Table Of ContentPolitical Research: Methods and Practical Skills
Political Research
Methods and Practical Skills
THIRD EDITION
Sandra Halperin and
Oliver Heath
1
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Brief Contents
Detailed Contents vii
How to Use this Book xvii
Guided Tour of the Online Resources xviii
Preface xxi
1 Political Research 1
PART 1: Philosophy of Social Science: Knowledge and Knowing in
Social Science Research
2 F orms of Knowledge: Laws, Explanation, and Interpretation in the
Study of the Social World 27
3 Objectivity and Values 64
PART 2: How to do Research: An Overview
4 Asking Questions: How to Find and Formulate Research Questions 93
5 Finding Answers: Theories and How to Apply Them 123
6 Research Design 159
7 What is Data? 186
PART 3: How to do Research in Practice
8 Experimental Research 211
9 Comparative Research 231
10 Historical Research 260
11 Surveys 284
12 Interviewing and Focus Groups 309
13 Ethnography and Participant Observation 339
14 *Textual Analysis 364
vi BRIEF CONTENTS
15 Quantitative Analysis: Description and Inference 393
16 Patterns of Association: Bivariate Analysis 422
17 A Guide to Multivariate Analysis 451
Appendix 481
Glossary 487
Index 497
Detailed Contents
How to Use this Book xvii
Guided Tour of the Online Resources xviii
Preface xxi
1 Political Research 1
Issues in political research 2
Politics and International Relations 3
Empirical vs normative research 4
Positivism vs interpretivism 5
Quantitative vs qualitative research 6
The research process 7
Part 1: Philosophy of Social Science: Knowledge and Knowing in Social Science Research 8
Part 2: How to do Research: An Overview 10
Part 3: How to do Research in Practice 14
Conclusions 22
References 22
PART 1: Philosophy of Social Science: Knowledge and Knowing in
Social Science Research
2 Forms of Knowledge: Laws, Explanation, and Interpretation
in the Study of the Social World 27
Chapter Summary 27
Introduction 27
Positivism 29
Classical positivism 30
Empiricism and logic as the basis of truth claims 33
Challenges to positivist approaches in the social sciences 40
Scientific realism 40
1. What is the ontological status of macro-social mechanisms used
to explain social outcomes? 42
2. How do we explain macro-social phenomena? 43
3. How do macro-social ‘social mechanisms’ produce social outcomes?
Providing explanations of macro-social phenomena with micro-foundations 44
Interpretivism 47
The analysis of ethnic conflict: a positivist (rational choice), interpretivist
(constructivist), and critical realist approach 51
A critical realist approach to explaining the Yugoslav conflict 57
viii DETAILED CONTENTS
Conclusions 59
Questions 61
Guide to Further Reading 61
References 62
Endnotes 63
3 Objectivity and Values 64
Chapter Summary 64
Introduction 64
Normative and empirical theory in political research 66
Values, the researcher, and the research process 67
Values and social practice 73
Thomas Kuhn and scientific revolutions 73
Paradigms and paradigm change 74
Kuhnian paradigms and political studies: the case of development theory 77
Paradigms and the study of development 78
Imre Lakatos and scientific research programmes 82
The role of values in research: Kuhn and Lakatos compared 86
Conclusions 87
Questions 88
Guide to Further Reading 88
References 89
PART 2: How to Do Research: An Overview
4 Asking Questions: How to Find and Formulate Research Questions 93
Chapter Summary 93
Introduction 93
Research questions: what are they? Where do they come from? 97
Finding research questions 97
How to formulate a research(able) question 104
The research vase 104
Types of questions: getting clear about what you want to know 107
Descriptive questions 108
Explanatory questions 109
Predictive questions 110
Prescriptive questions 110
Normative questions 111
Unanswerable questions: fallacies in framing research questions 112
‘Researchability’: a final consideration 114
The literature review 114
Stage 1: reading the literature 116
Stage 2: summarizing the literature 117
Stage 3: what still needs to be done? Setting the stage for your own argument 118
DETAILED CONTENTS ix
Conclusions 120
Questions 121
Guide to Further Reading 121
References 122
5 Finding Answers: Theories and How to Apply Them 123
Chapter Summary 123
Introduction 123
Answers to research questions: general requirements 127
What type of answer does your question require? 127
Answers that contribute to the development of theory 130
Where do hypotheses come from? 132
Illustration: how an analysis of existing theoretical perspectives provides
the basis for a hypothesis 134
Specifying your argument or answer: the nuts and bolts 139
The components of a hypothesis 140
Variables 140
Relationships 142
Conceptualization and operationalization 143
Concepts and concept formation: what are you talking about? 144
Concept formation 144
Conceptualizing ‘power’: the search for theoretical utility 145
Conceptualizing ‘democracy’: mediating between coherence and differentiation 147
Operational definitions: how will you know it when you see it? 149
Illustration: Lenin’s explanation of the First World War 150
Answering normative questions 152
Empirical and normative research 152
Empirical and normative questions, answers, and methods 154
Conclusions 155
Questions 156
Guide to Further Reading 156
References 157
6 Research Design 159
Chapter Summary 159
Introduction 159
Basic principles of research design 161
Types of research design 163
Experimental designs 163
Cross-sectional and longitudinal designs 165
Comparative designs 167
Historical designs 168
Types of research, types of design 170
Data-gathering strategies: how the data are collected 171
Questionnaires and surveys 172
