Political Methodology

Political methodology develops and applies the methods of political science — research design, measurement, and quantitative and qualitative inference.

Scope

It covers causal inference, research design (experimental, observational, qualitative), measurement, and statistical and formal methods for political analysis.

Core questions

• How can political phenomena be measured and explained?
• How is causal inference made from observational data?
• How should research be designed for valid inference?
• How do quantitative and qualitative methods relate?

Key concepts

• Causal inference
• Internal and external validity
• Research design
• Measurement
• Quasi-experiments
• Qualitative vs quantitative methods

Key theories

Quasi-experimentation

Campbell and Stanley codified threats to validity and quasi-experimental designs for causal inference.

Unified logic of inference

King, Keohane, and Verba argued qualitative and quantitative research share one logic of scientific inference.

History

Political methodology grew from behavioural-era statistics and Campbell and Stanley's design framework into a distinct subfield (KKV's unified inference, then the causal-inference and experimental turn), now central to the discipline.

Debates

One logic or many?

Whether qualitative and quantitative research share a single logic of inference (KKV) or rest on distinct foundations.

Key figures

• Donald Campbell
• Gary King
• Robert Keohane
• Sidney Verba

Seminal works

• campbell-stanley-1963
• kkv-1994

Frequently asked questions

What is causal inference?

The process of drawing valid conclusions about cause and effect from data, central to political methodology.