QUALITATIVE METHODS / Spring 2001 Department of Political Science Emory University

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1 QUALITATIVE METHODS / Spring 2001 Department of Political Science Emory University Professors Richard Doner and Randall Strahan Doner: , rdoner@emory.edu, Office hours: TTh 10:30 12:00 Strahan: , polsrs@emory.edu Office hours: W 1:30 3:30 and by appt.... science is not a set of methods...; it is ultimately a commitment to explore and attempt to understand a given segment of empirical reality. The means employed in pursuing this goal should be secondary: in good science, methods are fit to the subject matter rather than subject matter being truncated or distorted in order to fit it to a preordained notion of scientific method. (Almond and Genco, 1977) This is a course for graduate students interested in employing qualitative methods in political science research. By qualitative methods, we mean methods that involve small numbers of intensive observations, and that do not rely on statistical tests for drawing causal inferences. The goal of the course is to help students develop proficiency in the use of qualitative methods in two respects. The first is to understand and be able to articulate the assumptions about the political world and arguments about scientific knowledge on which qualitative approaches in political science are grounded. We will devote particular attention to the question of how research designs involving relatively small numbers of intensive observations can be used to develop and test theory in political science. The second type of proficiency the course will help students develop involves basic knowledge of the principal techniques used by political scientists who do qualitative research. Our objective is to help students develop the methodological tools needed to pursue rigorous qualitative research for the dissertation, either as a supplement to quantitative analyses or as the principal research strategy. Required Texts: King, Keohane, and Verba, Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research Fenno, Watching Politicians: Essays on Participant Observation Rubin and Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data Derthick and Quirk, The Politics of Deregulation All additional readings are either on reserve in the Graduate Commons, or are available on the web. Attendance: Seminar attendance is mandatory. If extraordinary circumstances require that you miss a seminar session, please notify Doner or Strahan in advance (or as soon as possible). Papers: A 2 3 page memo on the student s substantive research interests will be due for the first seminar meeting. Two types of papers are required over the course of the semester.

2 A 2 3 page critical summary of each week s reading assignment will be due each Wednesday by noon. A qualitative research design of approximately 25 pages in the area of the student s (probable) dissertation topic will be due at the end of the semester. A 3 5 page proposal indicating the topic of the research design, and a tentative bibliography will be due on February 26. The final research design paper will be due on May 4. Grading: Class participation: 25%; Weekly critical summaries: 25%; Qualitative research design: 50%. Weekly Topics / Schedule I. Introduction: Why should political scientists learn qualitative methods? (Jan. 18) 1. To what extent is the world of politics different from the physical world? From the world of economics? 2. Should political science be value free? What are the criteria for deciding on a topic of study in political science? Do political scientists have an obligation to focus on some questions or issues rather than others? What is the interest to political science of events that occur infrequently (e.g. crises, revolutions)? 3. How should the researcher balance concerns of substantive importance with those of methodological tractability or innovation? Assignment Draft a 2 3 page memo on your substantive research interests and possible applications of qualitative methods in this area. Come prepared to discuss the contents of the memo and the readings below. Reading Almond and Genco, Clouds, Clocks, and the Study of Politics World Politics, Vol. 29, No. 4. (July 1977), pp. 489_522. Weber, Selection from Science as a Vocation, pp in Gerth and Mills, eds., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology Ceaser, Liberal Democracy and Political Science, Introduction., Chap. 1 What Is Liberal Democracy? Rhoads, The Economist s View of the World, Chap. 11, Representatives, Deliberation and Political Leadership Recommended: Eichengreen, Dental Hygiene and Nuclear War: How International Relations Looks From Economics International Organization (Autumn 1998), pp Walt, Rigor or Rigor Mortis? Rational Choice and Security Studies International Security (Spring 1999), pp. 5 48

3 II. Small N qualitative research: Goals and Strategies I (Jan. 25) 1. What is the goal of the interpretive method? How do you know if you have the interpretation right? 2. What is the range of theoretical objectives political scientists can legitimately pursue? To which objectives are small n research designs best suited? 3. Can the study of outlying or anomalous cases advance the development of theory? Taylor, Philosophy and the Human Sciences, Chap. 1, Interpretation and the Sciences of Man. George, Case Studies and Theory Development: The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison in Lauren, ed., Diplomatic History: New Appraoches Collier, Data, Field Work, and Extracting New Ideas at Close Range APSA CP Newsletter 10 (Winter 1999), pp. 1,2, 4 6. Online at: Laitin, Disciplining Political Science American Political Science Review 89 (June 1995), pp Rogowski, The Role of Theory and Anomaly in Social Scientific Inference American Political Science Review 89 (June 1995), pp III. Small N qualitative research: Goals and Strategies II (Feb. 1) 1. What is the range of small n strategies through which one can pursue different theoretical objectives? How do the different strategies contribute to different theoretical objectives? 2. How and why do the authors differ regarding the possibilities for testing theoretical explanations with small n designs? What assumptions underlie the arguments that theories can or cannot be tested with a small number of cases? Eckstein, Case Study and Theory in Political Science in Greenstein and Polsby,eds., Handbook of Political Science, Vol. 7 Lijphart, Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method American Political Science Review 1971: Bates, Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies. Introduction (pp. 1 8); Ch. 1 (pp ); Ch. 7 (pp ); Commonalities and Variations (pp ). IV. Problems in Qualitative Research: Descriptive Inference, Causal Inference and Overdetermination (Feb. 15) 1. What are descriptive and causal inference? How are they related? 2. Why are inferences drawn from small numbers of observations inherently problematic for KKV even for purposes of description?

4 3. What do KKV and Lieberson see as the major pitfalls in using small n designs to draw causal inferences? 4. What do KKV mean by causation? How do "probabilistic" and "deterministic" understandings of causation differ? How can we determine which view of causation is appropriate for the phenomenon we want to study? On what basis do KKV determine that causation is probabilistic? 5. How does our understanding of causation affect the canons of research design we favor? In particular, what does each view of causation imply regarding the numbers of cases or observations required to establish the presence of a causal effect? King, Keohane and Verba, Designing Social Inquiry, pp , , Lieberson, Small N s and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Case Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases Social Forces 70 (Dec. 1991) Munck, Canons of Research Design in Qualitative Analysis Studies in Comparative International Development 33 (Fall 1998): V. Qualitative approaches to causation and causal inference I (Feb. 22) 1. What views of causation exist in political science beyond the simple idea of covariation? 2. What are the major alternatives to KKV s statistical view of causal inference? How do an ontic understanding of causation or assumptions about causal complexity lead to different research strategies? What assumptions about probabilistic vs. deterministic causation underlie these alternative approaches? What ideas about causation underlie work by scholars of the historical institutionalist school? McKeown, Case Studies and the Statistical Worldview International Organization 53 (Winter 1999), pp : Ragin, The Comparative Method, Chap. 2 Pierson and Skocpol, Historical Institutionalism in Contemporary Political Science. Paper presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Online at: Schoppa, Leonard. The Social Context in Coerceive International Bargaining International Organization 53 (2) Spring 1999, pp McKeown, Hegemonic Stability Theory and 19 th Century Tariff Levels in Europe International Organization 37 (Winter 1983): RESEARCH DESIGN PROPOSAL DUE FEB. 26 VI. Qualitative approaches to causation and causal inference II/ Process tracing (March 1)

5 1. To what extent can the use of counterfactuals strengthen small n designs? What are the characteristics of a plausible counterfactual argument? 2. What is process tracing? How is is informed by theory? What is its relationship to causal inference? To journalism and other narrative accounts? 3. Why is sequence important in explanations of some political outcomes? 4. What is a critical juncture? What causal mechanisms underlie theories incorporating path dependence? Fearon, Counterfactuals and Hypothesis Testing in Political Science World Politics 43 (1991): Khong, Confronting Hitler and Its Consequences, in Tetlock and Belkin, eds., Counterfactual Thought Experiments in World Politics, pp George and McKeown, Case Studies and Theories of Organizational Decisonmaking in Coulan and Smith, eds., Advances in Information Procesing in Organizations. Fenno, Observation, Context, and Sequence in Fenno, Watching Politicians, pp Pierson, Not Just What, but When: Timing and Sequence in Political Processes Studies in American Political Development 14 (Spring 2000): Thelen, Timing and Temporality in the Analysis of Institutional Evolution and Change Studies in American Political Development 14 (Spring 2000): Collier and Collier, Shaping the Political Arena, Chap. 1 Critical Junctures and Historical Legacies, pp VII. Problems in Qualitative Research: Case Selection (March 8) 1. Why do KKV view random selection as the best case selection strategy? If random selection is not possible or advisable, what alternative strategies can be used? 2. What problems can arise due to selection bias? To what extent can these be avoided in small n research designs? 3. What is a case? How is a case different from an observation? King, Keohane and Verba, Designing Social Inquiry, pp Collier and Mahoney, Insights and Pitfalls: Selection Bias in Qualitative Research World Politics 49 (October 1996), pp Geddes How the Cases You Choose Affect the Answers You Get: Selection Bias in Comparative Politics. Political Analysis 2 (1990), pp Ragin and Becker eds., What is a Case?, pp. 1 15, Collier and Collier, Shaping the Political Arena: Critical Junctures, the Labor Movement and Regime Dynamics in Latin America, Overview, pp Hector E. Schamis "Distributional Coalitions and the Politics of Economic Reform in Latin America." World Politics. (January) 51:2, pp. 236_269 Peters, Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods, Chaps. 2 & 3

6 SPRING BREAK MARCH VIII. Doing Qualitative Research: Concept Development, Operationalization and Coding (March Under what circumstances might concept development become a focus of political science research? 2. What is the link between concept development on the one hand, and measurement and coding on the other? 3. When developing concepts, is there a danger of judging the validity of a concept on the same data that generated the concept? 4. What is conceptual stretching? How can it be avoided? Peters, Comparative Politics: Theory and Methods, Chap. 4 Jones Doing Before Knowing: Concept Development in Political Research. American Journal of Political Science 18 (1974): Kathleen Thelen and Richard Locke. Problems of Equivalence in Comparative Politics: Apples and Oranges, Again. APSA CP Newsletter (Winter 1998), pp Online at: Evans, Peter. Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. Chap. 4, Roles and Sectors. Collier, David and Steven Levitsky Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research. World Politics. Vol. 49, no. 3 (April 1997) Fenno, "U.S. House Members in Their Constituencies: An Exploration" American Political Science Review 71 (1977): Doner and Schneider Business Associations and Economic Development. Business and Politics. (December) IX. Illustrative research: comparative work (March 29) Reading Van Evera, Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science, Chap. 2. Other reading TBA

7 X. Illustrative research: Derthick and Quirk on the politics of deregulation (April 5) Reading Derthick and Quirk, The Politics of Deregulation Quirk, In Defense of the Politics of Ideas Journal of Politics 50 (Feb., 1988), pp. 31_41. XI. Qualitative research techniques: interviewing and participant observation I (April 12) 1. Why interview or directly observe political actors? What research goals can be advanced? 2. How is interviewing different from other techniques such as survey research? 3.. How well does one have to understand those being interviewed? 4. To what extent are validity and reliability central concerns in interview research? 5. What are experience near and experience distant concepts? How should the two be related in interview/observational research? 6. How does interviewing fit within the methods of process tracing and structured focused comparison?

8 Rubin and Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, Chaps. 4, 6 Fenno, Watching Politicians, Foreword, Preface, Introduction, Chap. 4 Geertz, From the Native s Point of View : On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding, Chap. 3 in Geertz, Local Knowledge. Walsh, Making Sense of Who We Are: Giving Meaning to Tools of Political Understanding Through Informal Talk (Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan, 2000), selections TBA XII. Qualitative research techniques: interviewing and participant observation (April 19) 1.What personal qualities are needed when using oneself as an instrument investigation? 2. What is the balance between structure and improvisation when interviewing? To what extent can we establish a clear set of rules or canons for doing good interview research? 3. What personal/ethical issues can arise when doing interviewing or participant observation? Hammer and Wildavsky, The Open Ended, Semistructured Interview: An (Almost) Operational Guide in Wildavsky, Craftways: On the Organization of Scholarly Work Rubin and Rubin, Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, Chaps. 5, 7, 9 11 Fenno, Watching Politicians, Chaps. 1 3 Simpson, The Tie That Binds, Chaps. 1, 2, Appendix A XIII. Qualitative Research Techniques: Using Archival and Historical Evidence (April 26) 1. Why use historical evidence in qualitative political science research? 2. What are the distinctive problems that can arise when using historical evidence? To what extent can we develop rules or strategies to resolve or manage these problems? Essays by Gamm, Katznelson, and Aldrich on Does Historical Political Research Pose any Special Methodological Concerns? from The Political Methodologist 8, no. 1 (Fall 1997), pp Online at: Stephens, Historical Analysis and Casual Assessment in Comparative Research. APSA P (Winter 1998): 9: online at:

9 Lustick History, Historiography, and Political Science: Multiple Historical Records and the Problems of Selection Bias American Political Science Review 90 (Sept. 1996), pp Mayhew, American s Congress; Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison through Newt Gingrich, Introduction, Chaps. 1, 2, 6 Solnick, Stealing the State: Control and Collapse in Soviet Institutions, Chap. 4 XIV. Student presentations of qualitative research designs (Date TBA) FINAL RESEARCH DESIGN PAPER DUE MAY 4 BY 4:00 P.M.