Burnham research methods in politics pdf

So long as a theory withstands detailed and severe tests, and is not superseded by another theory in the course of scientific progress, we may say it has 'proved its mettle' or that it is 'corroborated' Popper, , p. Falsification, Popper's solution to the Kantian problem of demar- cation distinguishing between scientific and non-scientific knowl- edge , is not - as he admits - an absolutely sharp criterion since there are degrees of testability.

But, whilst science may admit 'well testable' and 'hardly testable' theories, non-testable theories are 'of no interest to empirical scientists. They may be described as meta- physical' Popper, , p. In short, Popper proposes a clear unity of method, 'all theoretical and generalizing sciences make use of the same method whether they are natural or social sciences.

The methods always consist in offering 'deductive causal explana- tions' and in testing them by way of predictions' Popper, , p. The Popperian model of science has been hugely influential in the development of political science in both Europe and the USA. It can, by and large, be seen as the received model of science prevailing within the discipline Hay, , p.

However it is not without its critics who claim that Popper merely displaces the problem of induction since falsification rests on inductive reason- ing ; that he misunderstands the real development of natural science; and that crucially he fails to acknowledge that knowing subjects play an active role in constituting the world they know Habermas, ; Horkheimer, ; Chalmers, ; Held, Lakatos's attempt to develop 'sophisticated method- ological falsificationism' the 'hard-core' of a research programme is not falsifiable whereas statements deriving from the 'positive heurstic' are testable may be able to more accurately account for the development of 'real science' and yet the exercise remains bound by Popper's neo-positivist straitjacket and the postulate of methodological individualism.

The second response to the crisis of positivism is that which can be labelled the conventionalist, humanist or hermeneutic. In essence, it argues that the objects of study of the natural and social worlds are so utterly different that they require totally different methods and forms of explanation Benton, , p. The most usually cited representative of this tradition, whose work we will briefly review, is the philosopher Peter Winch. Winch's argument focuses on the claim 'that all behaviour which is meaningful therefore all specifically human behaviour is ipso facto rule-governed' Winch, , p.

The social 'sciences', which thus claim to analyse aspects of human behaviour, are in essence studies of rule-following. It may be appropriate for the natural scientist to follow the rules of scientific method but, Winch claims, for the social scientist the object of study, as well as the study of it, is a human activity and is therefore carried out accord- ing to rules.

It is these rules, rather than the abstract rules of science, which must be understood to gain knowledge of social activity. In short, the 'nature of this knowledge must be very differ- ent from the nature of knowledge of physical regularities' Winch, , p. Concepts in social science are thus, in Alfred Schutz's terms, 'second order constructs': that is, they are built on 'the actual common sense first order constructs of actors in their daily lives' Phillipson, , p.

It follows that actions are only intelligible 'in the context of, ways of living or modes of social life Two important consequences flow from Winch's analysis. First, since voluntary behaviour is behav- iour to which there is an alternative and since following a rule involves interpretation and allows for the possibility of making a mistake , prediction, in the sense implied by Popper, is ruled out in social science.

Second, Winch rejects Popper's claim that it is possi- ble to develop a causal analysis of action. The relationship between an act of command and an act of obedience is not the same as the relation between thunder and electrical storms, since human actions belong to the realm of concepts and 'the relation of belief to action is not external and contingent, but internal and concep- tual' Winch, , pp. Theory construction in social science is different in kind from that found in natural science and ultimately events can only be understood by rejecting Popperian forms of methodologi- cal individualism in favour of a focus on 'modes of social life' or context-specific Wittgensteinian 'language games' Winch, , p.

This broad approach in which human beings are seen as distinc- tively 'free subjects', as the agents of 'meaningful acts', and as the 'creators' of their social world Benton, , p. For example, the phenomenological and ethnomethodological traditions which focus on the taken for granted, the mundane level of the intersubjective world of everyday life, Garfinkel, ; Filmer et al.

The inherent 'relativism' of Winch's position has actually been embraced as an antidote to posi- tivism by a number of radical sociologists committed to techniques of participant observation and new feminist methods designed to 'hear women's voices' Reinharz, Finally, it has helped bolster wider conventionalist critiques of science such as that artic- ulated by Michel Foucault , Paul Feyerabend and, in particular, Thomas Kuhn ; Kuhn's view that science is not a set of universal standards guided by logic and reason but rather is part of a specific form of culture and its conventions has itself gained widespread acceptance, particularly in feminist circles Harding, Critical realism, the third major response to the crisis of classi- cal positivism, breaks with both Popper and Winch and argues for a position best characterized as 'qualified anti-positivist natural- ism' Bhaskar, , p.

In other words, it is possible to give a common account of the development of science but it does not deny that there are important differences in methods grounded in the real differences that exist in their subject matters. While critical realists may disagree on the precise character of the social ontology they wish to endorse, they are united in their rejection of pure forms of Individualism and Collectivism, pointing instead to notions of ontological depth, stratification and emergent group properties Benton, ; Archer, , p.

There is a unity of method inasmuch as scientific explanations must make reference to 'underlying struc- tures and mechanisms' involved in the causal process, but this idea of 'generative mechanisms underlying observed phenomena' Keat and Urry, , pp.

Since the objects of social science manifest themselves in 'open systems' Bhaskar's term for systems where 'invariant empirical regularities do not obtain': p. Thus the criteria for the confirmation or rejection of theories cannot be predictive and so must be exclusively explanatory.

However, the 'openness' of social systems also indicates that our knowledge is 'necessarily incomplete' Bhaskar, , p. Rather, 'it is a complex and causally efficacious whole - a totality, whose concept must be transformed in theory, and which is being continually transformed in practice' Bhaskar, , p.

As an object of study, it cannot be read straight off the empirical world, yet its conclusions are subject to empirical check and its effectiveness in explaining events is not merely accidental Sayer, , p. This approach, although not without its cntics Hay, , pp. It seems to sidestep the problems associated with posi- tivism, whilst at the same time providing a coherent basis for understanding the development of science throughout the ages without resorting to the sociological simplicities of Kuhnian conventionalism.

Moreover, its rejection of positivism's a priori restriction of knowledge to that which can be observed allows for the reintroduction of concepts such as 'ideology', 'hegemony' and the 'power of capital' into social science Benton, In fact, both Marxism and psychoanalysis can, on this reading, be read- mitted into the scientific community. In terms of methods, it should be clear that critical realists will not rest content with simply recounting 'actor's views' or with bald statistical presentation; instead, the aim must be to reject surface explanation and, wher- ever possible through the use of primary sources particularly documentary material and elite interviews , reconstruct and rein- terpret the events under investigation.

Earlier in this chapter it was proposed that the discipline of politics may be usefully seen as a 'junction subject' born out of history and philosophy but drawing on the insights of cognate disciplines such as economics and sociology.

This openness has indeed been a strength, fostering not only interdisciplinary work but also reflection on the methodological problems which the discipline shares with the other social sciences. This chapter has sought to show that whilst these 'meta-theoretical' problems cannot easily be resolved, researchers in the field of politics will benefit from engagement with such issues Grix, Methodological pluralism, in the sense of enabling all approaches to flourish, is certainly to be encouraged Bell and Newby, ; yet it must also be distinguished from the slide into the theoretical morass of eclectic pragmatism where 'anything goes' and perspec- tives are sampled regardless of methodological consistency.

Once these tasks are accomplished the next stage is to focus on the complex issue of research design. Open navigation menu. Close suggestions Search Search. User Settings. Skip carousel. Carousel Previous. Carousel Next. What is Scribd? Explore Ebooks. Bestsellers Editors' Picks All Ebooks. Explore Audiobooks. Bestsellers Editors' Picks All audiobooks. Explore Magazines. Editors' Picks All magazines.

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Flag for inappropriate content. Download now. For Later. Related titles. Carousel Previous Carousel Next. Giddens Profiles and critiques in social theory. Jump to Page. Search inside document. Chapter 1 The Discipline of Politics It is important to be aware that the historical development of the discipline, and in particular its openness to other perspectives, has greatly influenced the emergence and use made of research methods in politics and international relations.

The diverse traditions of political science In many respects, politics is the junction subject of the social sciences, born out of history and philosophy, but drawing on the insights of economics and sociology and, to a lesser extent, the study of law, psychology and geography. It is therefore not surprising that early political scientists turned to the natural sciences for paradigms: Of the handful of political scientists who wrote on the nature of the discipline between and , most held a scientistic point of view.

The Discipline of Politics 15 The collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe, where the teaching of politics had largely been confined to the heavily ideo- logical study of Marxism-Leninism, presented a unique opportunity and challenge: 'Immediately after the collapse of communism, polit- ical science had no institutional existence as a discipline or field of training and education.

Dominant paradigms Three paradigms have shaped post-war political science, especially in the USA but also with an impact elsewhere: behaviouralism, new institutionalism and rational choice. In particular he argues: The failure to relate the economic model of rationality in any way to the sociological, psychological and anthropological literatures and particularly to the work of Max Weber, whose great theoret- ical accomplishment was an analysis of modern civilization and culture in terms of rationality and rationalization, is the most striking consequence of the almost complete 'economism' of the rational choice literature.

The Discipline of Politics 27 For example, the phenomenological and ethnomethodological traditions which focus on the taken for granted, the mundane level of the intersubjective world of everyday life, Garfinkel, ; Filmer et al.

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Navigation X. Download - Immediately Available. Description The second edition of this popular text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations and of ethical issues in research.

Add to Basket. Also by Grant Wyn Grant. Managing Your Academic Career. This mixture of quantification and interpretation would characterize most of his work, allowing him to have a dialogue with different schools of thought in political science and other disciplines like history and law.

For Dean, quantification was the best tool to avoid disapproval, a way to objectively defend against ideological or personal disqualifications. In personal conversations, Peter Trubowitz and Catherine Boone, both former colleagues of Professor Burnham, told me that Dean extensively used quantification-limited criticism from people with different ideological perspectives Velasco, h. His study of U. The breaks in Supreme Court history were important episodes that made Dean aware of the relevance of periodization.

Later, the influence of his professors and the study of Supreme Court history would be manifested in his conception of realignment theory. As Stephen Skowronek and Karen Oren have asserted, in his realignment theory, Burnham blends the contradictory views of two of his Harvard teachers, V. Key and Louis Hartz. Whereas Hartz was observing the uniformity of the [U. Professor Burnham began his professional career even before finishing his PhD, teaching six courses at Boston College from to The United States was in a global crisis.

It was perhaps natural for a young scholar to be concerned with the topic of crisis, with the possible crumbling of the system and its eventual repercussions, and with themes of change and continuity in U. His stay at Michigan helped him clarify his differences with other empiricist scholars, such as Phillip Converse.

And, b Do electorates in other democratic political systems respond to political stimuli in the same way? At that time, the dominant tendency in U. American political science was behaviorism. Dean was highly influenced by it and was very comfortable doing behavioral political science.

There is no distance between realignment theory as Dean was doing it and other people were doing about elections and behavioral political science…. In its original manifestation, Dean was like a leader of behavioral political science.

For behavioral political scientists, the main goal was to measure, to quantify, and to predict. Those using this framework aspired to making political science a truly scientific discipline.

Studying the past was simply a useless endeavor. History was generally ignored. Burnham, however, reasoned otherwise. For him, history and behavioral political science were complementary. Historical and comparative analyses were essential for ensuring a proper historical perspective and making appropriate generalizations about the current times.

These apparently simple ideas were very new in the s. In that period, he also taught a course at Swarthmore College.

Dean recalls his days in liberal arts colleges with great pleasure. He remembers how carefully he had to prepare every class to answer the puzzling questions many students asked. Later in , Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, offered him a position as a full professor, and Burnham spent five years teaching there.

After the publication of his book Critical Elections and the Mainsprings of American Politics , Burnham became a very well-known scholar. Different political science departments approached him with job offers.

In many ways, however, he was isolated at MIT: few people there worked on U. He had a wonderful experience nonetheless. At MIT, many of his colleagues studied other countries and cultures, and he was exposed to a broader picture of political science.

He recounted his conversations with Lucian Pye on China very affectionately. In , the University of Texas at Austin came along with a very generous offer, and Dean spent the last 16 years of his professional career in Austin. At that time, Professor Burnham was already a central figure in U. His articles and books were studied and criticized, but never ignored. His realignment theory became the central paradigm to study not only elections and voting in U. Burnham was a distinguished scholar and a very respectable teacher.

Most people admired his timepiece, fully convinced of its value. From the beginning of his career, Dean was highly regarded by his students and became a source of inspiration for many of them. Political Analysis. Recommend to library.