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Size Doesn't Matter: In Defense of Single-State Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2021

Sean Nicholson-Crotty  and
Kenneth J. Meier
Sean Nicholson-Crotty
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
Kenneth J. Meier
Affiliation:
Texas A&M University
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Abstract

Despite the bias against such studies in our discipline, we argue that research designs focusing on a single state are sometimes preferable to those employing data from all 50 states. Single state studies are appropriate when the researcher wishes to generalize to a unit of analysis other than the states themselves, when conditions in a given state provide a unique opportunity for the most rigorous test of a hypothesis, and when the measurement advantages of a single-state study outweigh the costs of limited generalization. We draw on a range of literature to reinforce our primary contention, that it is soundness of theory and rigor of analysis, rather than the number of states, that makes research valid and important.

Type
The Practical Researcher
Information
State Politics & Policy Quarterly , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , Winter 2002 , pp. 411 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association, 2002

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