Sample Size of One: Operational Qualitative Analysis in the Classroom
Qualitative analysis has two extraordinary capabilities: first, finding answers to questions we are too clueless to ask; and second, causal inference – hypothesis testing and assessment – within a single unique context (sample size of one). These capabilities are broadly useful, and they are critica...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Henley-Putnam University
2015-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Strategic Security |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol8/iss5/4/ |
| Summary: | Qualitative analysis has two extraordinary capabilities: first, finding answers to questions we are too clueless to ask; and second, causal inference – hypothesis testing and assessment – within a single unique context (sample size of one). These capabilities are broadly useful, and they are critically important in village-level civil-military operations. Company commanders need to learn quickly, "What are the problems and possibilities here and now, in this specific village? What happens if we do A, B, and C?" – and that is an ill-defined, one-of-a-kind problem.
The U.S. Army's Eighty-Third Civil Affairs Battalion is our "first user" innovation partner in a new project to adapt qualitative research methods to an operational tempo and purpose. Our aim is to develop a simple, low-cost methodology and training program for local civil-military operations conducted by non-specialist conventional forces. Complementary to that, this paper focuses on some essential basics that can be implemented by college professors without significant cost, effort, or disruption. |
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| ISSN: | 1944-0464 1944-0472 |