Book Review: Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences

• Author: John E. Eck
• Published date: 01 September 2006
• Date: 01 September 2006
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016806292919
• Subject Matter: Articles

Americans or Europeans or from people who are not deeply committed to the Islamic faith”

(p. 176). They note in this connection that the mosques and airwaves throughout much of

the Middle East are currently dominated by radical mullahs preaching Jihad and praising

the actions of bin Laden and his associates and that although some moderate Muslim clerics

have denounced terrorism, “these voices have to become stronger and more numerous”

(p. 1760).

The authors’ discussion of terrorism and of possible means of mitigating terrorist moti-

vations includes considerably more, and much of it is important, but a more detailed

account would go beyond the limits of a review.

In my judgment, In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror is an outstanding work.

The authors have been unusually successful in applying rigorous experimental methodol-

ogy to significant real-world problems that have rarely been considered amenable to an

experimental approach.

Jacob Goldstein

Independent Scholar

Reference

Rosenblatt, A., Greenberg, J., Solomon, S., Pyszczynski, T., & Lyon, D. (1989). Evidence for terror manage-

ment theory, I. The effects of mortality salience on reactions to those who violate or uphold cultural values.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,57(4), 681-690.

George, A. L. and Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social

Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016806292919

In less than a decade, the idea that crime policy should be evidence based has gained a

strong foothold. Within the evidence-based movement, there is a three-way debate about

what constitutes evidence and how evidence is to be created. On one side are the propo-

nents of randomized trials as the “gold standard” of evidence. On the second side are the

econometricians who argue that nonexperimental statistical models can deliver results as

rigorous as randomized trials, and they can do this in circumstances where it is impossible

to run a randomized trial. On the third side are “scientific realists” who favor combining

small-scale quasi-experimental evaluations with methods that allow one to peer into the

black box between the intervention and the outcome, describe the mechanism, and show

how interventions produce results.

Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences, written by two scientific

realists, is an extremely useful text underscoring the value of small nor case studies. They

show why case studies are important and provide an extremely clear, thorough, and well

organized account of how such studies should be conducted. Though billed as a text for

graduate students, all criminal justice researchers with an interest in producing usable

research on the development or effects of criminal justice policies should read it.

278 Criminal Justice Review