Chapter 1: Political research (lec 1)
approach to political research exists of three basic positions
● pluralism in methodological approaches is encouraged
○ politics is a multi-method field of study
● research should be problem driven
○ value of any method can be determined in relation to a research question,
choice of which method should be driven by the research question
● research should have relevance to important political questions and
policy issues
Issues in political research
significant question: o ne that is directly relevant to solving real-world problems and to
furthering the goals of a specific scientific literature. Answers should help to generate valid
and reliable knowledge about the questions that they address. There exist a number of
divisions in the field.
Politics and International Relations
● division between internal to the state, and external to the state
○ politics operates on multiple levels, internal and external are connected
Empirical vs normative research
● empirical addresses phenomena we can observe in the real world,
normative research addresses questions on what is ought to be
○ both are different, but not independent of each other
Positivism vs interpretivism
● positivism: scientific knowledge of the social world is limited to what can be
observed. It can be explained and predicted by empirical regularities, establishing
causal relationships.
● interpretivism: knowledge of the social world can be gained through interpreting
the meanings which people give for reasons of acting. human behaviour can be
understood, not explained or predicted.
● Both often follow the same methodological conventions
○ concerned to show relationship between premises and conclusions and to
indicate the relationship between them.
● method used depends on the following questions
○ what research question are you trying to answer?
○ what evidence or data do you need to answer the question?
○ how are you going to analyse the data, and what steps are needed to obtain
and record them?
,Philosophy of social science
● methodology refers to the conduct of inquiry
○ reflections upon the system of values, principles, and rules that guide analysis
● ontology and epistemology
○ questions about the complexities of knowing and gaining knowledge in the
social world.
How to do research: an overview
● step one
○ finding and formulating a researchable question and locating applicable
theory and literature
○ a research question is: significant for a topic or issue relating to our field, is
researchable, has not yet been answered definitively
● step two
○ what requirements the answer must meet and how to formulate it
○ answering the research question involves three requirements
■ answer must be appropriate to the type of question that is being asked
■ it makes a contribution to the knowledge; the answer must matter
■ an answer must be clearly and fully specified with regard to the factors
that you think must be taken into account, and how they are related.
● formulate a useful hypothesis
○ must be falsifiable with evidence
● step three
○ how to demonstrate validity of your answer; data
How to do research in practice
● research methods involve two important components
○ data collection, and data analysis
, Chapter 2: Forms of Knowledge; laws,
explanations, and interpretation in the
study of the social world ( Lec2)
introduction
● ontology
○ what is?
○ assumptions about the nature of the social world and what makes up this
world
● epistemology
○ what is knowable?
○ what can we know about social phenomena and what kind of knowledge can
we treat as legitimate?
● methodology
○ how we obtain knowledge
positivism
● behaviouralism
○ application of positivism and empiricism to political research
○ what do political actors do and why
● Comte; three stages
○ theological, metaphysical, and positive stage
classical positivism
● naturalism
○ no fundamental differences between natural and social sciences
● empiricism
○ what we know is limited to what we can observe
● goal of social science is to explain and predict via laws
● induction
○ moving from observations to a general rule
● distinction between facts and values
○ science can be value free
empiricism and logic as the basis of truth claims
● logical positivism
○ add logic and math into empiricism
○ both deduction and induction
○ verification of hypothesis
● deduction
○ from general theory to specific observations
○ established verification as goal of science research
● falsification instead of verification hypothesis (Popper)
approach to political research exists of three basic positions
● pluralism in methodological approaches is encouraged
○ politics is a multi-method field of study
● research should be problem driven
○ value of any method can be determined in relation to a research question,
choice of which method should be driven by the research question
● research should have relevance to important political questions and
policy issues
Issues in political research
significant question: o ne that is directly relevant to solving real-world problems and to
furthering the goals of a specific scientific literature. Answers should help to generate valid
and reliable knowledge about the questions that they address. There exist a number of
divisions in the field.
Politics and International Relations
● division between internal to the state, and external to the state
○ politics operates on multiple levels, internal and external are connected
Empirical vs normative research
● empirical addresses phenomena we can observe in the real world,
normative research addresses questions on what is ought to be
○ both are different, but not independent of each other
Positivism vs interpretivism
● positivism: scientific knowledge of the social world is limited to what can be
observed. It can be explained and predicted by empirical regularities, establishing
causal relationships.
● interpretivism: knowledge of the social world can be gained through interpreting
the meanings which people give for reasons of acting. human behaviour can be
understood, not explained or predicted.
● Both often follow the same methodological conventions
○ concerned to show relationship between premises and conclusions and to
indicate the relationship between them.
● method used depends on the following questions
○ what research question are you trying to answer?
○ what evidence or data do you need to answer the question?
○ how are you going to analyse the data, and what steps are needed to obtain
and record them?
,Philosophy of social science
● methodology refers to the conduct of inquiry
○ reflections upon the system of values, principles, and rules that guide analysis
● ontology and epistemology
○ questions about the complexities of knowing and gaining knowledge in the
social world.
How to do research: an overview
● step one
○ finding and formulating a researchable question and locating applicable
theory and literature
○ a research question is: significant for a topic or issue relating to our field, is
researchable, has not yet been answered definitively
● step two
○ what requirements the answer must meet and how to formulate it
○ answering the research question involves three requirements
■ answer must be appropriate to the type of question that is being asked
■ it makes a contribution to the knowledge; the answer must matter
■ an answer must be clearly and fully specified with regard to the factors
that you think must be taken into account, and how they are related.
● formulate a useful hypothesis
○ must be falsifiable with evidence
● step three
○ how to demonstrate validity of your answer; data
How to do research in practice
● research methods involve two important components
○ data collection, and data analysis
, Chapter 2: Forms of Knowledge; laws,
explanations, and interpretation in the
study of the social world ( Lec2)
introduction
● ontology
○ what is?
○ assumptions about the nature of the social world and what makes up this
world
● epistemology
○ what is knowable?
○ what can we know about social phenomena and what kind of knowledge can
we treat as legitimate?
● methodology
○ how we obtain knowledge
positivism
● behaviouralism
○ application of positivism and empiricism to political research
○ what do political actors do and why
● Comte; three stages
○ theological, metaphysical, and positive stage
classical positivism
● naturalism
○ no fundamental differences between natural and social sciences
● empiricism
○ what we know is limited to what we can observe
● goal of social science is to explain and predict via laws
● induction
○ moving from observations to a general rule
● distinction between facts and values
○ science can be value free
empiricism and logic as the basis of truth claims
● logical positivism
○ add logic and math into empiricism
○ both deduction and induction
○ verification of hypothesis
● deduction
○ from general theory to specific observations
○ established verification as goal of science research
● falsification instead of verification hypothesis (Popper)
