Qualitative Methods in International Relations
Research Methods Series General Editors: Bernhard Kittel, Professor of Social Science Methodology, Department of Social Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Germany and Benoît Rihoux, Professor of Political Science, Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Belgium In association with the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Palgrave Macmillan is delighted to announce the launch of a new book series dedicated to producing cutting-edge titles in Research Methods. While political science currently tends to import methods developed in neighbouring disciplines, the series contributes to developing a methodological apparatus focusing on those methods which are appropriate in dealing with the specific research problems of the discipline. The series provides students and scholars with state-of-the-art scholarship on methodology, methods and techniques. It comprises innovative and intellectually rigorous monographs and edited collections which bridge schools of thought and cross the boundaries of conventional approaches. The series covers both empirical-analytical and interpretive approaches, micro and macro studies, and quantitative and qualitative methods. Titles include: Audie Klotz and Deepa Prakash (editors) QUALITATIVE METHODS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS A Pluralist Guide Forthcoming titles include: Lane Kenworthy and Alexander Hicks (editors) METHOD AND SUBSTANCE IN MACRO-COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Research Methods Series Series Standing Order ISBN 978 0230 20679 3 hardcover Series Standing Order ISBN 978 0230 20680 9 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Qualitative Methods in International Relations A Pluralist Guide Edited by Audie Klotz and Deepa Prakash Department of Political Science, The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA
Editorial matter, selection, Introduction and Conclusion Audie Klotz and Deepa Prakash 2008 All remaining chapters respective authors 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-54239-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-24175-6 ISBN 978-0-230-58412-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230584129 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Qualitative methods in international relations: a pluralist guide/ edited by Audie Klotz and Deepa Prakash. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. International relations Research Methodology. 2. International relations Study and teaching. I. Klotz, Audie, 1962 II. Prakash, Deepa, 1978 JZ1234.Q83 2008 327.072 dc22 2007050062 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
Contents List of Tables List of Figures Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors vii viii ix xi 1 Introduction 1 Audie Klotz Part I: Research Design 2 Thinking Tools 11 Anna Leander 3 Feminist Methodological Reflection 28 Brooke Ackerly 4 Case Selection 43 Audie Klotz Part II: Classic Qualitative Tools 5 Discourse Analysis 61 Iver B. Neumann 6 Historical Representations 78 Kevin C. Dunn 7 Ethnographic Research 93 Hugh Gusterson 8 Process Tracing 114 Jeffrey T. Checkel Part III: Boundary Crossing Techniques 9 Political Personality Profiling 131 Jerrold M. Post v
vi Contents 10 Content Analysis 151 Margaret G. Hermann 11 Pragmatic Analysis 168 Gavan Duffy 12 Agent-based Modeling 187 Matthew J. Hoffmann Part IV: Implications 13 Qualitative Methods? 211 Samuel Barkin 14 Practicing Pluralism 221 Deepa Prakash Bibliography 238 Index 255
List of Tables 11.1 Interaction between Henry Kissinger (HAK), Mao Zedong (MAO), and Zhou En Lai (ZHOU) (February 1973, Beijing) 175 11.2 Analysis of italicized proposition in Table 11.1 178 11.3 Hypothetical illustration of Rescher s Formalism 180 11.4 Argument analysis of the Kissinger Mao interaction 182 11.5 Model of Mao s reasoning 183 vii
List of Figures 11.1 Flow chart of pragmatic analysis procedures 170 A.1 Population predictions low noise, no entrepreneur 10 agents, 6% noise 203 A.2 Population predictions high noise, no entrepreneur 10 agents, 10% noise 203 A.3 Population predictions low noise, no entrepreneur present 10 agents, 6% noise 204 A.4 Population predictions high noise, no entrepreneur present 10 agents, 10% noise 205 viii
Acknowledgments Three groups of people deserve our heartfelt thanks for their influence on this project. Without them, there would be no book. The initial idea derived from discussions between Audie Klotz and Cecelia Lynch related to their co-authored Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations. That book focused on the toolbox. Since it could not include everything, here we concentrate on the tools. While Cecelia did not contribute a chapter of her own, she greatly influenced our emphasis on pluralism. Delivering the tools, of course, would not have been possible without the contributors, all of whom responded enthusiastically to our invitation to write about their use of methods. They probably never imagined how demanding their editors would be! We appreciate their willingness to rethink and rewrite, sometimes more than once. A number of people at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University influenced the particular form of the project. At Peg Hermann s suggestion, and with her invaluable financial support through the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, most of the contributors presented their first drafts to a live student audience. The Moynihan staff provided logistical assistance for those visits. Peg also generously hosted a seaside dinner in San Diego during the 2006 annual meeting of the International Studies Association, the only opportunity for most of the authors to talk in person. Gavan Duffy originally created PSC 694, Qualitative Political Analysis, and he graciously let us commandeer it for 2 years. Azamat Sakiev provided research assistance at the earliest stage, and both his and Deepa Prakash s work were funded by the Political Science Department. Most books are written by professors, who supposedly know best how to teach their subject matter. In contrast, learners played a central role in this project. We especially thank all student commentators in the Fall 2005 cohort, who provided detailed suggestions and prodded our visiting experts in insightful ways. Revised versions had to pass muster with a second group of students in Fall 2006, although they did not have the fun of grilling the authors in person. In addition, students in both years experimented with these guidelines in their individual homework ix
x Acknowledgments assignments, often in very creative ways. The editors tried to channel all of this feedback, but any credit for making the chapters accessible goes to these students. We are grateful for their willingness to contribute to work in progress and to embrace learning as a process. A.K. and D.P. Syracuse, NY
Notes on Contributors Brooke Ackerly, Associate Professor at Vanderbilt University, is co-editor of Feminist Methods in International Relations, among other work bridging feminist political theory and international relations. Samuel Barkin, Associate Professor at the University of Florida, has published on a wide range of topics in international relations, including international political economy, institutions, environmental politics, and theory. Jeffrey T. Checkel is Professor of Political Science at the University of Oslo and Adjunct Research Professor at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. Among his publications is the edited collection International Institutions and Socialization in Europe, and he serves as co-editor of the Sage Series on the Foundations of International Relations. Gavan Duffy is Associate Professor at Syracuse University, where he investigates political conflict and conducts formal and computational linguistic analyses of strategic political interactions. Kevin C. Dunn, Associate Professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, works at the intersection of international relations and African politics. He is author of Imagining the Congo and co-editor of African Guerrillas, Identity and Global Politics, and Africa s Challenge to International Relations Theory. Hugh Gusterson, Professor of Cultural Studies at George Mason University, offers an anthropological perspective on science and technology issues in international affairs, including two books on nuclear scientists, Nuclear Rights and People of the Bomb. He also co-edited Cultures of Insecurity and Why America s Top Pundits are Wrong. Margaret G. Hermann is Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. She is a widely published expert on comparative foreign policy, political leadership, and political psychology. xi
xii Notes on Contributors Matthew J. Hoffmann is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. His research interests include global environmental governance, social constructivism, complexity theory, and agent-based modeling. His book Ozone Depletion and Climate Change explored social norm dynamics in environmental politics with both computational simulations and process tracing case studies. Audie Klotz, Associate Professor at Syracuse University, is the co-author of Strategies for Research in Constructivist International Relations, among other publications. Her current research on state identity compares immigration policies in South Africa, Canada, and Australia. Anna Leander, Associate Professor in the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at the Copenhagen Business School, works on issues of private authority in international relations, focusing on the use of force. Iver B. Neumann is Professor of Russian Studies at Oslo University and Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. He has used discourse analysis in studies of diplomacy and popular culture, including his co-edited book, Harry Potter in International Relations. Jerrold M. Post, Professor in the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and Director of its Political Psychology program, has developed personality profiling as a framework for both scholarly and applied analysis of political leaders. Deepa Prakash is a PhD candidate in Political Science at Syracuse University. Her research interests are in critical security studies, the discourse on terrorism, and the identities of non-state actors, with a focus on South Asia.