The Original Task: Plan a comparative study. First of all, choose a topic and formulate a purpose. Then choose a number of cases (at least two, but preferably some more). The cases can, for example, be political regimes (democracies and / or dictatorships), institutions (like parliament), electoral systems (eg proportionate or majoritarian) or political parties (eg green or right-wing populist parties). You can thus start from either country or institution as a unit of analysis. You can also choose to compare over time (a so-called diachronic comparison). You must motivate your choices based on the purpose! You should also decide if it is a “most like “or” most different “system design (also depending on the purpose!) and define it dependent variable as well as selecting a number of independent variables. You should also discuss problems about generalizability (so-called “small-N” problems), selection (or “selection bias”), and “conceptual stretching”. Topic I chose: Using MSSD, why is Norway more successful at integrating refugees than Sweden? The teachers response to my (uploaded) paper: I do accept BOTH dependent variables, although you should focus on one at the time. They require different analysis. The different approaches to settlement of refugees in relation to the autonomy of the municipalities is also an interesting variable. But I dont see how unemployment can be an independent variable and employment a dependent variable. Moreover, you should identify several more independent variables (with an explanation) and try to speculate about which could be the explanatory variable. The use of MSSD is also fine, but you should explain it better in relation to MDSD. What logics are they based on? I suppose you intend to argue that Norway is most successful and you have an explanation for it. You should perhaps try to explain why this factor works in favour of integration in Norway. Otherwise, you spend far too much space on describing the cases. This is a methods assignment and I want you to discuss methods – choices, implications of choices consideration of alternative choices, etc. You should also have addressed the concepts that were raised in the text for the assignment: selection and variable bias, conceptual stretching, validity and other problems related to small-N problematique. In terms of literature: you have a range of texts, but in terms of methods you rely upon only one text. Thats a bit thin. So in the end, I must ask you to reformulate this task.
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