Support for Institutes and Research Groups on Qualitative and Multi-Method Research

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) promotes the teaching and application of qualitative research methods and their combination with complementary analytic techniques in political science and cognate disciplines. The associated Research Group is an authors' workshop that seeks to help scholars publish in the field of methodology, thereby adding to the core canon of published research on which the wider academic community draws. With the tenth Institute (June 2011), roughly 250 instructors will have taught advanced qualitative methods to over one thousand graduate students and junior faculty. Topics covered include case study methods, archival research and fieldwork, the intersection of qualitative and quantitative methods, ethnographic research, and experiments. Moreover, Institute attendees will have the opportunity to present research designs in small-group discussion sessions. The sessions offer students feedback on their own original research, as well as valuable practice presenting their work and critiquing that of others. While the distinctive focus of the Institute's faculty and teaching program is qualitative methods, instructors and participants are strongly concerned with how qualitative methods undergird and complement alternative analytic approaches. Accordingly, the Institute maintains a broad methodological focus that reaches across--and seeks to bridge various--epistemological divides. To that end, IQMR regularly features faculty with a background in statistical theory, experimental methods, and interpretive methods. Beyond training graduate students and junior faculty in the use of qualitative and multi-method research techniques, the Research Group held at the same time as the Institute encourages young scholars to develop their methodological skills and become fully engaged in producing (and not just using) qualitative research methods. It is a catalyst for the continued expansion of the burgeoning literature on these methods. Meeting during the break between the two weeks of the Institute, this authors' workshop offers an excellent opportunity to present work on qualitative and multi-method techniques and to receive feedback on ideas from the Institute's highly-regarded faculty. As a result of the Research Group, the core group of scholars developing new qualitative research methods has grown, and the menu of available research technologies has been enhanced. While the training and feedback benefits provided to attendees are substantial, the Institute and Research Group also have an impact on the broader academic and policy-making communities. Past attendees have gone on to develop courses in qualitative methods at their own universities, and research group participants have published books and articles that are widely read across various disciplines. NSF support has enabled the Institute to offer scholarships to students who would otherwise not have been able to attend. The Institute has helped to ensure that the qualitative and multi-method research that makes up a substantial portion of political science and related fields is conducted in a rigorous, transparent, and productive way. In turn, this helps to increase our confidence in the conclusions scholars reach about the world's most pressing matters, and it aids policy-makers in devising well-informed prescriptions for tackling them.