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POL 351 Study Unit 1: Comparative Method and Methodology in Political…
POL 351 Study Unit 1:
Comparative Method and
Methodology in Political Science
Chapter 1: Methodological Considerations in Political Science
What is Political Science
Political Science could be defined as a set of
techniques, concepts, and approaches
whose objective is
to increase
the clarity and accuracy of
understandings about political phenomenon
Objective of political science
to describe (What)
explain (Why) and
prescribe (What ought to be)
The Philosophical Foundations of Research: Ontology and Epistemology
Ontology
Ontology is the study of the
fundamental nature of reality
it includes claims and assumptions that are made about social reality - i.e. what exists, what are the foundation/building blocks of social realities and how do they interact.
Foundational-ism (Quantitative and
qualitative methodology)
There exist and absolute,
objective truth
, independent from our knowledge.
The world is made of different objects which are independent of the researchers
Researchers should view these objects in the same way
Anti-foundationalism
Reality is a social construct
developed through social, political and cultural evolution.
Realities are localised and subjective - i.e. realities differ between individuals/groups
social/political actors hold innate values which must be understood contextually
Epistemology
The study of how to acquire and attain knowledge and truth
includes methods on how to examine and validate social realities.
Positivist
One of the three major approaches to social research that emphasizes:
discovering and explaining causal laws
empirical observations, and
value-free research.
Through a deterministic, realist ontology, in order to formulate theories and predictions
Purpose
Purpose of conducting Social sciences discover and document universal
causal laws
of human behaviour
Causal law
General cause–effect rules used in causal explanations of social theory and whose discovery is a primary objective of positivist social science.
Nature of social reality
Modern positivists adopt a
realist
ontology (i.e. materialism/ empirical observation)
Nature of human beings
assumes that humans are self-interested, pleasure-seeking/pain-avoiding, rational mammals. That learn by observing their external/social behaviour (a.k.a
mechanical model
of a man)
Mechanical model of man
A model of human nature used in positivist social science stating that observing people’s external behaviors and documenting outside forces acting on them are sufficient to provide adequate explanations of human thought and action.
View on human agency (free will, volition, and rationality)
emphasizes the
determinism
of relationships and looks for determining causes or mechanisms that produce effects.
Determinism
An approach to human agency and causality that assumes that human actions are largely caused by forces external to individuals that can be identified.
View on explanations or theory of social reality
explanation is nomothetic.
I.e. A type of explanation used in positivist social science that relies heavily on causal laws and lawlike statements and interrelations.
View on true or false
PSS explanations must meet two conditions: They must
(1) have no logical contradictions and
(2) be consistent with observed facts,
Interpretative social science
One of three major approaches to social research that emphasizes
exploring and describing social actions within a context
understanding socially constructed meaning (Constructionist ontology)
value relativism
a voluntaristic view of human volition - Human actions based on subjective choices
Purpose
the goal of social research is to develop an understanding of social life and discover how people construct
meaningful social action
, not just people’s visible, external behavior
Nature of social reality
ISS employs a
Constructionist orientation.
i.e. An orientation toward social reality that assumes the
beliefs and meaning
that people create and use fundamentally
shape what reality is
for them
Nature of human being
Humans are interacting beings who create and reinforce shared meaning.
view on human agency (free will, volition, and rationality)
ISS adopts voluntarism and sees people as having volition (being able to make conscious choices).
Voluntarism
An approach to human agency and causality assuming that human actions are based on the
subjective choices and reasons
of individuals
Relationship between science and common sense
Positivists see common sense as being inferior to science. By contrast, ISS holds that ordinary people use common sense to guide them in daily life
View on explanations or theory of social reality
ISS is idiographic and inductive. Explanations are idiographic and advance via inductive reasoning
The purpose of ISS theory is to provide an interpretative explanation
Idiographic
A type of explanation used in interpretive social science in which the explanation is an in-depth description or picture with specific details but limited abstraction about a social situation or setting.
View on evidence
Social scientific evidence is contingent, context-specific, and often requires bracketing.
Bracketing
A strategy of interpretive social science researchers to
identify the taken-for-granted assumptions
of a social scene and then set them aside or hold them in temporary abeyance.
By recognizing and separating the ordinary, “obvious” meanings people use in daily life, researchers can better understand their role.
Social science should be relativistic regarding value positions.
View on true or false
Explanations are verified using the postulate of adequacy with people being studied
Postulate of adequacy
An interpretive social science principle that explanations should be understandable in commonsense terms by the people being studied.
Practical orientation
A pragmatic orientation toward social knowledge in which people apply knowledge in their daily lives; the value of knowledge is the ability to be integrated with a person’s practical everyday understandings and choices.
Critical social science
One of the three major approaches to social research that emphasizes:
chaninging/influencing social behaviours
Evaluate present day systems or social phenomena
and value-based activism for human empowerment.
Purpose
In the CSS view, the primary purpose of research is to
critique and transform
social relations by
revealing the underlying sources of social control
, power relations, and inequality
Nature of social reality
CSS adopts a critical realist ontology that views reality as being composed of multiple layers: the empirical, the real, and the actual
Nature of human being
CSS recognizes that people are rational decision makers who are shaped by social structures and creative beings who construct meaning and social structures
View on human agency (free will, volition, and rationality)
CSS blends determinism and voluntarism to emphasize bounded autonomy
Bounded autonomy
An approach to human agency and causality used in critical social science that assumes human action is based on subjective choices and reasons but only within identifiable limits.
Relationship between science and common sense
CSS is of the position that Scientific knowledge is imperfect but can fight false consciousness.
False consciousness
An idea used by critical social science that people often have false or misleading ideas about empirical conditions and their true interests.
View on explanations or theory of social reality
Abduction is used to create explanatory critiques
Abduction
means making repeated reevaluations of ideas and data based on applying alternative rules or schemes and learning from each
Explanatory critique
A type of explanation used in critical social science in which the explanation simultaneously explains conditions (or tells why) events occur and critiques conditions (or points out discrepancies, reveals myths, or identifies contradictions).
Explanation is verified via praxis
Praxis
A way to evaluate explanations in critical social science by putting theoretical explanations into real-life practice and the subsequent outcome is used to refine explanation.
The relevance or use of social scientific knowledge
CSS researchers uses Reflexive-dialectic orientation and Transformative perspective
Reflexive-dialectic orientation
An orientation toward social knowledge used in critical social science in which subjective and objective sides are blended together to provide insights in combination unavailable from either side alone; the value of knowledge as a process that integrates making observations, reflecting on them, and taking action
Transformative perspective
The view that the researcher probes beyond the surface level of reality in ways that can shift subjective understandings and provide insights into how engaging in social-political action may dramatically improve the conditions of people’s lives.
Research Design in Political Science
What is Research Design
the most
basic blueprint
which helps build or create the research
process of translation from something problematic or puzzling into something on which you can gather valid data and about which you can make compelling inferences
Schmitter Research cycle
2. Debate
Should recognise some existing perspectives on your question
Should build on literature review and identify weaknesses
Should be simple in arguments and explanations
3. Empirics
Should involve a search for data/cases to address the hypothesis
Should infer causalities beyond immediate data
Should develop a plausible argument
1. The Research Question
Should be falsifiable
Should be parsimonious/simple to explain and understand
Should be empirically examinable
Should have a logical beginning and end
4. Falsification
involves independent statistical tests
Research Methods in Political Science
The Comparative Method
(See chapter 2)
Quantitative Methods
It is clearly
based on numbers, data and statistical analysis
and attempts to estimate the average effect of one or more causes across a population of cases
quantitative work will
attempt to observe and measure
why a political phenomenon is occurring repeatedly
Techniques used in quantitative method include surveys, questionnaires and content
analysis
Pros
The quantitative method is preferred by those who think it is
more coherent, organised and methodical
.
Cons
its disadvantage is that it could be daunting for many researchers considering that it involves statistics and numbers
also critiqued for
not factoring in the intricacy
of the political world
Qualitative Methods
qualitative methods focus on “detailed, text based answers…(with) the use of
detailed description and analysis
rather than broad numerical generalisations
The preferred and commonly used techniques in qualitative method include group discussions, interviews, life history, case studies and pictures
Experimental Methods
a research method where in investigators retain control over the recruitment, assignment to random conditions, treatment, and measurement of subjects.”
The experimental method is considered strong in terms of its
ability to find causality
Chapter 2: Comparative Method and Politics
The Comparative Method
comparative method undertakes the function of developing, testing and refining theories about causal relationships
The method makes an
attempt to link observation of causes to effects.
The efforts of researchers of comparative method are focused on finding out whether an independent variable X leads to dependent variable Y – at a very basic level.
Why Compare?
the comparative method helps us understand not just our target study country, but also
helps us to know more about the others
the primary role of the comparative method is “
developing, testing and refining theories about causal relationships
.”
help us realise how different systems function, while being able to draw out some commonalities
helps us to draw out conclusions / strong generalisations through the process of comparing and contrasting
Practical application
In an era of globalisation and interconnectedness, it is critical to have
knowledge of political culture, historical backgrounds and institutions of other countries
, because it is only very apparent that the
likelihood of interacting
or getting impacted by them is
very high
i.e. it would help to understand Russia’s current posturing if we are able to know about their leadership and political system and background. This could be a potential source of information for policymakers and leaders and assist better decision-making
it also helps researchers
fathom if an occurrence is simply limited to an area or
is it
applicable in other similar situations
as well
Key Advantages of the Comparative Method
Organise our understanding for future research
It helps us to
categorise and organise
political systems, institutions, actors, structures and processes.
This in turn
enables researchers to both raise further questions and deep dive
into them and also find out reasons why or why not a certain political phenomenon occurred, why a country became a democracy or authoritarian for instance.
All such information could also help in analysing which system, institution or structure works best
Projecting and forecasting
the generic findings from comparative politics have the potential to be
used for making forecasts and estimates about what could possibly happen in the future even
in other countries in a similar situation.
For example, if economic and political dissatisfaction and instability are seen to lead to mushrooming of terror groups in country A, it could be seen as an indication of what other countries in an analogous situation might face in the future
Expanding knowledge
the comparative method allows us to expand knowledge and understanding of not just ourselves, but beyond – in terms of other countries, their political systems, institutions, actors, etc.
As mentioned earlier, this helps us in anticipating the possible response of other countries, find out the reasons behind their behaviour and responses and also helps shape our policies and plan our responses accordingly.
Challenges and Limitations of the Comparative Method