Comparative Causal Mapping: The CMAP3 Method

by Mauri Laukkanen, Mingde Wang

Overview

Comparative Causal Mapping: The CMAP3 Method, by Mauri Laukkanen and Mingde Wang, is an introduction to the conceptual backgrounds of causal (cognitive) mapping and to the typical methods in comparative and composite causal mapping, based on either interview or questionnaire primary data or on secondary documentary data. The discussed CCM research is supported by CMAP3, a freely downloadable (www.uef.fi/cmap3) Windows software platform for CCM studies. The book has three parts. The first discusses the theoretical underpinnings and methodological issues in causal mapping including the target phenomena and different interpretations of causal maps/mapping, the motives for using CCM methods and the criteria of method selection. The second part focuses on the technical aspects of using CMAP3 in typical CCM research. The third part presents three CCM study cases: a classical document-based study; a semi-structured interview-based (SIM) study; and a methodological study comparing SIM with an electronically administered structured hybrid CCM approach. In addition to demonstrating CCM practices, they suggest that different methods produce divergent results and are thus not substitutable. The research task should determine which CCM approach is appropriate. The book will appeal to both academic and professional audiences, in particular to doctoral students and experienced researchers looking for new topics and method approaches, but also to practitioners in fields such as management and organization studies, organizational development, public policy and education, and knowledge management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781472439956
Publisher:	Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Publication date:	04/28/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Mauri Laukkanen is Professor emeritus of the University of Eastern Finland, Department of Business, Kuopio Campus. He received his PhD (DBA) at the Helsinki School of Economics in 1989. He served at the HSE (now Aalto University Business School) and the Universities of Vaasa and Jyvaskyla before UEF, where he helped found and headed the present Department of Business in 1995-2002. His research interests include entrepreneurship in local economic development, organizational cognition and cognitive mapping methods using CMAP3 software.

Mingde Wang is a Marie Curie Fellow in the PRIMO INT Network funded by the European Commission, and a doctoral student at the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. He received his master’s degree in International Relations from Leiden University, and was a lecturer of East Asian relations in the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. His research focuses on international politics and political psychology.

Table of Contents

Concepts in comparative causal mapping. Comparative causal mapping. Computerizing CCM with CMAP3. From raw data to analyzable output. Cause map analysis tools in CMAP3. CCM research in practice.

Editorial Reviews

’This book is the perfect gateway to causal mapping. Its hands-on approach will be invaluable for graduate students and scholars alike.’ Daniela Stockmann, Leiden University, the Netherlands ’This text has much to offer for both beginners and advanced practitioners of comparative causal mapping. It provides a thorough and systematic overview of the field with useful tips for researchers. An excellent addition to the methodologist’s tool-kit.’ Catherine Cassell, Leeds University Business School, UK ’This book presents in a highly accessible yet scholarly form, an introduction to the theory and practice of comparative (cognitive) causal mapping (CCM), centred on the authors' CMAP3 software. Although the authors' main focus is on their own particular approach, there are many useful insights and lessons for all users of CCM techniques, novices and experienced users alike.’ Gerard P. Hodgkinson, University of Warwick, UK

From the Publisher