Narrative Explanation: An Alternative to Variable-Centered Explanation?
Annual Review of SociologyPublished 13 July 2004
Peter Abell
Citations260
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score5.26
SNIP6.42
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Abstract
The nature of narrative explanations is explored as an alternative to the better established variable-centered explanations. Narratives are conceived as di-graphs where the nodes are states of the world and the arcs are actions (causes). Comparative narratives are understood as mappings between di-graphs. Ethnographic and historical explanations, where the number of cases is small and causality complex, may depend upon a narrative depiction.
Keywords
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