ABSTRACT

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.

part I|64 pages

Getting started and seeing the context

chapter 2|10 pages

Getting Access to the Field

Insider/outsider perspectives

chapter 3|10 pages

Getting on the Same Net

How the theory-driven academic can better communicate with the pragmatic military client

chapter 4|11 pages

Reflexivity

Potentially “dangerous liaisons”

chapter 6|12 pages

Studying Host-Nationals in Operational Areas

The challenge of Afghanistan

part II|112 pages

Qualitative methods

chapter 8|14 pages

Retrieving What's Already There

Archival data for research in defense acquisition

chapter 10|12 pages

Being One of the Guys or the Fly on the Wall?

Participant observation of veteran bikers

chapter 11|13 pages

In-Depth Interviewing

chapter 12|13 pages

Qualitative Data Analysis

Seeing the patterns in the fog of civil–military interaction

part III|110 pages

Quantitative methods

chapter 17|11 pages

Longitudinal Design in Using Surveys in Military Research

Common challenges and techniques

chapter 18|11 pages

Multilevel Analysis

The examination of hierarchical data in military research

chapter 19|12 pages

Cross-National Research in the Military

Comparing operational styles

chapter 23|12 pages

Evaluating Peace Operations

Challenges and dimensions