ABSTRACT
In this commentary, I reflect on three distinct approaches to field research for studying distinct actors in the arena of international security: a field experiment designed to test the impact of gender reforms within policing in a single site, post-conflict Liberia, a comparative case study analysis assessing the effectiveness of business actors’ corporate social responsibility initiatives to address community security in a range of sites, and an ethnographic study of private security officers in several conflict-affected cities. All approaches come with their strengths and their limitations, and these three studies bring fascinating insights into new and emerging actors in the security field. We may have the best ideas, research questions and hypotheses in the world but the rubber really meets the road when we consider how to study them empirically. We must be able to answer our questions through a method or process that maximizes the chances that our answers are meaningful and defensible, withstanding critical scrutiny and alternative findings and explanations. I would argue that being able to devise a methodological approach that includes a research question, research design as well as specific methods for collecting, analysing and disseminating data and knowledge is not just a practical problem for the researcher; it is also a profoundly ethical and theoretical challenge.
