Today, the world of research is quite literally available through the touch of a few buttons via online resaerch. But this increase in access and availability is not without its challenges. With ‘hits’ that can run into millions, unless the student knows how to search effectively and efficiently, the information that he or she finds can quickly become overwhelming. This chapter guides students through the process of literature searching for their dissertation. It outlines how to develop a successful search strategy and what to do with the literature once it is discovered. Topics covered include what counts as literature; different ‘types’ of literature searching; how to develop a literature search strategy; and common problems associated with literature searching.
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5. Conducting a Literature Search
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10. Operational Code Analysis
This chapter explains that operational code analysis offers a cognitive perspective for analysing foreign policy decision-makers. It defines operational codes as the decision-makers' political beliefs, which are used to explain foreign policy decisions and actions. Operational code analysis puts individual decision-makers front and centre and adopts a cognitive perspective, addressing the influence of leaders' political beliefs. The chapter then discusses the origins, evolution, and empirical applications of the operational code analysis approach, and references the pertinent methodological questions relating to the most suitable source material for inferring the operational codes of decision-makers. Finally, the chapter notes that current research assumes a causal correlation between beliefs and foreign policy decisions.
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12. Poliheuristic Theory
This chapter looks into the Poliheuristic Theory of Decision-Making. This theory seeks to explain both the processes and the outcomes of foreign policy. The chapter then explains the theory's two-stage analytical framework and its subsequent shortcomings and empirical analysis. Poliheuristic Theory integrates insights from both cognitive and rationalist perspectives on foreign policy decision-making. A number of articles that have used Poliheuristic Theory in non-Western settings have deliberately used non-Western contexts to explore and expand the theory's context-sensitivity, applicability, and explanatory scope. The chapter cites that further research is needed concerning the applicability of Poliheuristic Theory to group decision-making, which correlates to the aggregation challenge cognizant to political dynamics in a group setting.
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13. Analogies and Metaphors
This chapter discusses the study of analogies and metaphors as cognitive heuristics in foreign policy decision-making. It examines how analogical reasoning can help decision-makers reduce the complexity of foreign policy problems. The use of analogies and metaphors involves two subsequent cognitive processes wherein decision-makers activate analogies or metaphors from long-term memory while also mapping their knowledge on the activated analogies or metaphors onto the foreign policy decision. The chapter provides an overview of analogies and metaphors in Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA). It also considers possible future research on analogies and metaphors in foreign policy and foreign policy decision-making.
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8. The Bureaucratic Politics Approach
This chapter provides an overview of the bureaucratic politics approach when it operates in line with foreign policy. The chapter considers an approach which looks at governments and their operations within foreign policy as the outcome of political bargaining between different government bureaucracies. The bureaucratic politics approach uses the concept of action channels to identify the bureaucratic actors who participate in government foreign policymaking. The chapter explains how different bureaucratic actors in the same government may advocate different foreign policy positions which can cause conflict in the decision-making process. The chapter finally presents the basic assumptions and key arguments of the bureaucratic politics approach while showing how it can be used in empirical Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) research.
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9. Prospect Theory
This chapter explores the key concepts of Prospect Theory, which is a descriptive theory to explain foreign policy decision-making under risk. It acknowledges the theory as currently the most influential behavioural theory of choice in the social sciences. Prospect Theory emphasizes the importance and impact of the decision-making environment on decision-makers. The chapter also details the basic assumptions, application, and criticisms of Prospect Theory. It describes the numerous starting points for future research offered by Prospect Theory, such as elites being fundamentally less averse to taking risks than individuals who do not hold top positions in politics and business.
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Falsification
How does it Relate to Reproducibility?
Brian D. Earp
This chapter evaluates falsification. Contemporary philosophers of science tend to look down on falsifiability as overly simplistic. Nevertheless, among many practising scientists, the notion is still regarded as a useful — if imperfect — heuristic for judging the strength of a hypothesis in terms of its ability to generate new insights when combined with careful observation. Falsification also relates to self-correction in science. Often, erroneous findings make their way into the literature. If subsequent researchers conduct the same experiment as the original and yet it fails to yield the same finding, they are often described as having ‘falsified’ (that is, shown to be incorrect) the original result. In this way, mistakes, false alarms, and other non-reproducible output is thought to be identifiable and thus able to be corrected. For self-correction in science through falsification, what is needed are ‘direct’ replications. The chapter then considers the importance of auxiliary assumptions.
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I. Interdisciplinarity
The Interaction of Different Disciplines for Understanding Common Problems
Roberto Carrillo and Lidia Núñez
This chapter describes interdisciplinary, a term which refers to a mode of conducting research that ‘integrates information, data, techniques, tools, perspectives, concepts, and/or theories from two or more disciplines or bodies of specialized knowledge to advance fundamental understanding or to solve problems whose solutions are beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of research practice’. Therefore, it is a way of conducting research that goes beyond the frontiers of traditional disciplines. The chapter provides an overview of the main features of how interdisciplinarity is applied in the social sciences. It defines the concept and traces its origins and evolution, as well as the interrelationship between interdisciplinary studies, society, and the development of public policies. The chapter then discusses the measurement and analysis of interdisciplinarity. Finally, it presents the main criticisms of interdisciplinarity and its use in the social sciences.
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Bias
Unavoidable Subjectivity?
Aysel Küçüksu and Stephanie Anne Shelton
This chapter looks at bias, a term which refers to an uninvited, but inevitable aspect of conducting research. It is usually equated with subjectivity, the distortion and manipulation of data, or a lack of objectivity, which undermines the credibility of the research. Bias comes in many forms and the chapter discusses the two that are the most common in the literature: gender bias and confirmation bias. The long-standing positivist interpretation of bias considers that it is an inherently problematic ‘ethical issue’. Yet, contemporary research has called for a ‘reconceptualization’ of this perception of bias in order to encourage a more nuanced view. In the social sciences, bias is a manifestation of how cultural and political standing affects our approach to science. Bias should be acknowledged early on to ensure that both researchers and readers have the critical tools necessary to recognize it and evaluate its influences. This approach originated in anthropology and is known as ‘positionality’.
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Research Question
Irene Wieczorek and Piergiuseppe Parisi
This chapter looks at research questions, which identify what the researcher wants to find out or understand. They are a crucial component of any study and are connected to all parts of the research. Depending on the type of study, the research question may either serve as the starting point of the entire research or change in response to the research design. A research question should naturally be formulated in an interrogative manner and should be a query to which the answer is not known at the outset of the research process. Research questions have a twofold purpose: they define the boundaries of a research project, thus guiding the investigation, and they are meant to spark the reader’s interest.
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Typology
A Multidimensional Classification
Jean-Frédéric Morin, Christian Olsson, and Ece Özlem Atikcan
This chapter assesses typology. The importance of typologies is contested. Some scholars view them as fundamental to concept construction, while others consider that they are temporary devices at best and actually discourage their use. The chapter focuses on the less problematic, heuristic roles of typologies. In this respect, typologies are a proven and widely used instrument for organizing knowledge and ideas at various stages of research, and especially for jump starting the process of generating hypotheses. Moreover, theories are often presented, e.g. for didactic purposes, by means of typologies. Before turning to the uses of typologies, the chapter differentiates between typology, classification, and taxonomy.
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Ethics in Research
Laurence Marquis and Mark Daku
This chapter studies ethics in research. Ethics play an important role in scientific inquiry, beyond cases of plagiarism, fraud, and misconduct. Importantly, there is a difference between ethical research and ethical researchers. While principles of ethics in research stem mostly from the biomedical field, they have also been adapted to apply to the social sciences. These principles are generally addressed through three common principles: voluntary participation, informed consent, and confidentiality. Researchers themselves must be wary of a number of other factors that can influence their project and role, such as the supervision of students, or other situations where there is a relationship of authority. Similarly, researchers must be careful not to make misrepresentations to subjects about the project or the related risks, or fail to disclose any conflict of interest. Researchers must take steps to ensure their neutrality so that no preconceptions or personal bias can risk influencing the results or subjects. The chapter then looks at ethics review boards and the emergent ethical issues.
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L. Levels of Analysis
Mauro Caprioli and Claire Dupuy
This chapter studies levels of analysis. Research in the social sciences may be interested in subjects located at different levels of analysis. The level of analysis indicates the position at which social and political phenomena are analysed within a gradual order of abstraction or aggregation that is constructed analytically. Its definition and boundaries vary across social science disciplines. In general, the micro level refers to the individual level and focuses on citizens’ attitudes or politicians’ and diplomats’ behaviour. Analyses at the meso level focus on groups and organizations, like political parties, social movements, and public administrations. The macro level corresponds to structures that are national, social, economic, cultural, or institutional — for example, countries and national or supranational political regimes. The explanandum (what research aims to account for), the explanans (the explanations), the unit of analysis, and data collection can be located at different levels. The chapter then considers two main errors commonly associated with aggregation and levels of analysis: ecological and atomistic fallacies.
Book
Tom Clark, Liam Foster, and Alan Bryman
How to do your Social Research Project or Dissertation looks to help readers to navigate research for a project or dissertation. It starts with an introduction to the research process and how to get started. It examines the process of developing an idea. It reviews the available literature. It then considers how to build upon the project idea, the ethical issues, and how to write a proposal. Next it considers sampling, and collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data. Finally, it describes how to evaluate the project and the process of writing up.
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15. The European Parliament
This chapter focuses on the European Parliament (EP), the one directly elected institution of the European Union. It first provides an overview of the EP’s composition and functions, before discussing the struggle for increased powers within the EP. It then considers debates and research on the EP. The focus of contemporary research on the EP includes political behaviour and EP elections, the internal politics and organization of the EP, and inter-institutional bargaining between the EP, the European Council, and the European Commission. One theme of the academic debate is the extent to which the EP has become an effective independent actor in the affairs of the EU.
