Research Methods in Politics

by Burnham, Peter; Gilland, Karin; Grant, Wyn; Layton-Henry, Zig

• ISBN13: 9780230019850
• ISBN10: 0230019854
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-15
• Publisher: Red Globe Pr

Summary

The second edition of this widely used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations; of their interrelationship; and of ethical issues in research. Illustrated throughout with boxed examples of real political research, the book ranges widely from substantial coverage of statistical methods to the use of archives, interviews, discourse analysis and the internet. Two additional chapters in the second edition focus on the relationship between research and policy and the lessons for researchers from the study of elections in the US and UK.

Author Biography

PETER BURNHAM is Professor in Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick, UK.

KARIN GILLAND is a teacher and researcher at the Institute of Political Science, University of Berne, Switzerland.

WYN GRANT is Professor of Politics, University of Warwick, UK.

ZIG LAYTON-HENRY is Professor of Politics, University of Warwick, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	p. viii
Preface	p. xi
List of Abbreviations	p. xii
Introduction: Methods, Methodology and Making Sense of the Study of Politics	p. 1
Guiding themes	p. 2
Structure of the book	p. 5
The Discipline of Politics	p. 9
The diverse traditions of political science	p. 9
Dominant paradigms	p. 19
Political studies or political science: some methodological considerations	p. 30
Research Design and the Research Process	p. 38
The meaning of research design	p. 39
The research process	p. 45
The research labyrinth	p. 53
Types of research design	p. 55
Conclusion	p. 68
Comparative Methods	p. 69
Comparative political science: substance and method	p. 70
Designing comparative research	p. 73
Why compare? The advantages	p. 80
The limits of comparison	p. 83
Cases: how many, and which?	p. 87
Conclusion	p. 94
Surveys, Polls and Focus Groups	p. 96
Surveys, opinion polls and politics	p. 97
History of opinion polls and surveys	p. 99
Sampling procedures	p. 102
Types of sample design	p. 103
Administering surveys	p. 108
Interviewing	p. 123
Coding and analysis	p. 125
Focus groups	p. 128
Conclusion	p. 136
Descriptive Statistics	p. 138
Levels of measurement, central tendency and spread	p. 140
Choosing descriptive statistics	p. 151
Presenting descriptive statistics	p. 153
All that glitters ...	p. 166
Conclusion	p. 169
Making Inferences	p. 171
What is inference?	p. 172
Inference - logic and problems	p. 177
Inferences in political science	p. 179
Conclusion	p. 186
Documentary and Archival Analysis	p. 187
Use and abuse of secondary and tertiary documentary sources in political science	p. 190
The analysis of primary sources	p. 195
Research in the Public Record Office (the UK's National Archives) and the National Archives, Washington	p. 200
Conclusion: the value and limits of documentary and archival analysis	p. 208
The Internet and Political Research	p. 213
Searching the internet	p. 216
Electronic resources for political research	p. 218
Online polling	p. 224
Elite interviewing online	p. 228
Conclusions	p. 230
Elite Interviewing	p. 231
Decide who you want to see	p. 233
Get access and arrange the interview	p. 235
Conduct the interview	p. 238
Analyse the results	p. 245
Conclusions	p. 246
Discourse Analysis and Other Methods	p. 248
Discourse analysis	p. 249
Content analysis	p. 259
The advantages and limitations of content analysis	p. 264
Participant observation	p. 264
Conclusion	p. 281
Ethics and Political Research	p. 282
The nature of ethical problems	p. 283
Two broad approaches to ethical problems	p. 284
Five basic ethical principles	p. 286
The relationship with sponsors	p. 288
Gatekeepers	p. 292
Citizens	p. 295
The problem of fraud in research	p. 296
Professional codes of conduct	p. 298
Conclusions	p. 303
Research and the Policy Process	p. 305
The demand side: what policymakers want from researchers	p. 305
The supply side: what researchers can provide	p. 310
The mediating effect of national structures and cultures	p. 313
Bridging the gap	p. 318
How could the contribution of research to policymaking be improved?	p. 322
Conclusion	p. 324
Conclusion: Challenging the Mainstream and the Qualitative/Quantitative Divide	p. 325
Feminist methods?	p. 325
Anti-racist and Marxist challenges	p. 330
Theory, methods and the qualitative/quantitative divide	p. 331
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 335
References	p. 340
Index	p. 361
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