization through the use of specific examples taken from biographical research.
