Understanding Peace Research: Methods and Challenges

by H÷glund; Kristine

• ISBN13: 9780415571982
• ISBN10: 0415571987
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-04-05
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of different methods and sources of information-gathering for peace and conflict students and researchers, as well as the challenges presented by such work.Research on conflict-ridden societies carries special challenges for the collection and evaluation of information about the conflict and its actors. First, due to the nature of information emerging, incentives to misrepresent and propaganda is common. News coverage is sometimes poor and reporting is often incomplete, selective and biased. Second, the sensitivity of the topic and the questions posed in peace and conflict research means that access to and the security of informants can be a problem.Peace and conflict research as a discipline encompasses a number of different approaches for obtaining empirical information which serve as a basis for analyzing various research topics. This book provides a comprehensive overview of different methods and sources of information-gathering for students and researchers, as well as the challenges presented by such work. It offers:tools for evaluating sources and informationsuggestions on where different types of information can be foundadvice on using different types of sources, including news reports and written narrativespractical guidelines for constructing large-scale datasetsinsights and guidelines for comparative fieldwork, in-depth interviews, focus groups, and surveysãreflection and discussion on important ethical concerns in peace researchThis book will be of much interest for students and researchers of peace and conflict studies, conflict resolution, war and conflict studies, development studies, security studies and IR, as well as for NGO workers/researchers.Kristine Höglund is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. She has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University Sweden (2004). She is author of Peacemaking in the Shadow of Violence.Magnus Öberg is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research (since 2006). He has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University (2003) and is co-editor of Resources, Governance, and Civil Conflict (Routledge, 2008).

Author Biography

Kristine Hglund is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. She has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University Sweden (2004). She is author of Peacemaking in the Shadow of Violence (2008). Magnus berg is Associate Professor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, and Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research (since 2006). He has a PhD in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University (2003) and is co-editor of Resources, Governance, and Civil Conflict (Routledge, 2008).

Table of Contents

List of boxes, figures and tables	p. ix
About the contributors	p. x
Acknowledgements	p. xii
Introduction	p. 1
Doing Empirical Peace Research	p. 3
The Origins of Contemporary Peace Research	p. 14
Evaluating Information	p. 33
Peace Research and Source Criticism: Using historical methodology to improve information gathering and analysis	p. 35
Gathering Conflict Information Using News Resources	p. 47
News Reports versus Written Narratives: Collecting information using different types of empirical sources	p. 74
The Practice of Information Gathering	p. 89
Systematic Data Collection: Experiences from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program	p. 91
Comparative Field Research in War-torn Societies	p. 114
In-depth Interviewing: The process, skill and ethics of interviews in peace research	p. 130
Focus Groups: Safety in numbers?	p. 146
Survey Research in Conflict and Post-conflict Societies	p. 165
Conclusions	p. 183
Improving Information Gathering and Evaluation	p. 185
Bibliography	p. 199
Index	p. 210
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