Analytic induction

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Analytic induction is a sociological method for building causal explanations of social phenomena. It was introduced by Florian Znaniecki in 1934 as a way to go beyond statistical correlations and look for causal universals—the underlying factors that reliably cause things to occur. The method begins with a small number of cases to spot similarities and potential causes, then a tentative explanation is tested on additional cases. If a new case doesn’t fit, researchers either revise the hypothesis to fit all cases so far or redefine the phenomenon being studied to keep it a causally coherent category. The process continues until no new anomalies appear. The approach was developed further by Alfred Lindesmith (opiate addiction) and Donald Cressey (embezzlement) and was later used by Howard S. Becker (marijuana use). It has faced criticism, notably from W. S. Robinson, who argued it can identify only necessary conditions, not sufficient ones. The term has been used in various ways, sometimes diverging from the original idea. Analytic induction is related to, but distinct from, grounded theory and qualitative comparative analysis. A key feature is the willingness to refine how the phenomenon is categorized as explanations are built.