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The Method of Problems versus the Method of Topics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2011

Fred Eidlin
Fred Eidlin
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
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Abstract

Confused students researching papers not knowing where they are going. Articles, lectures, and books on exciting topics that turn out to be boring. Such familiar phenomena are symptoms of a widespread, largely unconscious methodological habit of focusing on topics rather than problems. This habit rests on views about knowledge that are deeply ingrained in commonsense knowledge and in the methodology of mainstream social science. Such views saturate the understanding of scientific inquiry assumed by most methods textbooks. This article criticizes the method of topics and contrasts it with the method of problems. The word “topic” suggests that there is some surface to cover, but not why covering it might be interesting. Interesting research is problem-driven. It begins with a sense that something is amiss with existing knowledge and requires explanation. Problem-driven research begins, not with collection of data or facts, or with clarification of concepts, but with identification of inconsistencies or gaps in existing knowledge. It seeks to solve problems through free invention and severe criticism of hypotheses.

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PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 44 , Issue 4 , October 2011 , pp. 758 - 761
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2011

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