BSSn4495 Qualitative Research in Security Studies

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught online.
Teacher(s)
Miriam Matejova, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Miriam Matejova, Ph.D.
Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Supplier department: Department of Political Science – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Tue 18:00–19:40 P24
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course explores the logic and methods of qualitative political research in the context of security studies. The focus is on the empirical study of causation in the political world: why did specific things happen in the past? Under what conditions will they happen again? What would their consequences be? Through what mechanisms are they produced? The course will pay attention to small-n research, methodological trade-offs as well as the main methodological strategies and challenges of causal inference.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to: • Identify and construct major components of research design, including research questions, theories, and hypotheses; • Critically evaluate competing hypotheses; • Identify and respond to challenges of causal inference; • Design your own research project.
Syllabus
  • Questions, answers, theory
  • Causality and causal logic
  • The small-n comparative method
  • Challenges of causal inference
  • Strategies for causal identification: experiments and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA)
  • The logic of process tracing
  • Nuts and bolts of process tracing
  • Case selection and generalization
  • Analyzing types of qualitative evidence I: fieldwork in conflict zones
  • Validity, reliability, error, and bias
  • Analyzing types of qualitative evidence II: archival work, elite interviewing
Literature
    required literature
  • Aberbach, Jeffrey, and Bert Rockman. “Conducting and Coding Elite Interviews.” PS: Political Science and Politics 25, no.4 (2002): 673-676.
  • Shesterinina, Anastasia. “Ethics, Empathy, and Fear in Research on Violent Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research 56, no. 2 (2018): 190-202.
  • Green, Donald, and Alan Gerber. “The Underprovision of Experiments in Political Science.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 589, no. 1 (2003): 94-112.
  • Collier, David. “Understanding process tracing,” Political Science and Politics 44, no.4 (2011): 823-30.
  • Herrera, Yoshiko, and Devesh Kapur. “Improving Data Quality: Actors, Incentives and Capabilities.” Political Analysis 15, no. 4 (2007): 365-386.
  • Adcock, Robert, and David Collier. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” The American Political Science Review, 95, no. 3 (2001): 529-546.
  • Marini, Margaret, and Burton Singer, “Causality in the Social Sciences,” Sociological Methodology 18 (1988): 347-409.
  • Jacobs, Alan. “Process Tracing and Ideational Theories.” In Process Tracing in the Social Sciences: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool, ed. Andrew Bennett and Jeffrey T. Checkel, 41-73. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Przeworski, Adam and Henry Teune. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1970.
  • George, Alexander, and Andrew Bennett. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2005.
  • Ide, Tobias. “Why Do Conflicts Over Scarce Renewable Resources Turn Violent? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis.” Global Environmental Change 33 (2015): 61-70.
  • King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
  • Van Evera, Stephen. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997.
  • Davies, Philip. “Spies as Informants: Triangulation and the Interpretation of Elite Interview Data in the Study of the Intelligence and Security Services.” Politics 21, no.1 (2001): 73-80.
  • Seawright, Jason, and John Gerring. “Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research: A Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options.” Political Research Quarterly 61, no. 2 (2008): 294-308.
  • Lyall, Jason. 2015. “Process Tracing, Causal Inference, and Civil War.” In Process Tracing in the Social Sciences: From Metaphor to Analytic Tool, ed. Andrew Bennett and Jeffrey T. Checkel, 186-207. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • Mahoney, James. “The Logic of Process Tracing Tests in the Social Sciences.” Sociological Methods & Research 41, no. 4 (2012): 570-97.
    recommended literature
  • Lijphart, Arend, “Comparative Politics and Comparative Method,” American Political Science Review, 65 (1971): 682-693.
Teaching methods
Lectures, class discussion, assignments, guest lecture
Assessment methods
research design assignment (three parts), written exam
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
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