Methods

This entry introduces methods in International Relations (IR), generally considered a key dimension of social science research. It first defines what falls under the scope of ‘methods’ and the categories commonly used to organise this dimension of research: qualitative, quantitative, computational, participatory, research design and methodology. It then traces the historical development of methods in IR: from a descriptive field to the ‘classical’ versus ‘scientific’ approaches of the 1960s, to the positivist vs post-positivist debate of the 1990s, to the emergence of critical research methods since the 2000s. Third, it identifies two debates that currently structure the conversation about methods in IR. The conclusion sketches out three potential implications of and directions for the future of methods in IR: the relation between IR and other fields of study, quality and ethics of data and the adequacy to IR (or lack thereof) of methods imported from other disciplines.