Theory and Methods in Political Science

Citation

Lowndes, V., Marsh, D., & Stoker, G. (Eds.). (2017). Theory and Methods in Political Science (4th ed.). Red Globe Press (Bloomsbury).

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition is an edited textbook of about 416 pages with an introduction and eighteen chapters in two parts, each written by a different specialist. Part I covers theories and approaches; Part II covers methods and research design. The publisher describes the book as pluralistic, highlighting the variety of ways of studying politics, with guides to further reading and clear examples of how research methods are applied. Vivien Lowndes joins David Marsh and Gerry Stoker as editor in this edition, which adds chapters on poststructuralism and on big data.

Introduction

The three editors open the volume. It frames the two parts that follow, theories and approaches and then methods and research design.

Part I: Theory and Approaches

Chapter 1: Behavouralism

David Sanders writes on the behavioural approach.

Chapter 2: Rational Choice

Andrew Hindmoor and Brad Taylor cover rational choice as an approach to political analysis.

Chapter 3: Institutionalism

Vivien Lowndes writes the chapter on institutionalism.

Chapter 4: Constructivism and Interpretive Theory

Craig Parsons treats constructivist and interpretive approaches together.

Chapters 5–6: Feminist and Gender Approaches; Marxism: A global perspective

Meryl Kenny and Fiona Mackay write on feminist and gender approaches. Ray Kiely's chapter on Marxism is subtitled as a global perspective.

Chapter 7: Poststructuralism

Mark Wenman writes the chapter new to this edition on poststructuralism.

Chapters 8–9: Political Psychology; Normative Theory

Frank Mols and Paul 't Hart cover political psychology. Chris Armstrong closes Part I with normative theory, the approach concerned with how politics ought to be arranged rather than how it is.

Part II: Methods and Research Design

Chapters 10–11: Ontology and Epistemology in Political Science; Meta-Theoretical Issues in Political Analysis

David Marsh, Selen Ercan and Paul Furlong write on ontology and epistemology; Marsh adds a chapter on meta-theoretical issues. These two chapters carry the philosophical questions about what can be known in political science and how, that sit behind choices of approach and method.

Chapter 12: Research Design

Dimiter Toshkov's chapter turns from philosophy to the practice of designing a study.

Chapters 13–15: Qualitative Methods; Quantitative Methods; Comparative Methods

Ariadne Vromen, Peter John and Matt Ryan each write on one family of methods: qualitative, quantitative and comparative.

Chapters 16–17: The Experimental Method; Big Data

Helen Margetts and Gerry Stoker write on the experimental method, with the subtitle "Prospects for field and laboratory studies". Michael Jensen's chapter on big data, with the subtitle "Methods for collection and analysis", is the second new addition of this edition.

Chapter 18: The Relevance of Political Science

B. Guy Peters, Jon Pierre and Gerry Stoker end the volume with a chapter on what political science is for.

Key Concepts

Part I: Theory and Approaches

• Behavouralism: the approach of the first chapter.
• Rational choice: the approach of Chapter 2.
• Institutionalism: the approach of Chapter 3.
• Constructivism and interpretive theory: the approaches treated together in Chapter 4.
• Feminist and gender approaches; Marxism; poststructuralism: three critical approaches in Chapters 5 to 7.
• Political psychology and normative theory: the final two approaches in Part I.

Part II: Methods and Research Design

• Ontology and epistemology: the philosophical questions about what exists and how it can be known, which the first chapter of Part II applies to political science.
• Meta-theoretical issues: the further questions about theory that the second chapter of Part II discusses.
• Research design: planning a study.
• Qualitative, quantitative and comparative methods: the three method chapters in the middle of Part II.
• Experimental method and big data: the two chapters on newer sources of evidence.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A deliberately pluralistic scope. The publisher stresses the "rich variety" of approaches to politics, and the contents bear this out: nine approaches from behavioural analysis to normative theory, each given its own chapter by a specialist.
• Theory and methods in one book. Part II connects the philosophical chapters on ontology, epistemology and meta-theory to chapters on research design and on each family of methods, so a reader can follow a route from an approach to a method.
• Student-oriented features. The publisher advertises guides to further reading and clear examples of how research methods are applied, and presents the book as core reading on undergraduate and postgraduate political analysis, theory and methods courses.
• New material. Poststructuralism and big data are new to this edition, and the closing chapter on the relevance of political science returns to the purposes of the discipline.

Limitations

• Edited and uneven by design. The text is written by many hands, so chapters will differ in style and in how far they can compare themselves with other approaches. The editors' introduction and the closing chapter are the only material designed to tie the whole together.
• Overview, not a method course. Each method gets one chapter, so the book orients a reader to qualitative, quantitative, comparative, experimental and big data methods but does not replace a dedicated text for any of them.
• A topic of its own. The book is about how political science is done, not about what it has found on any particular subject, so it complements rather than replaces a subject textbook, and its value depends on the reader having a research question or course in mind.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the introduction-to-politics course, this is the book that comes after the survey textbooks. Heywood's Politics, Garner, Ferdinand and Lawson's Introduction to Politics and Rom, Hidaka and Walker's Introduction to Political Science teach the subject matter of politics (concepts, ideologies, institutions, and international politics). Lowndes, Marsh and Stoker instead ask how the discipline's approaches differ and how political scientists produce evidence, so it is best read once a student has a map of the field to apply it to.

The Oxford Handbook of Political Science edited by Robert Goodin is a one-volume reference on the state of research across the discipline's subfields, which makes it a companion for looking up where an approach has been applied. The present book is the one to read for the approaches and methods themselves.

How to Use This Book

The book suits second- and third-year undergraduates, master's students and early-career researchers who are starting a dissertation or a research course. Familiarity with the basic vocabulary of politics is the useful preparation.

A practical plan:

• Read the introduction first, then Chapter 10 on ontology and epistemology, which frames the choice among the approaches, before returning to Part I.
• In Part I, read the approaches your course or project needs, not necessarily in order. Chapters 1 to 3 (behavioural, rational choice and institutional approaches) and Chapter 4 on constructivism and interpretive theory are the usual starting points for comparing how approaches frame a question.
• In Part II, pair a method chapter with Chapter 12 on research design before starting a project. The chapters on qualitative, quantitative and comparative methods are the working core; the experimental and big data chapters are for readers using those sources of evidence.
• Finish with the chapter on the relevance of political science to consider what the research is for.