Research Methods in Politics and International Relations

Christopher Lamont is Dean of E-Track’s International Relations program and Vice Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations at Tokyo International University in Japan. He holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Glasgow. He was also a Fulbright fellow at the University of Zagreb and an RCUK postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ulster. His research interests are at the intersection of global governance, technology, and international justice. He is the author of Research Methods in International Relations, now in its second edition, published by Sage. He is also co-editor (with Arnaud Kurze) of New Critical Spaces in Transitional Justice: Gender, Art, and Memory published by Indiana University Press in 2019, and Non-Western Visions of Democratization: Imagining Democracy after the Arab Spring (with Jan van der Harst and Frank Gaennsmantel), which was published by Routledge/Ashgate in 2015. His monograph, International Criminal Justice and the Politics of Compliance (Routledge/Ashgate 2010) explored the international and domestic politics of international criminal justice processes in the former Yugoslavia. In addition to his scholarly contributions, his writings have also featured in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The Diplomat, among others.Mieczyslaw P. Boduszynski is Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Pomona College in Claremont, California, USA. He has been a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Zagreb and taught courses at universities in Japan, Egypt, Albania, and France. His research interests include democracy and human rights promotion; U.S. foreign policy; democratic transitions and authoritarian backsliding; and the politics of transitional justice. He is the author of two books: Regime Change in the Yugoslav Successor States (Johns Hopkins 2010) and U.S. Democracy Promotion in the Arab World (Lynne Rienner 2019). In addition to his scholarly contributions, his writings have also been featured in Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy, among other outlets. Boduszynski also has substantial experience as a practitioner, having spent a decade as a U.S. diplomat and has worked a year each in the U.S. Congress and Department of Defense as a policy advisor. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

• About the AuthorsAcknowledgementsIntroductionChapter 1: Getting StartedChapter 2: Methodology and Methods in Politics and International RelationsChapter 3: Research EthicsChapter 4: Your Research QuestionChapter 5: Compiling and Writing a Literature ReviewChapter 6: Research DesignChapter 7: Collecting Data for Qualitative MethodsChapter 8: Tools and Strategies for Qualitative AnalysisChapter 9: Collecting and Preparing Data for Quantitative MethodsChapter 10: Tools and Strategies for Quantitative AnalysisChapter 11: Writing Up Your PaperChapter 12: Looking ForwardGlossaryReferencesIndex

There’s no better learning experience for political science students than carrying out an original research project. But the task can be daunting for students as well as instructors.  Research Methods in Politics and International Relations is an excellent new resource that will be a useful companion as students set out on this endeavor.  Boduszynski and Lamont’s book is methodologically inclusive and touches on important subjects that are often overlooked, such as research ethics and publishing.