Qualitative methods in Political Science

Qualitative methods focus on understanding the meaning underlying an intention, action, object or phenomenon. In other words, researchers adopting qualitative methods aim to develop an understanding, an interpretation, of the way in which those they study understand their actions and the context in which they act. In political science research, qualitative methods are usually contrasted with quantitative methods, which typically deal with large amounts of data, using surveys and statistical methods, with the aim of establishing causal relationships between social phenomena.