Objectives Rigorous and transparent bias assessment is a core component of high-quality
systematic reviews. We assess modifications to existing risk of bias approaches to …

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) and other set-theoretic methods distinguish
themselves from other approaches to the study of social phenomena by using sets and the …

Process tracing is a fundamental tool of qualitative analysis. This method is often invoked by
scholars who carry out within-case analysis based on qualitative data, yet frequently it is …

Placebo tests are increasingly common in applied social science research, but the
methodological literature has not previously offered a comprehensive account of what we …

Recent emphasis on credible causal designs has led to the expectation that scholars justify
their research designs by testing the plausibility of their causal identification assumptions …

To examine the extent to which foreign aid reaches people at different levels of wealth in
Africa, I use household surveys to measure the subnational distribution of a country's …

How do formal constitutions impact the prospects for democratization in hybrid regimes,
where corruption is typically high and rule of law weak? It is often assumed either that they …

Both qualitative and quantitative research routinely fall short, producing misleading causal
inferences. Because these weaknesses are in part different, we are convinced that …

Does national identity necessarily have exclusionary effects when it comes to immigration
attitudes or is it possible that some national identities act as inclusive forces? While research …

How do approaching elections affect the security policy states conduct? We build on classic
political economy arguments and theorize that one problem likely faced by democratic policy …