UIN Short Course: Empirical Research Methods
Instructor: Jeremy Menchik (menchik@wisc.edu)
Doctoral Candidate, Department of Political Science
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Seminar: Thursday 1:30-3:30pm
March 12 – April 30, 2009
Academic knowledge advances by scholarly research. This course introduces students to some
of the analytical tools and methods that underpin qualitative research in the social sciences, with
the goal of producing valid, generalizable conclusions about social life. Since no single
approach to a research question is ideal, we will learn about the trade-offs involved in selecting
one method over another. Students will also be sensitized to how the interactions of theory,
data, and method form the “tripod” of successful empirical research. Finally, I hope this course
will encourage students to read and value social science differently than they have in the past.
Format: Class meetings will include lecture and discussion based on readings completed
beforehand. Please come prepared to critically engage with the material by raising questions,
objections, and applying the content to contemporary issues in Islamic studies. I believe
learning is a collective enterprise that only succeeds if everyone participates; by remaining
silent, you deprive the class of your wisdom and deny yourself the opportunity to test out your
ideas in a constructive environment.
Requirements: In addition to the readings, each student will develop an original research
proposal. While both the proposal’s substantive subject matter and methodological approach
are up to you, I assume that you will use this occasion to elaborate an initial version of a project
you will undertake at some point in the future. This proposal can take one of two forms;
(1) An original research design. The paper should synthesize the relevant literature and suggest
a hypothesis or theory to be examined. It should propose an empirical research project, a sort of
blueprint for a study that depends on resources typically available to a graduate student. The
design should lay out the data sources and method of analysis in explicit detail. I hope that this
research design will eventually lead to a paper in another course or a part of a thesis. Most
papers will be 10 pages long, should stand on their own as a proposal, and be suitable for
submission to a dissertation or thesis committee.
(2) A funding proposal. The proposal should include a research design but also captivate the
readers’ attention and “sell” the project to the funding agency. While the form and the
organization of a proposal are up to you, the proposal should explicitly address three questions;
what are we going to learn as the result of the proposed project that we do not know now? Why
is it worth knowing? How will we know that the conclusions are valid? The final proposal should
be 10 pages long and suitable for submission to a funding agency.
Final papers should be in the language most appropriate for the student. In other words, a
funding proposal to AMINEF/Fulbright should be written in English while a research design for a
PhD at UIN should be written in Indonesian. The final two weeks of class will be devoted to
paper presentations, with papers due Thursday, May 7 at 12 noon.
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Goals and Tools (March 12)
Key concepts: knowledge accumulation, descriptive findings, causal analysis, hypothesis
testing, qualitative methods, quantitative methods.
US National Science Foundation. 2004. Scientific Foundations of Qualitative Research.
Washington, DC: National Science Foundation. Pp.9-16.
Helen Ingram, “How Book Reviewers Can Recognize a Classic When They See One.” 1990.
PS: Political Science & Politics. 23(4): 574-9.
James Mahoney. 2003. “Knowledge Accumulation in Comparative Historical Research.” In J.
Mahoney and D. Rueschemeyer, eds. Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social
Sciences. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Pp.131-137.
Recommended:
Herbert Feith. 1969. “The Study of Indonesian Politics: A Survey and an Apologia.” In Benedict
Anderson and Audry Kahin (ed). Interpreting Indonesian Politics: Thirteen Contributions
to the Debate. Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesian Project Interim Reports Series. No. 62.
Research Design (March 19)
Key concepts: explanatory variables (independent or ‘X’), outcome variable (dependent or ‘Y’),
causal mechanism, case selection, level of analysis, unit of analysis, concept formation,
measurement.
US National Science Foundation. 2004. Scientific Foundations of Qualitative Research.
Washington, DC: National Science Foundation. Pp.17-18.
Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett. 2005. Case Studies and Theory Development in the
Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp.67-88.
Adam Przeworski and Frank Salomon, “The Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid
Suggestions for Applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions,” SSRC,
1995.
Parluhutan Siregar. n.d. “Outline Proposal Penelitian Kualitatif.” Pp. 1-14.
Recommended:
Kenneth R. Benoit. 2005. “How Qualitative Research Really Counts.” Qualitative Methods. Vol.
3:1. Pp. 9-12.
Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett. 2005. Case Studies and Theory Development in the
Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Pp.287-325.
John Gerring. 2007. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. Pp. 86-50 (techniques for choosing cases).
Data Collection I: Historical Analysis (March 25 - WED)
Key concepts: process-tracing, comparative historical analysis, path dependence, critical
junctures, evaluating archival material, timing, sequencing, periodization.
Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett. 2005. Case Studies and Theory Development in the
Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp. 89-108, 210-224, 230-232.
Andrew Abbott. n.d. “Some Notes on Archival Research.” Department of Sociology, University
of Chicago. Pp. 1-13.
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Recommended:
Andrew Bennett and Colin Elman. Complex Causal Relations and Case Study Methods: The
Example of Path Dependence. Political Analysis (2006) 14:250–267
Paul Pierson. 2004. Politics in time: history, institutions, and social analysis. Princeton:
Princeton University Press. Pp. 54-78 (Timing and Sequence), 79-103 (Long-Term
Processes).
Data Collection II: Interviewing (April 2)
Key concepts: Structured interviews, semi-structured interviews, in-depth interviews, probe,
question ordering, access, transcription, data analysis.
Lisa Harrison and Wolfgand Deicke. 2001. “Conducting Interviews in Political Research.” in
Lisa Harrison, Political Research: An Introduction. London: Routledge. Pp. 90-104.
Melani Cammett. 2006. “Political Ethnography in Deeply Divided Societies.” Qualitative
Methods. Vol 6:2. Pp. 15-17.
Recommended:
Cynthia Weston, “Analyzing Interview Data: The Development and Evolution of a Coding
System,” Qualitative Sociology 24:3 (2001): 381-400.
Ethnography & Intrepretivism (April 9)
Key concepts: participant observation, in-depth interviews, causal versus constitutive
relationships, interpretivism, post-positivism.
Goffman, Erving. 1989. On Fieldwork, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography,18:2 Pp.123-132.
Parluhutan Siregar. 2005. “Metode Penelitian Kualitatif: Grounded Theory Approach.” Pp.1-9.
Lisa Wedeen. 2005. “Memo for the NSF workshop.” Unpublished manuscript. Pp.1-5.
Recommended:
Anderson, Benedict O’Gorman. “Perspective and Method in American Research on Indonesia.”
In Benedict Anderson and Audry Kahin (ed). Interpreting Indonesian Politics: Thirteen
Contributions to the Debate. Ithaca: Cornell Modern Indonesian Project Interim Reports
Series. No. 62. 1969.
Geertz, Clifford. “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight,” in Paul Rabinow and William
M. Sullivan, eds., Interpretive Social Science: A Reader (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1979), 181-223.
Lerner, Daniel. 1955. “The Grocer and the Chief.” Harper's Magazine, 211:1264. Pp. 1-11.
Wedeen, Lisa. 1998. “Acting ‘As If’: Symbolic Politics and Social Control in Syria.” Comparative
Studies in Society and History. 40(3): 503-23
Analysis, Publishing & Policymaking (April 16)
Aceh Research Training Institute (ARTI), 2008, “Cara Menulis Artikel Akademis.” Pp.1-2.
Charles M. Bonjean and Jan Hullum. 1978. “Reasons for Journal Rejection: An Analysis of 600
Manuscripts.” PS: Political Science and Politics. Pp.480-483
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Alexander L. George and Andrew Bennett. 2005. Case Studies and Theory Development in the
Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. pp.109-124, 263-285.
Recommended:
Richard Snyder. “The Human Dimension of Comparative Research.” In Gerardo L Munch and
Richard Snyder, Passion, Craft and Method in Comparative Politics. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press. Pp. 1-31.
Howard Wainer. “How to Display Data Badly.” The American Statistician, Vol. 38, No. 2 (May,
1984), pp. 137-147.
Student Presentations (April 23/30)
Final papers due May 7th at 12 noon.
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