BSSn4495 Qualitative Research Methods

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 7 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
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 9 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course examines the logic and methods of qualitative research in political science. The goal is to equip students with tools to both conduct and understand social-scientific studies. We will discuss the goals of empirical political research, posing research questions and constructing hypotheses. Some of the main questions to address are: What are the goals of empirical political research? When we do qualitative research, what are we looking for? How do we recognize it? Where do we look for it? How do we assess the evidence we find? The course mainly focuses on the study of causation, including methodological challenges posed by 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
  • 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
  • Validity, reliability, error, and bias
  • Analyzing types of qualitative evidence I: fieldwork in conflict zones
  • Analyzing types of qualitative evidence II: archival work, elite interviewing
Literature
    required literature
  • • 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.
  • • 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.
  • • King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994.
  • • Przeworski, Adam and Henry Teune. The Logic of Comparative Social Inquiry. New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1970.
  • • Collier, David. “Understanding process tracing,” Political Science and Politics 44, no.4 (2011): 823-30.
  • • 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.
Teaching methods
lectures, class discussion, in-class exercises
Assessment methods
research project, final exam
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/BSSn4495