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Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
Researching International Politics: Qualitative
Methods
Summer semester 2020/2021
6 ECTS
Mondays 8:00-9:20, virtual room, the link to the online meeting room will be shared through SIS
section Metody výuky/Teaching Methods.
MS Teams
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-
join/19%3ameeting_NzJjNTg3ZGQtMjFmZi00NTNkLTk1MDUtM2RkNzIxOGRjMjU0%40thr
ead.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22e09276da-f934-4086-bf08-
8816a20414a2%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%226f6dd5db-f982-47e3-9cbe-6fc6f47e2ffa%22%7d
The course is mandatory for the students of the following programmes:
Bezpečnostní studia
Mezinárodní vztahy
Master in International Relations (MAIN)
Master in International Security Studies (MISS/ISSA)
Lecturers
dr. Vít Střítecký, [email protected]
dr. Jakub Tesař, [email protected]
dr. Zdeněk Ludvík, [email protected]
dr. Ondřej Ditrych, [email protected]
dr. Sarah Komasová, sarah.komasová@fsv.cuni.cz
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Please direct all communication regarding organisational issues to [email protected]
Office hours (Vít Střítecký)
See all relevant info here
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1MtFds2tzmOeSesEGVa22nmZZCCNr-SfmNd-
mFi6eXWs/edit#gid=0
Course description and Teaching Methods
The course will take place on a weekly basis (80-minute long session each week).
The course aims at introducing the fundamentals of research strategies and methodologies
traditionally applied in International Relations and Security Studies. The emphasis will be put on
students’ ability to formulate a research design providing the basis for their diploma research.
The course is run on Moodle, the e-learning system of the Charles University. All materials will
be available there and you should enrol into the course in Moodle as soon as possible. To enrol, or
to access Moodle site any time later, go to the course Moodle site (see the full link below). Please
note that Moodle is not a substitute for the SIS system. It is a content management system, not the
official University system for a course registration. To take part in the course you need to be
enrolled in both SIS and in Moodle.
The full Moodle link to the course is:
https://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=8558
Requirements
For a successful completion of the course students are required to complete the assigned tasks in
Moodle (assignments overview and deadlines are stated below). These will be in some cases based
on readings, which are further specified in the respective sections of the syllabus. For a successful
completion of these tasks, regular attendance at lectures is encouraged even though not obligatory.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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The assignments will be graded along the Marking Scale presented in the following section.
Furthermore, two conditions will be applied:
1) Students will not pass the course if they score 0% in two or more assignments.
2) Students will not pass the course if they fail to register their dissertations in the SIS
Delays in tasks completion will depending on severity result in point reduction, or 0% score.
Assignments overview
Topic starting date deadline
1) Methodological reconstruction - case study 1 March 14 March
2) Comparative case study and process tracing 15 March 28 March
3) Content, Thematic and Discourse analysis 19 April 2 May
4) Visual Analysis 3 May 9 May
5) Studying Practices 10 May 16 May
6) MA dissertation registration 15 February 15 June
Marking Scale
General Grade Grade Specification Percentage
A - excellent Excellent upper (1) 100 – 96
Excellent lower (2) 95 - 91
B – very good Very good upper (1) 90 - 86
Very good lower (2) 85 – 81
C - good Good upper (1) 80 – 76
Good lower (2) 75 – 71
D - satisfactory Satisfactory upper (1) 70 – 66
Satisfactory lower (2) 65 – 61
E - sufficient Sufficient upper (1) 60 - 56
Sufficient lower (2) 55 - 51
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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F - fail 50 - 0
MA dissertation project and topic registration
During the semester students should start considering the topic of their MA dissertation. They
should consult it with a potential supervisor. While developing this relation, students should make
sure that their supervisor will register their MA dissertation topic in the SIS by 15th June (Task
VI).
The supervisors will ask the students to formulate the project of their MA dissertation. The project
should be finalized and uploaded to the SIS by the supervisor by the end of September 2020. There
is a template for the dissertation project that will be uploaded to the SIS.
This procedure is not related to the assessment process in this course. The course is generally
meant to contribute to students’ ability to submit a coherent piece of MA research.
Course rules
The Code of Study and Examination of Charles University in Prague provides the general
framework of study rules at the university. According to art. 6, par. 17 of this Code, “a student
may not take any examination in any subject entered in his study plan more than three times, i.e.
he shall have the right to two resit dates; no extraordinary resit date shall be permitted. (…) If a
student fails to appear for an examination on the date for which he has enrolled without duly
excusing himself, he shall not be marked; the provision of neither this nor of the first sentence
shall constitute the right to arrange for a special examination date.”
Any written assignment composed by the student shall be an original piece. The practices of
plagiarism, defined by the Dean’s Provision no. 18/2015, are seen as “a major violation of the rules
of academic ethics” and “will be penalized in accordance with Disciplinarian Regulations of the
faculty.”
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Structure of the course
1. Introductory Lecture (Vít Střítecký) – 15. 2.
Structure of the course, assignment - methodological reconstruction, MA dissertation registration
process. This lecture will introduce the assessment matrix that will be used by the reviewers to
evaluate your MA dissertation. The general philosophy as well as specific sections of the matrix
will be explained. The matrix reflects the overall requirements of a quality research and thus should
serve as the guideline for writing. The research design reflects the steps that should be taken to
perform a quality research. The process starts with the topic selection and continues through the
formulation of research questions/hypotheses to creation of the conceptual and methodological
framework. The lecture will also introduce the MA dissertation project.
2. Metatheoretical Introduction: Ontology and epistemology (Jakub Tesař) - 22. 2.
This lecture will introduce the philosophical underpinnings of different methodological
approaches in social sciences.
Recommended literature:
Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus (2011) The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations. Philosophy
of science and its implications for the study of world politics. London and New York: Routledge.
Chaps. 1 and 2.
3. Qualitative explanatory methodology: Introduction to the first block (Zdeněk Ludvík) -
1. 3.
This session will be devoted to the introduction into qualitative explanatory methodology and the
most prominent qualitative methodological approaches.
First, the lecture will introduce the term of causality and explain the conditions of causal
relationships between the phenomena. Subsequently, the lecture will focus on the method of
correlation / co-variation, congruence, process tracing and comparative methods.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Literature related to the assignment:
Ates, Altinordu (2010): The Politicization of Religion: Political Catholicism and Political Islam in
Comparative Perspective. Politics & Society, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 517–551.
Bakke, Kristin M. (2013): Copying and Learning from Outsiders? Assessing Diffusion from
Transnational Insurgents in the Chechen Wars. In: Checkel, Jeffrey (ed.): Transnational Dynamics
of Civil War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 31–62.
Lee, Dong Sun – Kim, Sung Eun (2010): Ties That Bind? Assessing the Impact of Economic
Interdependence on East Asian Alliances. The East Asia Institute, Asia Security Initiative,
Working Paper No. 3, pp. 1–31.
Ripsman, Norrin M. – Levy, Jack S. (2007): The Preventive War that Never Happened: Britain,
France, and the Rise of Germany in the 1930s. Security Studies, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 32–67.
4. Casual case study (Zdeněk Ludvík) - 8. 3.
Based on the introduction to qualitative explanatory methodology, this lecture will present the
procedures of conducting an explanatory qualitative research. The students will be familiarized
with how to apply qualitative explanatory methods within casual case studies. Particular qualitative
explanatory research designs will be discussed and specific research proceedings will be identified,
described and reconstructed.
Recommended literature:
Blatter, Joachim – Blume, Till (2008): In Search of Co-variance, Causal Mechanisms or
Congruence? Towards a Plural Understanding of Case Studies. Swiss Political Science Review,
Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 315-335 only.
Baxter, Pamela – Jack, Susan (2008): Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and
Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 544-559.
Flyvbjerg, Bent (2006): Five Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry,
Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 219-245.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Seawright, Jason – Gerring, John (2008): Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research: A
Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options. Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp.
294-308.
Van Evera, Stephen (1997): Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca, London:
Cornell University Press, pp. 7-88 only.
5. Causal Mechanisms – (Vít Střítecký) - 15.3.
The session will further inquire into causal explanatory frameworks by providing a detailed review
of the assignment I. This will allow to clarify all unclarities and further explain the specific features
of the causal research strategies. By the end of the session the assignment II will be introduced.
Recommended literature (same as in the previous week)
Blatter, Joachim – Blume, Till (2008): In Search of Co-variance, Causal Mechanisms or
Congruence? Towards a Plural Understanding of Case Studies. Swiss Political Science Review,
Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 315-335 only.
Baxter, Pamela – Jack, Susan (2008): Qualitative Case Study Methodology: Study Design and
Implementation for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 544-559.
Seawright, Jason – Gerring, John (2008): Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research: A
Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options. Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 2, pp.
294-308.
Flyvbjerg, Bent (2006): Five Misunderstandings about Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry,
Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 219-245.
Van Evera, Stephen (1997): Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca, London:
Cornell University Press, pp. 7-88 only
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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6. Applying causality (Vít Střítecký) - 22.3.
Causality mechanisms can be observed in various empirical contexts. The session will introduce
some of the classical applications while providing a reflection of the applicability, limits and other
potential pitfalls of the methodology.
Recommended literature
Ross, L. Michael (2004): How Do Natural Resources Influence Civil War? Evidence from Thirteen
Cases, International Organization, Vol. 58, No. 1 (Winter, 2004), pp. 35-67
Fortna, P., Virginia (2004): Interstate Peacekeeping: Causal Mechanisms and Empirical Effects,
World Politics, Vol. 56, No. 4 (Jul., 2004), pp. 481-519
Mwita, Chacha, Stojek Szymon (2019): Colonial ties and civil conflict
intervention: Clarifying the causal mechanisms, Conflict Management and Peace Science, 36 (1)
Checkel, T., Jeffrey (2006): Tracing Causal Mechanisms, International Studies Review, Volume
8, Issue 2, June 2006, Pages 362–370.
Arista Maria Cirtautas & Frank Schimmelfennig (2010): Europeanisation
Before and After Accession: Conditionality, Legacies and Compliance, Europe-Asia Studies, 62:3,
421-441.
7. Interpretive Thinking: Introduction to the Second Bloc (Ondřej Ditrych) - 29.3.
This lecture will discuss the foundations of interpretive social sciences.
Recommended literature:
Schwartz-Shea, Peregrine, and Dvora Yanow. 2012. Interpretive Research Design: Concepts and
Processes. New York; London: Routledge. Chapter 2.
Yanow, Dvora. 2006. ‘Neither Rigorous Nor Objective? Interrogating Criteria for Knowledge
Claims in Interpretive Science’. In Interpretation and Method: Empirical Research Methods and
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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the Interpretive Turn, edited by Dvora Yanow and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, 67–88. New York:
M. E. Sharpe.
Aradau, Claudia and Jef Huysmans. 2013. Critical Methods in International Relations: The Politics
of Techniques, Devices and Acts. European Journal of International Relations 20(3): 2014.
8. Easter Monday – 5.4.
9. Data & Interviews (Sarah Komasová) - 12.4.
This session will introduce and differentiate between traditional principles of data collection in
qualitative research. Fundamental challenges of these approaches (questions posing in regard to
their comprehensibility as well as following data commensurability) will be tackled. Basic
principles of questions preparation will be introduced.
Recommended literature:
Foddy, William. 1993. Constructing Questions for Interviews and Questionnaires: Theory and
practice in Social Research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 3 (25-37) and
Chapter 4 (pp. 38-51).
10. Content and Thematic analysis (Sarah Komasová) - 19.4.
This session will introduce two cornerstone and also simplest methods of qualitative data
treatment. Their comprehension will also serve as a necessary preliminary step to the following
lecture, which will deal with the problematic of discourse analysis. These approaches are
nevertheless very useful themselves and might be used as a good methodological grounding for
dissertation.
Recommended literature:
Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice. London: Sage. Chapter 1 (only pp.1-
9) and Chapter 4 (pp.58-79).
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming Qualitative Information: Thematic Analysis and Code
Development. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Chapter 1 (only 1-16 until section Latent Versus Manifest
Content Analysis) and Chapter 4 (29-53).
11. Discourse Analysis (Sarah Komasová) - 26.4.
This lecture will introduce the fundamentals of the rich and diverse group of discourse analyses.
The students should get deeper understanding of interpretative research and get some basic
knowledge of the ways in which various types of discourses (textual, visual,…) could be studied
in the area of international politics. By the end of this session the assignment III will be introduced.
Recommended literature:
Milliken, Jennifer (1998) The Study of Discourse in IR: A Critique of Research and Methods.
European Journal of IR, 5,2,
van Dijk, Teun (1993) Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis, Discourse and Society
Neumann, Iver B. (2008) ‘Discourse analysis’, in Klotz, Audie and Deepa Prakash (eds.)
Qualitative methods in International Relations: A pluralist guide. New York: Palgrave Macmillan:
61-77
12. Visual analysis (Jakub Tesař) - 3.5.
Going beyond text-based approaches, this lecture will discuss visual methodologies in the study
of international politics and security. By the end of this session the assignment IV will be
introduced.
Recommended literature:
Bleiker, Roland. 2018. ‘Mapping Visual Global Politis.’ In Visual Global Politics, edited by
Roland Bleiker, 1–29. Abingdon; New York: Routledge.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Schlag, Gabi. 2016. ‘Imagining Security: A Visual Methodology for Security Studies’. In
Transformations of Security Studies: Dialogues, Diversity and Discipline, edited by Gabi Schlag,
Julian Junk, and Christopher Daase, 173–89. London and New York: Routledge.
Robinson NT. 2014. Have you won the war on terror? Military videogames and the state of
American exceptionalism. Millennium - Journal of International Studies 43(2): 450-470
13. Studying Practices of International Politics (Ondřej Ditrych) - 10.5.
The lecture will introduce theoretical underpinning and the toolbox for the study of
nonrepresentational practices and the making of common sense in international politics. It will
situate explorations of these practices in the recent broader interest in micropolitical investigations.
Recommended literature:
Bueger, Christian. 2014. Pathways to Practice: Praxiography and International
Politics. European Political Science Review 6(3): 383-406.
Adler-Nissen, Rebecca and Vincent Pouliot. 2014. Power in Practice: Negotiating the
International Intervention in Libya. European Journal of International Relations 20(4): 889-911.
Solomon, Ty and Brent Steele. Micromoves in International Relations Theory. 2017. European
Journal of International Relations 23(2): 267-291.
.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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Further Bibliography
Babbie, E. (2007) The Practice of Social Research, Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
Burnham, Peter a kol. (2008): Research methods in politics. Houndmills – New York: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Collier, D. – J. Gerring (2009) Concepts and Method in Social Science: The Tradition of Giovanni
Sartori, New York: Routledge.
Cresswell, John W. (2003): Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method
approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Creswell, J. W. (2002) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five
Traditions. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Drulák, Petr a kol. (2008) Jak zkoumat politiku. Kvalitativní metodologie v politologii a
mezinárodních vztazích. Praha: Portál
George, Alexander and Andrew Bennett (2005) Case Studies and Theory Development in the
Social Sciences, Cambridge: MIT Press.
Gerring, J. (2001) Social Science Methodology: A Criterial Framework, Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Goertz, G. (2006) Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Hendl, Jan (2006) Přehled statistických metod zpracování dat. Praha: Portál.
Hendl, Jan (2005) Kvalitativní výzkum: základní metody a aplikace. Praha: Portál
Hollis, Martin and Steve Smith (1991) Explaining and Understanding International Relations,
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Johnson, Janet Buttolph - Reynolds, H. T. (2008) Political Science Research Methods.
Washington: CQ Press.
Charles University Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Security Studies Department of International Relations
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King, G. – R. O. Keohane – S. Verba (1994) Designing Social Inquiry, Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
Mc Nabb, D.E. (2004) Research Methods for Political Science: Quantitative and Qualitative
Methods. London: Shape
Van Evera, Stephen (1997) Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press.