How IR Research Methods Have Evolved — Christopher Lamont

25. 2. 2024

This episode of The IR thinker explores how research methods in politics and international relations are evolving in the digital age, in conversation with Professor Christopher Lamont. Drawing on the second edition of his widely used textbook Research Methods in Politics and International Relations, the discussion examines the rise of interdisciplinarity, the increasing sophistication of mixed-methods designs, and the implications of real-time and digitised data for empirical depth and rigour. 

It also addresses constructivist and postcolonial critiques of traditional methodologies, innovations in linking local case studies to broader generalisations, and the potential of tools such as multi-level network analysis for understanding power structures and informal diplomatic practices, as well as the ethical and practical challenges of working with electronic sources.

Christopher Lamont

Professor Christopher Lamont is Dean of the E-Track International Relations programme and Vice Dean of the Graduate School of International Relations at Tokyo International University in Japan. A specialist in research methodology and international relations, he has extensive experience teaching methods at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and his work engages both positivist and critical approaches to the study of global politics.

Publications:

Contested Governance: Understanding Justice Interventions in Post-Qadhafi Libya

International Criminal Justice and the Politics of Compliance

Content

00:00 - Introduction
01:53 - Key Differences Between the First and Second Edition
03:13 - The Role of Interdisciplinarity in Research
06:06 - Interdisciplinarity: A Researcher’s Motivation or a Structural Pressure?
09:30 - Current Trends and Applications of Mixed Research Methods
12:26 - Dr Lamont’s Preferred Mixed Research Methods
14:57 - Causality and Complexity in Positivist Research Approaches
18:30 - Real-Time Data Analytics: Balancing Empirical Depth and Immediacy in Political Research
22:10 - Challenges of Accessibility: The Future of Electronic Sources in Research
25:40 - Constructivist and Postcolonial Critiques of Traditional Empirical Methodologies
29:00 - Bridging Local Case Studies and Global Generalisations: Methodological Innovations in IR
32:20 - The Potential of Multi-Level Network Analysis in Understanding Power Structures
35:40 - Methodological Challenges in Studying Informal Diplomatic Practices
39:10 - Research Methods That Need More Focus in the Second Edition
42:40 - The Role of AI in Research Methodology and Analysis
46:50 - Which Research Methods Require Further Exploration for Better Understanding?