Chapter I

Research Methods in International Relations

What should I do first with my research

project?
When starting undergraduate or graduate essay or thesis writing, you need to
ask the following questions before thinking about a research question.
What is your topic of interest?
What is the purpose of your study?
Is it to explain a certain event, trend or phenomena in world politics?
Is it to question the meaning of a particular discourse or practice in world politics?

Where does your research fall along the empiricist/ interpretivist divide?

Researching the Arab Spring: Empirical or

Interpretive research?
Empirical Research
-

I want to explain the causes of revolution.

I want to explore the political role of

islamist movement before and after the

Interpretive
- I want to understand how revolution
transformed local identities.
- I want to understand the symbolism of self-

revolutions.

immolation in the context of the Tunisian

I want to examine the constitution drafting

Revolution.

processes in post-revolutionary Tunisia or

Libya

- I want to understand Western perceptions

of the Arab Spring and how these have
been shaped by recent trasnformations.

Characteristics of Interpretivism/PostPositivism
It focuses on understanding social meanings embedded within
international politics.
Interpretivists seek to understand identities, ideas, norms, culture
in international politics.
Interpretivists work out peoples interpretations of the world by
putting themselves in their shoes.

Characteristics of Empiricism/Positivism
This approach is based on the assumption that:
knowledge can be accumulated through experience and observation;
the study of the social world is analogous to the study of the natural
world;
IR should be studied in a systemic, replicable, and evidence-based
manner;
theories of IR can be generated and tested through careful
observation and experimentation.

Empirical research relies on observable data to formulate and

test theories and come to conclusion.

Two main research paradigms/epistemological

traditions
Empiricism: Empiricists believe that reality is stable and can be observed
and described from an objective viewpoint. They believe that natural
science methods should be applied to study the social world, and
advocate empirically-grounded explanatory research in IR
Interpretivism: Interpretivist believe that only through the subjective
interpretation of and intervention in reality can that really be fully
understood. The study of phenomena in their natural environment is key
to the interpretivist philosophy. The social world is not amenable to study
through scientific methods and experimentation. Interpretive/reflexive
research interrogates ideas, norms, beliefs, and values that underlie
international politics.

Research Paradigm/Philosophy
A research philosophy is a belief about the way in which data about
a phenomenon should be gathered, analyzed and used.
Two major research philosophies/paradigms have been identified
in the Western tradition of science: Empiricism/Positivism and
Interpretivism.
Most IR research falls in one of the two research
paradigms/epistemological traditions.

IR Research
IR has incorporated research methodologies and methods from other
disciplines such as law, economics, political science, history sociology,
etc.
Because of the absence of research methods textbooks in this field,
students of IR frequently find it difficult to select their research
methodologies and methods.
IR researchers frequently approach their research in two waves:
They conduct their studies from the perspectives of the interest observer, not a
partisan, and then explain who they have observed.
They use a theory to explain an IR phenomenon.

This discrepancy creates a certain amount of discomfort researchers and

students.