This is a substantially revised and improved second edition of a book already established as the leading introductory research methods text for political science outside North America.This book covers a very broad range of methods. It is very accessibly written with many examples throughout drawn from a wide range of countries and political systems. 2nd edition is more systematically international in scope, is updated throughout and has additional coverage of discourse analysis.The second edition of this popular text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations and of ethical issues in research. It has been revised and updated throughout, and a new chapter considers the relationship between research and policy
Contents
Introduction -- Methods, Methodology and Making Sense of the Study of Politics -- The Discipline of Politics -- Research Design -- Comparative Methods -- Surveys and Opinion Polls -- Descriptive Statistics -- Making Inferences -- Documentary and Archival Analysis -- The Internet and Political Research -- Elite Interviewing -- Participant Observation and the Analysis of Communications -- Ethics and Political Research -- Research and the Policy Process -- Conclusion: Challenging the Mainstream and the Qualitative/Quantitative Divide
