Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science

by Stephen Van Evera

"Stephen Van Evera's Guide to Methods makes an important contribution toward improving the use of case studies for theory development and testing in the social sciences. His trenchant and concise views on issues ranging from epistemology to specific research techniques manage to convey not only the methods but the ethos of research. This book is essential reading for social science students at all levels who aspire to conduct rigorous research."―Alexander L. George, Stanford University, and Andrew Bennett, Georgetown University "Van Evera has a keen awareness of the questions that arise in every phase of the political science research project―from initial conception to final presentation. Although others may not agree with all of his specific advice, all will appreciate his user-friendly introduction to what is sometimes seen as an abstract and difficult topic."―Timothy J. McKeown, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill For the last few years, Stephen Van Evera has greeted new graduate students at MIT with a commonsense introduction to qualitative methods in the social sciences. His helpful hints, always warmly received, grew from a handful of memos to an underground classic primer. That primer has now evolved into a book of how-to information about graduate study, which is essential reading for graduate students and undergraduates in political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, and history―and for their advisers.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Political Science, Social Science, Reference

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Frits Brouwer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very positivist. Fairly American. Not too bad.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small, dry text on constructing arguments and framing cause/effect relationships in the social sciences, particularly political science. I read the first half of the book as assigned reading for a senior-level undergraduate course on Comparative Foreign Policy and finished up the book after the end of class. I found the book to be useful to read and especially to reference but it is extremely stale and boring. It’s not pleasure reading but the information it provides makes it worth a read for political science graduate students.

[Ian Fleischmann]

Good reference for construction of a political dissertation or monograph

[Jesse Morrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good group of essays. Nice compliment about W's on reading and writing in Social Sciences.

[Katypies]

Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science by Stephen Van Evera (1997)