There are many different scientifically valid ways to produce knowledge. The field of International Relations should pay closer attention to these methodological differences, and to their implications for concrete research on world politics.
The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations provides an introduction to the philosophy of science issues and their implications for the study of global politics. The author draws attention to the problems caused by the misleading notion of a single unified scientific method, and proposes a framework that clarifies the variety of ways that IR scholars establish the authority and validity of their empirical claims. Jackson connects philosophical considerations with concrete issues of research design within neopositivist, critical realist, analyticist, and reflexive approaches to the study of world politics. Envisioning a pluralist science for a global IR field, this volume organizes the significant differences between methodological stances so as to promote internal consistency, public discussion, and worldly insight as the hallmarks of any scientific study of world politics.
This important volume will be essential reading for all students and scholars of International Relations, Political Science and Philosophy of Science.
Reviews
'Jackson’s book offers a lucid presentation of four traditions of research, illustrated with sympathetic discussions—but also thoughtful critiques—of leading exemplars. The conduct of inquiry in International Relations is one of those rare texts that transcends its genre as it constitutes an original analysis of the foundations of social inquiry. One of its achievements is to situate each of the four approaches in distinct philosophical traditions, and to explicate their different genealogies and intellectual and normative commitments.' - Richard New Lebow, International Affairs, Vol. 87, 5, September 2011
'The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations outlinstructive and convincing path for getting beyond unproductive debates about the relative merits of the various methodologies that inform IR. Calling for a post-foundational IR that rests on a more expansive definition of science than that which is conventionally accepted by the field, Patrick Jackson makes a compelling case for an engaged pluralism that is respectful of the different philosophical groundings that inform a variety of equally valid scientific traditions, each of which can usefully contribute to a more comprehensive and informed understanding of world politics.' - J. Ann Tickner, School of international Relations, University of Southern California
'This is a book that will have a deep and lasting impact on the field. It displays impressive and sophisticated scholarship, but lightly worn and presented in an engaging manner, student-friendly but never patronising or afraid to challenge the reader. I know no better account of the various ways by which one can study IR scien...
