Abstract
EU studies is at a crossroads where the many disciplinary interests in Europe meet, as well as temporally where the past weaknesses of methodology meet the future challenges of a new research agenda on Europe. These weaknesses emanate from a number of traditional research design dichotomies in EU studies:
Research ontology. Do we approach our research through rationalist or constructivist assumptions about EU affairs?
Research epistemology. Is our ultimate knowledge ambition to formulate explanatory theories capturing EU affairs? Or is our research a process of conceptual (re)constructions aimed at understanding EU affairs?
Research methodology. Do we best capture EU affairs through positivist and deductive research strategies, or through interpretative and inductive processes?
Research methods. Do we prefer quantitative or qualitative research methods and data?
We need to deal with, and seek to overcome, such traditional dichotomies to meet the future challenges of a new research agenda on Europe. Scholars within EU studies have thus become increasingly preoccupied with epistemological issues when conducting research on EU affairs (for discussions, see Manners, 2003; Jupille, 2006).
Research ontology. Do we approach our research through rationalist or constructivist assumptions about EU affairs?
Research epistemology. Is our ultimate knowledge ambition to formulate explanatory theories capturing EU affairs? Or is our research a process of conceptual (re)constructions aimed at understanding EU affairs?
Research methodology. Do we best capture EU affairs through positivist and deductive research strategies, or through interpretative and inductive processes?
Research methods. Do we prefer quantitative or qualitative research methods and data?
We need to deal with, and seek to overcome, such traditional dichotomies to meet the future challenges of a new research agenda on Europe. Scholars within EU studies have thus become increasingly preoccupied with epistemological issues when conducting research on EU affairs (for discussions, see Manners, 2003; Jupille, 2006).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Research Methods in European Union Studies |
| Editors | Kennet Lynggaard, Ian Manners, Karl Löfgren |
| Place of Publication | Houndmills, Basingstoke |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan |
| Chapter | 1 |
| Pages | 3-17 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1-137-31696-7 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0-230-36305-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 Jul 7 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Subject classification (UKÄ)
- Political Science
Free keywords
- European integration
- research strategy
- research methods
- European Union