This book examines the methodology of qualitative research in military studies. Since the end of the Cold War, the number of studies on military and society has grown substantially in substance, size and impact. However, only a tiny part of this bibliography deals in depth with the research methods used, especially in relation to qualitative methods. The data that form the basis of the researchers' analyses are often presented as if they were immediately available, rather than as a product of interaction between the researcher and those who participated in the research. Comprising essays by international scholars, the volume discusses the methodological questions raised by the use of qualitative research methodology in military settings. On the one hand, it focuses on the specificity of the military as a social context for research: the authors single out and discuss the particular field effects produced by institutional arrangements, norms and practices of the military. On the other, the authors proceed in an empirical manner: all methodological questions are addressed with regard to concrete situations of field research. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, research methods, sociology, anthropology, war and conflict studies and security studies in general.

This volume offers an overview of the methodologies of research in the field of military studies. As an institution relying on individuals and resources provided by society, the military has been studied by scholars from a wide range of disciplines: political science, sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, economics and administrative studies. The methodological approaches in these disciplines vary from computational modelling of conflicts and surveys of military performance, to the qualitative study of military stories from the battlefield and veterans experiences. Rapidly developing technological facilities (more powerful hardware, more sophisticated software, digitalization of documents and pictures) render the methodologies in use more dynamic than ever. The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies offers a comprehensive and dynamic overview of these developments as they emerge in the many approaches to military studies. The chapters in this Handbook are divided over four parts: starting research, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and finalizing a study, and every chapter starts with the description of a well-published study illustrating the methodological issues that will be dealt with in that particular chapter. Hence, this Handbook not only provides methodological know-how, but also offers a useful overview of military studies from a variety of research perspectives. This Handbook will be of much interest to students of military studies, security and war studies, civil-military relations, military sociology, political science and research methods in general.

This textbook provides an overview of qualitive and quantitative methods used in different social sciences to investigate defence issues. Recently, defence issues have become of increasing interest to researchers in the social sciences, but they raise specific methodological questions. This volume intends to fill a gap in the literature on defence studies by addressing a number of topics not dealt with sufficiently before. The contributors offer a range of methodological reflections and tools from various social sciences (political science, sociology, geography, history, economics and public law) for researching defence issues. They also address the increasingly important question of data and digitalization. The book introduces the added value of quantitative and qualitative methods, and calls for a cross-fertilization of methods in order to facilitate better research on defence topics and to fully grasp the complexity of defence in the 21st century. This book will be of much interest to students, researchers and practitioners of defence studies, war studies, military studies, and social science research methods in general.

This new handbook is about the practices of conducting research on military issues. As an edited collection, it brings together an extensive group of authors from a range of disciplinary perspectives whose chapters engage with the conceptual, practical and political questions raised when doing military research. The book considers a wide range of questions around research about, on and with military organisations, personnel and activities, from diverse starting-points across the social sciences, arts and humanities. Each chapter in this volume: Describes the nature of the military research topic under scrutiny and explains what research practices were undertaken and why. Discusses the author's research activities, addressing the nature of their engagement with their subjects and explaining how the method or approach under scrutiny was distinctive because of the military context or subject of the research. Reflects on the author’s research experiences, and the specific, often unique, negotiations with the politics and practices of military institutions and military personnel before, during and after their research fieldwork. The book provides a focussed overview of methodological approaches to critical studies of military personnel and institutions, and processes and practices of militarisation and militarism. In particular, it engages with the growth in qualitative approaches to military research, particularly research carried out on military topics outside military research institutions. The handbook provides the reader with a comprehensive guide to how critical military research is being undertaken by social scientists and humanities scholars today, and sets out suggestions for future approaches to military research. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, war and conflict studies, and research methods in general.

Researching the Military focuses on the experiences of researchers who study the military around the world. It explores the historical, social, institutional and personal factors that frame research and scrutinize the way knowledge in this area impacts society and policy. More than merely analyzing research experiences (yet necessarily including them), it is also about the experiences of researchers, their position with regard to the object of their studies, the institutional context where they work and the way their research impacts the academic and policy-making fields in the respective countries. The common theme to the various chapters is reflexivity, a conscious effort at addressing the conditions of research and the position of the researcher and the research participants in that interface. By collecting diverse experiences of researchers from across the world, this volume aims to enhance reflexivity in the field of military studies and to encourage the exchange of knowledge between the academic field and the military arena. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, research methods, sociology, social anthropology and security studies, in general.

This unique text provides a comprehensive framework for creating, managing, and interpreting qualitative research studies that yield valid and useful information. Examples of studies from a wide range of disciplines illustrate the strengths, limitations, and applications of the primary qualitative methods: in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, ethnography, content analysis, and case study and narrative research. Following a consistent format, chapters show students and researchers how to implement each method within a paradigm-neutral and flexible Total Quality Framework (TQF) comprising four interrelated components: Credibility, Analyzability, Transparency, and Usefulness. Unlike other texts that relegate quality issues to one or two chapters, detailed discussions of such crucial topics as construct validity, interresearcher reliability, researcher bias, and verification strategies are featured throughout. The book also addresses applications of the TQF to the writing, review, and evaluation of qualitative research proposals and manuscripts. Pedagogical Features *Summary tables that highlight important content, such as the application of a method to vulnerable or hard-to-reach populations. *Case studies that illustrate TQF standards in practice for each method. *Guidelines for effective documentation (via thick descriptions) of each type of study. *End-of-chapter discussion topics, exercises, and suggested further reading and Web resources. *Chapters open with a preview and close with a bulleted summary of key ideas. *Extensive glossary. 2021 Winner--American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Book Award

This volume offers an overview of the methodologies of research in the field of military studies. As an institution relying on individuals and resources provided by society, the military has been studied by scholars from a wide range of disciplines: political science, sociology, history, psychology, anthropology, economics and administrative studies. The methodological approaches in these disciplines vary from computational modelling of conflicts and surveys of military performance, to the qualitative study of military stories from the battlefield and veterans experiences. Rapidly developing technological facilities (more powerful hardware, more sophisticated software, digitalization of documents and pictures) render the methodologies in use more dynamic than ever. The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Military Studies offers a comprehensive and dynamic overview of these developments as they emerge in the many approaches to military studies. The chapters in this Handbook are divided over four parts: starting research, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and finalizing a study, and every chapter starts with the description of a well-published study illustrating the methodological issues that will be dealt with in that particular chapter. Hence, this Handbook not only provides methodological know-how, but also offers a useful overview of military studies from a variety of research perspectives. This Handbook will be of much interest to students of military studies, security and war studies, civil-military relations, military sociology, political science and research methods in general.

This volume offers a comprehensive overview of research methods in the field of military studies, featuring essays by leading scholars from around the world.