Research Proposal Outline

1. Research Proposal Outline • Presentation and justification of a research question of your choice (Introduction). • A thorough literature review of studies relevant to your research question. • A presentation of a theory to answer your research question and a corresponding set of hypotheses about the causal relationships among a set of concepts identified in your theory. • A discussion of the indicators used to measure the concepts in the hypotheses, and a defense of the appropriateness of the indicators as measures of the theoretical concepts. (In some cases it may make more sense to address this issue after section (e) • A presentation of a specific research design to be implemented, including a detailed discussion of the data and the specific type of research design employed (be specific and use the language from your textbook). Be sure to justify all of your choices in this section.  • A thorough assessment of the limitations of your study as described (especially threats to internal and external validity).

2. Assignment 8 2. Canache, Mondak and Seligson identify several measurement problems with the concept of "satisfaction with democracy." Summarize these problems, paying particular attention to the problem of cross-national equivalence (the extent to which the same survey item is interpreted in an equivalent fashion across nations or cultures). Based on your intuition, offer one other example of a concept for which cross-national equivalence might pose a similar challenge. Defend your choice.

3. “Equlivalence” in Cross-National Research • What is equivalence?

4. “Satisfaction with Democracy” Canache, Mondak and Seligson • “On the whole, are you very satisfied, fairly satisfied, not very satisfied, or not at all satisfied with the way democracy works in [country]?”

5. “Satisfaction with Democracy”Canache, Mondak and Seligson

6. “Satisfaction with Democracy”Canache, Mondak and Seligson

7. Qualitative Methods in Social Science Research

8. Frankfort-Nachmias & Nachmias (Chapter 9 – Observational Methods; Chapter 12 – Qualitative Research) • Gerring, (Chapters 9-10) • King, Keohane and Verba (Chapter 6) • James Mahoney. 2010. “After KKV: The New Methodology of Qualitative Research.” World Politics Volume 62, Number 1, pp. 120-147. • DvoraYanow. 2003. “Interpretive Political Science: What Makes This Not a Subfield of Qualitative Methods.” Qualitative Methods Section (APSA) Newsletter, 2nd Issue, Fall 2003. • Applications • David J. Harding, Cybelle Fox, and Jal D. Mehta. 2002. “Studying Rare Events through Qualitative Case Studies: Lessons From a Study of Rampage School Shootings.” Sociological Methods & Research. 31(2): 174-217. • Janet Gilboy. 1992. “Penetrability of Administrative Systems: Political ‘Casework’ and Immigration Inspections.” Law & Society Review. 26: 273-314.

9. The Perestroika Movement • What is/was it all about? • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika_Movement_(political_science) • http://heotic.blogspot.com/2007/07/mr-perestroika.html

10. The Perestroika Movement • John J. Mearsheimer, Professor of international relations at the University of Chicago: • "I've felt since the late 1980s that the discipline was in trouble." There is a "hegemonic threat out there" from rational-choice scholars, who draw conclusions about political behavior from game theory and empirical data, and "large-N" people, a reference to the large samples necessary for statistical modeling. "This is about the mathematicization of political science," he said. "I'm in favor of filling the zoo with all kinds of animals. But I'm concerned about them running us out of the business or making us marginal."

11. The Perestroika Movement • Susanne Hoeber Rudolph: • “People who do rational choice select problems because they are susceptible to quantitative measurement.” • “A wish to have precise answers drives you to narrow methodology," she added. "A wish to have broader answers drives you to multiple methodologies.”

12. What is Qualitative Research? • Research that relies on non-numeric “data” • Descriptive or causal inferences • A variety of methods/data sources

13. Types of Qualitative Research • “Field Research” – observation of people in their natural setting • Unstructured interviewing • “Interpretive” Research • “Ethnographic” Research • Small N / Case Study Research • Small N • Comparative Case Study • Case Study • “Data”: written documents (e.g. letters, diaries, speeches, party platforms, newspapers, television)

14. Why do Qualitative Research?

15. Why do Qualitative Research? • Inherent data limitations • Small N • Lack of systematic (numeric) data

16. Richard Tewksbury and the Study of Sexual Deviance

17. Why do Qualitative Research? • Inherent data limitations • Small N • Lack of systematic (numeric) data • Triangulation • internal vs. external validity • Causal mechanism • Epistemology

18. What is the Epistemology of Qualitative Research? • Many qualitative researchers accept positivism • Often true of “small N” qualitative research • Logic of inference is similar to large N/quantitative research • Adapted to limitations of small N (Gerring; KKV)

19. What is the Epistemology of Qualitative Research? • Many qualitative researchers reject positivism • “Verstehen” - understanding the meaning of action from the actor's point of view • Interpretive/ethnographic research

20. Interpretive Research: A Definition(Orlikowski and Baroudi 1991) ‘Interpretive studies assume that people create and associate their own subjective and intersubjective meanings as they interact with the world around them. Interpretive researchers thus attempt to understand phenomena through accessing the meanings participants assign to them’ Geoff Walsham - Lecture 1 of Course on Interpretive Research in IS - Oslo University

21. Interpretive Research: A Definition(Walsham 1993) ‘Interpretive methods of research start from the position that our knowledge of reality, including the domain of human action, is a social construction by human actors and that this applies equally to researchers. Thus there is no objective reality which can be discovered by researchers and replicated by others, in contrast to the assumptions of positivist science’ Geoff Walsham - Lecture 1 of Course on Interpretive Research in IS - Oslo University

22. Interpretive View of Data(Geertz 1973) ‘What we call our data are really our own constructions of other people’s constructions of what they and their compatriots are up to’ Geoff Walsham - Lecture 1 of Course on Interpretive Research in IS - Oslo University

23. Ethnographic Research • a form of research focusing on the sociology of meaning through close field (participant) observation of sociocultural phenomena • Typically, the ethnographer focuses on a community (not necessarily geographic, considering also work, leisure, and other communities), selecting informants who are known to have an overview of the activities of the community • Common in anthropology, sociology

24. Interpretive Methods and Grounded Theory • Purpose • To generate theory • Strategy • theory needs to be grounded or rooted in observation • theory emerges as a result of empirical analysis

25. Field Methods for Interpretive Research • Complete Participant • Researcher’s identity / objectives are concealed • Researcher completely immersed in everyday life of group being studied • Advantages? • Disadvantages?

26. Field Methods for Interpretive Research • Participant as Observer • Researcher’s identity /objectives are made known • Researcher takes a more detached perspective • Membership / participation in group may still be important part of research • Advantages? • Disadvantages?

28. Dobratz and Shanks-Meile • Research question: What motivates people to participate in “white separatist” groups?

29. Dobratz and Shanks-Meile • Attended meetings (both public and private) of various white separatist groups over a period of two years • Observed/recorded all behavior that seemed important • Group members were aware of their identity and intentions • Researchers developed a theory of white separatist group formation/activity based on experiences/interviews with group members

30. Dobratz and Shanks-Meile • Conclusion – White “separatists” largely motivated by economic displacement, and not driven by racial hatred/prejudice. • Did Dobratz and Shanks-Meile “go native”?

31. Janet Gilboy(Studying immigration inspections) • “Because so little was known about the setting - the last empirical study examined steamship travelers at Ellis Island 50 years ago (Van Vleck 1932) - I used extensive observations and informal rather than structured interviews. These methods allowed inspectors to describe work from their perspective and permitted important issues in the setting to come to the fore, including the subject of this article. Although I did not set out to focus on political casework as a factor shaping port decisions, its relevance became apparent from inspectors' comments, as did the sensitivity of the subject.” (p. 281)

32. “Data” Collection and Field Research • Observational data • Written documents • Unstructured Interviewing • initial guiding questions or core concepts • no formal structured instrument or protocol

33. Working with Qualitative “Data” • http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx

34. Using Qualitative Research to Conduct “Scientific” Research • Stand-alone (logic of case selection, causal inference and case study design) • KKV • Gerring • Harding, Fox, Mehta • As a supplement to quantitative research • Triangulation • Looking inside the “black box”

35. Case Study Methods • Single-case studies (single observation) • Weakest due to lack of ability to establish covariation • Disagreement over utility • “crucial case” studies • Least-likely and most-likely designs (Eckstein, in KKV)

36. Case Study Methods • Comparative-case studies (or longitudinal) • Stronger due to ability to establish covariation • Importance of unit homogeneity • “random assignment”

37. Causal Inference in Case Study Designs • Gerring and McDermott – applying an “experimental template” • Gerring, John, and Rose McDermott. 2007. An experimental template for case-study research. American Journal of Political Science 51(3): 688-701.

38. Gerring and McDermott (2007) • Causal logic based on examination of covariation (like quantitative studies) • Hierarchy of designs • Dynamic comparison (strongest) • Counterfactual comparison (weakest) • Communication – to noncase study audience

40. Other Strategies for Causal Inference in Case Study Research • Mill’s method of agreement (“most different” method)

41. Other Strategies for Causal Inference in Case Study Research • Mill’s method of agreement (“most different” method) • cases limited to positive cases (constant Y) • causal factors identified by similar values of X • eliminated by divergent values of X • useful to establish necessary conditions • tells us little about possible sufficient conditions

42. Other Strategies for Causal Inference in Case Study Research • Mill’s method of difference (“most similar” design)

43. Other Strategies for Causal Inference in Case Study Research • Mill’s method of difference (“most similar” design) • cases chosen with different values of Y • cases matched on many X’s • Hypotheses about X’s of interest tested by comparing values of X across cases • useful to establish sufficient conditions • Possible extension using ordinal data (“ordinal comparison”) to test hypotheses about X

44. Other Strategies for Causal Inference in Case Study Research • Within-case analysis (Harding, et al) • Pattern matching: determine if all of various implications of theory are present within case • Process tracing: “thick description of sequence of events to identify causal mechanisms at work”

45. Small N and Qualitative Research • The Small N problem (KKV) • Alternative explanations • Measurement error • Determinism • Solving the Small N problem • Same measures, new units (increase variation) • Same units, new measures (a la pattern matching) • New measures, new units

46. Relative Advantages of Qualitative Research

47. Relative Advantages of Qualitative Research • Provides researcher with depth of understanding • Establishes theoretical plausibility • Generation of new theories/hypotheses • More appropriate for complex phenomena (with complex causal structures) • May be the only strategy possible

48. Relative Disadvantages of Qualitative Research

49. Relative Disadvantages of Qualitative Research • Small N – lack of generalizability • Small N – difficult to control for alternative explanations • Small N – selection bias • Less objectivity (?) • Difficult to replicate

50. Discussion Questions • Describe how/why qualitative methods were valuable to study the research questions addressed in the article. • What are the main weaknesses of the research, in your view? • Discuss how the research question might be tested using a quantitative/large-N design? Would this be preferable? Why or why not?