IPSA-USP
Concepts, Methods and Techniques in
Political Science, Public Policy
and International Relations
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Faculty:
Rachel A. Schwartz, University of Oklahoma
Teaching Assistant: –
Qualitative comparative research has become central within the fields of political science, public policy, and international relations and is often treated as complementary to quantitative social scientific methods. What is the logic by which small-n comparison helps us develop descriptive and causal insights? How might qualitative comparative methods complement, refine, or improve upon quantitative modes of inquiry? What are the different ways of comparing, and how might we structure qualitative comparisons within our own research?
This course will provide an overview of the logics, forms, benefits, and challenges of small-n comparative research,
as well as allow students to examine how qualitative comparative techniques might apply to and enhance their own research projects. In addition to examining the conventional uses of comparison for conceptual development, description, and casual inference, this course will also interrogate the logics of control that often anchor small-n qualitative research and explore alternative ways of structuring comparisons that are attentive to distinct objects of analysis, including causal processes, social and cultural practices, and the meanings through which individuals make sense of the world around them.
Basic knowledge in research methods and introductory statistics.
