analytic induction
a qualitative research strategy for developing and testing a theory in which the researcher tentatively defines a phenomenon, creates a hypothesis to explain it, and examines a single specific occurrence of the phenomenon in order to confirm or refute the hypothesis. If the hypothesis is confirmed, additional cases are examined to confirm the results until a sufficient degree of certainty about the correctness of the hypothesis is obtained and the study may be concluded. If the hypothesis is not confirmed, the phenomenon is redefined or the hypothesis revised so as to accommodate the findings.