Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of a methodological issue Geddes finds issue with within the comparative politics literature. Because this book serves as a handbook for students of political science, with an obvious focus on comparative political students, it aims to present current trends in the methodology currently being used in comparative literature as a guidemap to how we should theory build and overarchingly how to build a strong research design. This results in case selection of already published work as a way to theory build and comment on the state of research design and methodology under comparative politics. Geddes uses existing studies as examples in the chapters to highlight the ways in which theory building and research design need to improve, where they are strong, and where there needs to be at least slight changes in order to achieve a strong body of literature that contributes to society and the overall truths and understanding of comparative politics.

There is not one large methodology she employs other than selecting well known cases and issues to show the strengths and weaknesses, the dos and do nots. Rather, the set up of the book itself allows for us to see Geddes suggested methodological adjustments in action starting with a large and debated subject  of taking over large and essentially all encompassing theory and making it useful and replicable to other research. Then moving to theory building strategy itself, and finally touching on case selection and quantitative applications of the data that we encounter because of the cases we select.

The book itself serves as a critique on the current state of methodological practices in the field of comparative political science, but it also is built and structured as an example of the kind of sturdy, transparent, unilateral, theory building work that Geddes believes needs to be instituted as the new norm in research design in political science.