Interpretive Political Science Research Methods Course

Many students in political science, public policy and public administration who decide to undertake qualitative or interpretive research feel they are unqualified to do so. In particular they feel that interpretive approaches lack the type of specialised training that has become commonplace in quantitative political science.

The PSA’s Interpretive Political Science Specialist Group, in conjunction with the National Centre for Research Methods, seeks to redress this gap. Our inaugural methods course, held at the University of Southampton, 9 – 11 May 2018, will:

• Situate the interpretive approach in relation to other ways of doing political science research by reference to the philosophical, epistemological, and methodological assumptions on which these approaches are based;
• Provide the theoretical and analytical tools students need to design and conduct their research project;
• Outline the toolkit of methods used by interpretive scholars to collect data, including ethnographic and interview-based methods;
• Provide a series of standards that will both ensure results are reliable and maximise the impact of findings; and
• Offer guidance on the norms and principles used to analyse data in an interpretive project.

Led by Southampton’s Prof. R.A.W Rhodes, the course is primarily aimed at PhD students and early career scholars of political science, public policy and public administration. It will be very hands-on, and is set up as a dialogue between the theory and practice of interpretive research. Most fundamentally, the course is organized around the participant’s own research. It does not provide a mere toolbox of analytical instruments to be applied, but will introduce participants to, and let them practice with, the approach, enhancing their skills in research design, data collection and data analysis in the process.

Information on registration, costs, bursaries and registration can be found here.