210015 UE BAK4: Empirical research using qualitative methods (2020S)

How can we study international negotiations and decision making processes? Which tools are available to make sense of what happens in negotiation rooms and to explain why policy-makers act and decide in a certain way? What is the role of political scientists in studying these processes?

In this seminar, students are introduced to methodological approaches for studying political processes, with a focus on researching international environmental negotiations and decision making processes. This seminar benefits from the ongoing research of the MARIPOLDATA ERC research project which studies the current UN negotiations on a new international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ). The seminar enables students to develop an understanding of how to choose and apply qualitative methods in empirical research to meet their research goals.

Course content will be structured into different parts: Research Design, Data Collection and Data Analysis. Over the time of the course, students will be introduced to the methods of:
- (Event) Ethnography and Participant Observation
- Interviews
- Data and Document Analysis
- Comparative Case Studies
- Social Network Analysis

At the end of the seminar, students will have gained knowledge on a range of qualitative methods and their empirical applications. Students will understand why and how to use qualitative methods for empirical research and critically assess literature in light of the applied methods. They will have developed skills to formulate research questions and hypotheses from their preferred topics and continuously worked on their research designs over the time of the course. The students will have formulated their own research designs by the end of the course and written a paper to answer their research questions. The seminar will also address how to combine different qualitative and quantitative methods.

Teaching methods include:
- reading of academic literature
- presentation of academic literature (every student is expected to present one text)
- development of a research design throughout the course
- short presentations of research designs (every student is expected to pitch his research design)
- autonomous research
- discussions in class

This seminar will offer an introduction into qualitative research. Prior knowledge of qualitative methods is not required. Course content and academic literature, as well as the student presentations and the final paper will be in English language. The final paper cannot be replaced by an oral exam.