Political Science Research Methods in Action

Through accounts from innovative research projects by world-leading political scientists, this volume offers a unique perspective on research methodology. It discusses the practical and intellectual dilemmas researchers face throughout the research process in a wide range of fields from implicit attitude testing to media analysis and interviews.

Through accounts from innovative research projects by world-leading political scientists, this volume offers a unique perspective on research methodology. It discusses the practical and intellectual dilemmas researchers face throughout the research process in a wide range of fields from implicit attitude testing to media analysis and interviews.

1. Introduction: Writer's Block; Michael Bruter and Martin Lodge PART I: APPROACHING AND MEASURING SOCIAL SCIENCE OBJECTS 2. Measuring the Immeasurable? Capturing Citizens' European Identity; Michael Bruter 3. Decoding Manifestoes and other Political Texts - the Case of Extreme Right Ideology; Sarah Harrison 4. Reaction Time Measures in Implicit Attitudes Research; Brad Verhulst and Milton Lodge 5. Studying Party Choice; Mark Franklin and Maja Renko 6. Into the Archives; Ben Wellings PART II: MAKING SENSE OF DATA 7. Euro-Visions: An Analysis of Visual Imagery in Television News; Jessica Bain and Natalia Chaban 8. When Access is Restricted: Craftiness and Combining Methods in the Study of a Secretive Elite; Julie Gervais 9. Semi-Structured Interviews and Informal Institutions: Getting Inside Executive Government; Martin Lodge 10. Error-Correction as a Concept and as a Method: Time Series Analysis of Policy-Opinion Responsiveness; Will Jennings 11. Working Backwards? Using Simulation to Sort out Empirical Inconsistencies; Robert Erikson, Aaron Strauss and Michael Bruter 12. Conclusion; Michael Bruter and Martin Lodge