Comparing case studies: an introduction to comparative narratives

Abstract

The paper provides a systematic method for comparing case-studies which take the form of a sequence of events. The idea of abstracting and/or generalising the structure of a case-study using a mapping rule which creates either a tolerance (a symmetric reflexive relationship) or an equivalence on the domain set is explored. An example is given of comparing the evolution of co-operation in a number of co-operative organisations