POLITICAL SCIENCE 816
QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES FOR POLITICAL RESEARCH

NOTE: This syllabus is subject to minor changes.

General Objectives

This course is intended to acquaint students with a wide variety of research methods and styles used by students of political phenomena, concentrating on those approaches that are essentially nonquantitative in orientation. Other than where necessary for purposes of comparison, the seminar will not cover standard quantitatively-oriented topics such as survey design, experimental and quasi-experimental research, or statistics. The particular topics to be discussed include a variety of approaches, some positivist in orientation, some nonpositivist, but all involving an empirical emphasis.

The material in the course is divided into four parts:

1. Approaches to assessing research methods.
2. Issues of design in qualitative research.
3. Methods of data collection.
4. Approaches to analysis.

While the course does not presume a working familiarity with standard, quantitatively-oriented methodologies, those students who can draw on such a background may be advantaged in the course because those standard methodologies can be used as a baseline for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative approaches that are the concern for this semester. I am not suggesting that quantitative methods are in any way better, simply that to judge one method, it must be compared to some other method.

There will be a number of guiding themes for the seminar:

1. The rhetorical element of research, analysis, and presentation.
2. Probabilistic (stochastic) versus deterministic explanation.
3. The role of comparison as a tool for controlling variation.
4. The importance of understanding what various methods can and cannot tell you.
5. The search for patterns.
6. The elimination of alternative explanations.

These themes will be the focus of our consideration and comparison of the methods that will be discussed during the semester.

While there is a "how-to-do" element in the course, I believe that one only learns "how to do" research in a particular style by actually do it (hopefully in a structured situation where substantial feedback and assistance is readily available). While for some of the research approaches we will discuss there is no way that they can actually be carried out in the kind of course context this will be, the course will incorporate a significant element of practical experience focused on differing approaches to data collection. During the first part of the semester, the emphasis will be on the kinds of opportunities, problems, and advantages offered by different research designs. Throughout the semester, we will try to draw on the experiences of others to learn about the pluses and minuses of different research strategies.

Course Organization

The course will be structured as a seminar; I do not plan to lecture. This places a substantial burden on students to come to the sessions prepared to talk. While in preparing the seminar, I drew upon a variety of methodologies that I have in fact used at one time or another, many of the methods to be discussed are not in my repertoire. I may, at various stages, bring in guests with experience in some of those methods.

Rescheduled Classes

While the normal class meeting time is Thursday afternoon, there are two or three occasions during the semester when it will be necessary to reschedule class. The first will be September 27 which is Yom Kippur; we will work out an alternative meeting time for this class at our first session. The second is November 22 which is Thanksgiving; that week will meet at noon on Monday. I may need to reschedule a third class in late October or early November.

The Practicum

The most difficult practical part of qualitative research is data collection and analysis. While research designs can be discussed and evaluated in the abstract, data collection and analysis is something that requires experience as well as theory. To accomplish this I have tried to identify a research exercise that should be of interest to all students in the class: explaining what is required to achieve success in undergraduate, university level teaching. We have a vast field laboratory on university teaching readily available. Students will be required to engage in several types of data collection to create a basis of analysis of this question. The types of data will involve interviews of faculty (at least three), interviews of students (at least three), nonparticipating observation (of at least three different classes), and a journal of your own teaching experience if you are currently teaching as either a TA or a lecturer, or a retrospective assessment if you are not currently teaching. At least one of the courses observed and one of each of the types of interviews must be done in an area outside of the social sciences and humanities (i.e., in science, math, engineering, medicine, etc.). You are welcome to define some specific question about teaching that you would like to focus on (e.g., use of video tools such as Powerpoint, role of teaching assistants, etc.); regardless of whether you take a general or specfic approach, you will need to provide me with a 3-5 page mini-research protocol on or before October 11 (the idea of a research protocol will be discussed in class and in the readings). In thinking about which classes you might observe, I would ask that you avoid classes with untenured faculty members (they are under enough pressure in the classroom without worrying that someone else is evaluating them). We will discuss the requirements and procedures for this exercise in more detail as the semester progresses.

Requirements and Grading

Grading in the course will be based upon seminar participation, and four written assignments. During the semester there will be two 6-8 page essays; each of these papers is to be a critique, with an emphasis on a methodological evaluation of substantitive conclusions, of a minimum of two pieces of research dealing with the same general substantive question. What I am seeking is a critical look at how the same question can be approached empirically in different ways. Students are encouraged to draw upon work in their own substantive fields in preparing these essays. At least two pieces of research not among the assigned readings must be discussed in each paper (also, students may not count the study they present in the seminar toward the two required pieces of research in each paper). One of the essays should focus on two studies that use fundamentally different types of research designs (e.g., case study, multiple case studies, cross-national, historical, etc.) and one should focus on two studies that use different types of data collection (e.g., interviews, observation, surveys, etc.). At least one study considered in each essay must rely primarily on qualitative methodologies. The third assignment will be a 10-12 page analysis of the data collected for the practical exercise; 2-4 pages of this assignment should be devoted to an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the various types of data you will have collected. The fourth written assignment will be a design or protocol for a major piece of qualitative research; this is expected to be a thorough and complete design for a doable project (e.g., a possible dissertation project).

Readings

As the assignments make clear, readings are drawn from a combination of methodological discussions and exemplary studies from the research styles covered. The reading load is heavy, and the number of books involved is large. I have ordered as "required" books that provide methodological discussions, and as "recommended" those that are applications of methods; this reflects my presumption that students may want to share some of the latter books (by forming "book buying collectives") given the number of books involved. Students are expected to do all of the reading listed under "required reading" whether or not the books were ordered as required or recommended. The articles and chapters not in the required or recommended books listed below are available in the Dean Room, at H.C. White Library, and on the web (the online syllabus includes links to the online materials).

• The following books have been ordered as required:
  • Adler and Adler, Membership Roles in Field Research
  • Dogan & Pelassy, How to Compare Nations (2nd edition)
  • Fetterman, Ethnography
  • Jorgensen, Participant Observation
  • King, Keohane, and Verba, Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research
  • Kirk and Miller, Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research
  • Spradley, The Ethnographic Interview
  • Yin, Case Study Research (2nd edition)
    
    
• The following have been ordered as recommended (we will read sizable selections from each):
  • Bloch, Historian's Craft
  • Kaufman, Forest Ranger
  • Liebow, Tell Them Who I Am
  • Skocpol, States and Social Revolutions

COURSE OUTLINE

OTHER TOPICS OF POTENTIAL INTEREST

A. GENERAL ISSUES IN NONQUANTITATIVE RESEARCH Rabinow & Sullivan, Interpretive Social Science Van Maanen, Qualitative Methodology Patton, Qualitative Evaluation Methods Webb et al., Nonreactive Measures in the Social Sciences Glaser and Struss, The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Stategies for Qualitative Research

B. CULTURAL ANALYSIS Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures Geertz, Local Knowledge Merelman, Making Something of Ourselves Gibbons (ed.), Contemporary Political Culture: Politics in a Postmodern Age

C. "COMPARATIVE THEORIES" Allison, Essence of Decision Bendor and Hammond, "Rethinking Allison's Models," 86 American Political Science Review 301-322 (1992) Gormley, "Alternative Models of the Regulatory Process," 35 Western Political Quarterly 297 (September 1982).

D. ETHNOMETHODOLOGY AND EXISTENTIAL SOCIOLOGY Leiter, A Primer on Ethnomethodology Garfinkel, Studies in Ethnomethodolgy Douglas, Investigative Social Research Mehan and Wood, The Reality of Ethnomethodology Douglas and Johnson (eds.), Existential Sociology

E. INSTITUTIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS Mohr, Explaining Organizational Behavior Hall, Governing the Economy Evans, Rueschmeyer, and Skocpol (eds.), Bringing the State Back In Zysman, Governments, Markets, and Growth North, Structure and Change in the American Economy March and Olsen, "The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life," 78 American Political Science Review 734-49 (September 1984). Smith, "Political Jurisprudence, the 'New Institutionalism,' and the Future of Public Law," 82 American Political Science Review 89-108 (March 1988).

F. LEGAL ANALYSIS Mermin, Law & the Legal System Smart, The Ties that Bind Carter, Reason in Law Cardozo, The Nature of the Judicial Process Merryman, The Civil Law Tradition David, French Law Hart, The Concept of Law Downs, The Nazis in Skokie Cooper, Hard Judicial Choices Griffiths, The Politics of the Judiciary

G. MARXIST RESEARCH METHODS (mostly from references in Rosenau article listed below) Agger, "Dialectical Sensibility," Canadian Journal of Political and Social Theory 1 (1977), 3-34, 47-56. Bodemann, "The Fulfillment of Fieldwork in Marxist Praxis," Dialectical Anthropology 4 (1979), 151-161. Freund & Abrams, "Ethnomethodology and Marxism: Their Use for Critical Theorizing," Theory and Society 3 (1976), 377-393. Levine, Sober, and Wright, "Marxism and Methodological Individualism," New Left Review 162 (March/April 1987), 67-84. Piccone, "Phenomenological Marxism," Telos 9 (1971), 3-31. Roemer, "Mehtodological Individualism and Deductive Marxism," Theory and Society (July 1982), 513-520. Rosenau, "Philosophy, Methodology, and Research: Marxist Assumptions about Inquiry," Comparative Political Studies 20 (1988), 423-454. Sherman, "Dialectics as a Method," Insurgent Socioologist 6[4] (1976), 57-64. Sylvan and Glasser, A Rationalist Methodology for the Social Sciences (1985) Sztompka, "Marxism, Functionalism and the Systems Approach," pp. 133-156 in J. Wiatr (ed.), Polish Essays in the Methodology of the Social Science (1979). Szmanski, "Marxism and Science," Insurgent Sociologist 3 (1973), 25-38. Ukraintsev, "Marxism-Leninism and Social Science Methods," Social Sciences 9[3] (1978) 90-113. Vaillancourt, When Marxists Do Research (1986) Weldes, "Marxims and Methodological Individualism: A Critique," Theory and Society 18 (1989), 353-386.

H. FEMINIST METHODOLOGY (taken largely from a bibliography prepared by Gina Sapiro) Alcoff, "Justifying Feminist Social Science," Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 2 (1987), 107-128. Belenky et al., Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind (1986). Billson, "The Progressive Verification Method: Toward a Feminist Methodology for Studying Women Cross-Culturally,"Women's Studies International Forum 14 (1991), 201-208. Blau, "On the Role of Values in Feminist Scholarship," Signs 3 (1981), 538-540. Nielsen (ed.), Feminist Research Methods: Readings from the Social Sciences (1990). Eichler, Nonsexist Research Methods: A Practical Guide (1988). Cook and Fonow, "Knowledge and Women's Interests: Issues of Epistemology and Methodology in Feminist Sociological Research," Sociological Quarterly (or Sociological Inquiry) 56 (1986), 2-29. DeVault, "Women's Talk: Feminist Strategies for Analyzing Research Interviews," Women and Language 10 (Spring 1987), 33-36. DeVault, "Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis," Social Problems 37 (1990), 701-721. Easterday, Papdemas, Schorr, and Valentine, "The Making of a Female Researcher: Rol.e Problems in Fieldwork," Urban Life 6 (1977), 333-348. Eichlker, The Double Standard: A Feminist Critique of Feminist Social Science (1980). Mies, "Women's Research or Feminist Research? The Debate Surrounding Feminist Science and Methods," pp. 60-84 in Fonow and Cood (eds.), Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research (1991). Fee, "A Feminist Critique of Scientific Objectivity," Science for the People 14 (1982), 30-33. Fonow and Cood (eds.), Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research (1991). Ginzberg, "Uncovering Gynocentric Science," Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 2 (12987), 89-106. Golde (ed.), Women in the Field: Anthropological Experiences (1st ed., 1970; 2nd ed., 1986) Gottlieb and Bombyk, "Strategies for Stengthening Feminist Research," Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work 2 (1987), 99-114. Grant, Ward, and Rong, "Is There an Association between Gender and Methods in Sociological Research?" American Sociological Review 52 (1987), 856-862. Griffiths, "Feminist Research and the Use of Drama," Women's Studies International Forum 7 (1984), 511-519. Harding, The Science Question in Feminism (1986) Harding, Feminism and Methodology: Social Science Issues (1987) Harding, "The Method Question," Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 2 (1987), 19-36. Hawkesworth, "Beyond Methodological Monism," Women and Politics 7 (1987), 5-10. Hekman, "The Feminization of Epistemology: Gender and the Social Sciences," Women and Politics 7 (1987), 65-84. Hubbard, "Science, Facts, and Feminism," Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 3 (1988), 5-18. Juyaratne and Stewart, "Quantitative and Qualitative Methods in the Socience Sciences: Current Feminist Issues and Practical Strategies," pp. 85-106 Fonow and Cood (eds.), Beyond Methodology: Feminist Scholarship as Lived Research (1991). Longino, "Can There Be a Feminist Science?" Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy 2 (1987), 51-64. Moore, Feminism and Anthropology (1989) Reinharz, Feminist Methods in Social Research (1992). Sprague and Zimmerman, "Quality and Quantity: Reconstructing Feminist Methodology," The American Sociologist 20 (1989), 71-86. Warren, Gender Issues in Field Research (1988) Westkott, "Feminist Criticism of the Social Sciences," Harvard Educational Review 49 (1979), 422-430.

I. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES Erikson, "On the Nature of Psycho-Historical Evidence: In Search of Gandhi," 97 Daedalus 695 (1968). Erikson, Childhood and Society, pp. 189-194, 247-274, 326-358. Erikson, Gandhi's Truth Erikson, Young Man Luther Greenstein, Personality and Politics, pp. 63-93. Goodheart, "The Odyssey of Malcom X: An Eriksonian Interpretation," 52 The Historian 47-62 (1990). George & George, Woodrow Wilson and Colonel House Lasswell, Psychopathology and Politics, pp. 1-77. Wolfenstein, The Revolutionary Personality

Bert Kritzer, 608-263-2277, Kritzer@PoliSci.Wisc.Edu

Last modified October15, 2001