Support for Institutes and Research Groups on Qualitative and Multi-Method Research

定性和多方法研究研究所（IQMR）促进定性研究方法的教学和应用，并将其与政治学和相关学科的互补分析技术相结合。相关的研究小组是一个作者研讨会，旨在帮助学者在方法论领域发表文章，从而增加更广泛的学术界所借鉴的已发表研究的核心经典。在第十所学院（2011年6月），大约250名教师将向1000多名研究生和初级教师教授先进的定性方法。涵盖的主题包括案例研究方法、档案研究和实地考察、定性和定量方法的交叉、民族志研究和实验。此外，研究所与会者将有机会在小组讨论会议上展示研究设计。这些课程为学生提供了对自己原创研究的反馈，以及展示自己的工作和批评他人工作的宝贵实践。虽然该研究所的教师和教学计划的独特焦点是定性方法，但教师和参与者强烈关注定性方法如何巩固和补充其他分析方法。因此，该研究所保持了广泛的方法论重点，跨越并寻求弥合各种认识论分歧。为此，IQMR定期安排具有统计理论、实验方法和解释方法背景的教师。除了培训研究生和初级教师使用定性和多方法研究技术外，与研究所同时举行的研究小组鼓励年轻学者发展他们的方法技能，并充分参与生产（而不仅仅是使用）定性研究方法。它是对这些方法的新兴文献的持续扩展的催化剂。在学院两周的休息时间会面，作者研讨会提供了一个极好的机会来展示定性和多方法技术的工作，并从学院备受尊敬的教师那里获得想法的反馈。由于研究组的存在，开发新的定性研究方法的学者核心小组已经壮大，可用的研究技术的菜单也得到了加强。虽然向与会者提供的培训和反馈好处是实质性的，但研究所和研究小组也对更广泛的学术和决策社区产生了影响。过去的参与者在他们自己的大学里继续开发定性方法的课程，研究小组的参与者发表了在各个学科广泛阅读的书籍和文章。国家科学基金会的支持使该研究所能够向那些本来无法参加的学生提供奖学金。该研究所帮助确保了构成政治学和相关领域相当大一部分的定性和多方法研究以严谨、透明和富有成效的方式进行。反过来，这有助于增强我们对学者们就世界上最紧迫问题得出的结论的信心，并有助于政策制定者为解决这些问题制定明智的方案。

The Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) promotes the teaching and application of qualitative research methods and their combination with complementary analytic techniques in political science and cognate disciplines. The associated Research Group is an authors' workshop that seeks to help scholars publish in the field of methodology, thereby adding to the core canon of published research on which the wider academic community draws. With the tenth Institute (June 2011), roughly 250 instructors will have taught advanced qualitative methods to over one thousand graduate students and junior faculty. Topics covered include case study methods, archival research and fieldwork, the intersection of qualitative and quantitative methods, ethnographic research, and experiments. Moreover, Institute attendees will have the opportunity to present research designs in small-group discussion sessions. The sessions offer students feedback on their own original research, as well as valuable practice presenting their work and critiquing that of others. While the distinctive focus of the Institute's faculty and teaching program is qualitative methods, instructors and participants are strongly concerned with how qualitative methods undergird and complement alternative analytic approaches. Accordingly, the Institute maintains a broad methodological focus that reaches across--and seeks to bridge various--epistemological divides. To that end, IQMR regularly features faculty with a background in statistical theory, experimental methods, and interpretive methods. Beyond training graduate students and junior faculty in the use of qualitative and multi-method research techniques, the Research Group held at the same time as the Institute encourages young scholars to develop their methodological skills and become fully engaged in producing (and not just using) qualitative research methods. It is a catalyst for the continued expansion of the burgeoning literature on these methods. Meeting during the break between the two weeks of the Institute, this authors' workshop offers an excellent opportunity to present work on qualitative and multi-method techniques and to receive feedback on ideas from the Institute's highly-regarded faculty. As a result of the Research Group, the core group of scholars developing new qualitative research methods has grown, and the menu of available research technologies has been enhanced. While the training and feedback benefits provided to attendees are substantial, the Institute and Research Group also have an impact on the broader academic and policy-making communities. Past attendees have gone on to develop courses in qualitative methods at their own universities, and research group participants have published books and articles that are widely read across various disciplines. NSF support has enabled the Institute to offer scholarships to students who would otherwise not have been able to attend. The Institute has helped to ensure that the qualitative and multi-method research that makes up a substantial portion of political science and related fields is conducted in a rigorous, transparent, and productive way. In turn, this helps to increase our confidence in the conclusions scholars reach about the world's most pressing matters, and it aids policy-makers in devising well-informed prescriptions for tackling them.