Process Tracing in Public Administration: The Implications of Practitioner Insights for Methods of Inquiry

ABSTRACT

The field of public administration is often seen as a late adopter of cutting-edge research methods. Related disciplines like political science use more advanced research methods for single or small-n case studies including techniques like process tracing. Many elements of process tracing are analogous to investigations. To inform process tracing practices, political scientists looked at Sherlock Holmes novels. We draw on the experiences of a police inspector and a former soldier who worked with intelligence to offer insights on the implementation of process tracing, bridge the academic–practitioner gap, and increase the methodological rigor in public administration research.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic–practitioners gap
• causal mechanisms
• methodology
• process tracing
• single case study