Open Access#106512017
Teaching interpretive methods in political science: The challenges of recognition and legitimacy
Tell a disciplinary colleague that you are teaching quantitative or comparative case study methods and you will likely get an understanding nod of the head. Likewise, graduate students are reading quantitative research in their seminars and the term case study will be familiar to all of them no matter their subfield. But tell that same colleague or student that you include interpretive methods in your syllabus and you are likely to be met with a puzzled look or an outright question: "What's that?" Students, too, may be uncertain of the meaning of "interpretive methods," asking themselves, "Is that the same as qualitative methods?" and "Have I read anything like that in my seminars?"
