Political Research

Review from previous edition 'The writing style and tone is exactly right... No other book on the market is comparable in terms of clarity and authority, detail and register - over even the commonest research techniques. ' (Dr Helen Brocklehurst, University of Derby)



'The biggest advantage of the book is the quality of its writing style. It actually demystifies the research process for students right from the start. The authors just really 'get it' when it comes to knowing how students are coming at this.' (Dr Matthew Ryan, University of Southampton)


'Overall, this is a fantastic book, and it is refreshing to have a politics-specific book writing in a clear manner, especially without taking sides in the quantitative versus qualitative debate.' (Dr Helen Williams, University of Nottingham)


'A really thorough and well-written overview of contemporary research methods in politics.' (Dr Alistair McMillan, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield)


'I wish I had this book when I first started my degree. A great tool.' (Hal Meakin, Second Year Politics Student, Brunel University)

Sandra Halperin, Professor of International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London, and Oliver Heath, Senior Lecturer in Politics, Royal Holloway, University of London

1: Political Research PART I: PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE: KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWING IN SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH 2: Laws, Explanation, and Interpretation 3: Objectivity and Values PART II: HOW TO DO RESEARCH: AN OVERVIEW 4: Asking Questions: research questions and how to find and formulate them 5: Finding Answers: theories and how to apply them 6: Research Design 7: What is Data? PART III: HOW TO DO RESEARCH IN PRACTICE 8: Experimental Research 9: Comparative Research 10: Historical research 11: Surveys 12: Interviewing and Focus Groups 13: Ethnography and Participant Observation 14: Textual Analysis 15: Quantitative Analysis: Description and Inference 16: Patterns of Association: Bivariate Analysis 17: A Guide to Multivariate Analysis