Previous ed.: Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2004.

Introduction: methods, methodology and making sense of the study of politics -- The discipline of politics -- Research design -- Comparative methodology -- Surveys and opinion polls -- Descriptive statistics -- Making inferences -- Documentary and archival analysis -- The Internet and political research -- Elite interviewing -- Participant observation and the analysis of communications -- Ethics and political research -- Conclusion: challenging the mainstream and the qualitative/quantitative divide

The second edition of this widely used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations; of their interrelationship; and of ethical issues in research. Illustrated throughout with boxed examples of real political research, the book ranges widely from substantial coverage of statistical methods to the use of archives, interviews, discourse analysis and the internet. Two additional chapters in the second edition focus on the relationship between research and policy and the lessons for researchers from the study of elections in the US and UK.

English