Leveraging the insights of depth: A staged strategy for building qualitative case studies of American state‐level policy

Objective This article identifies and explains the need for qualitative case studies of U.S. state‐level public policy and politics before providing researchers with a practical roadmap for how to proceed. Methods We first review relevant research from political science and sociology to establish the need for qualitative policy‐focused state‐level case study research. We then lay out a three‐stage approach for case study research design and data collection. Results We find that qualitative case study research into state‐level politics and policy making is useful for developing original theories that move beyond those developed at the federal level, for distinguishing between states and state policies in ways that are not easily measurable, and for conducting research that attends to variation in the meaning of policy design within different state contexts. We further find that barriers to conducting such research can be reduced by following a three‐stage strategy that we elaborate. Conclusion State‐level policy making yields essential processes and outcomes that social scientists across disciplines want to understand. Relying exclusively on quantitative methods will result in incomplete knowledge acquisition. Qualitative case studies, while time‐consuming, are worthwhile and achievable. Researchers seeking to conduct this research can follow a three‐stage strategy to make the process more manageable.