 loose or no control over concepts. SO: create a glossary of terms with basic info to help you navigate correctly through this vocabulary   POS concepts (ex. CIVIL not CIVIC society; legislatures is not legislation) methodological concepts   approaches (ex. POSITIVIST not POSITIVE; ex. normative DOES NOT sustain quantitative studies – EVER!; + avoid normative as main approach) methods (ex. sampling)  difficulty to maintain coherence between the RQ and the R Design  hypothesis construction – missing in action:  Basics:  statements (NOT QUESTIONS)  establishes a relationship between two variables (see pp. 2-3/lecture notes)  minimalistic developments: • ex. questions for surveys/interviews “what is your age?”  writing    heavy, convoluted syntax; misuse of words (wrong context) get rid of tentative style (“I try”, “I would”, “I could” – uncertainty: you do it or not?) justifications based on “I think”, “I believe” carry NO ARGUMENTATIVE value (opinions)

  guidelines for proposal: syllabus – page 3 proposal samples – on dotlrn (folder – Handouts)  PROPOSAL = a promise for future research (NOT the thesis per se; no data analysis per se, no findings)  result: FOCUS on CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK and METHODS not on data collection per se (on methods of data collection yes)  research proposal/ST are NOT research papers (not limited to some theoretical considerations and some empirical evidence, neither necessarily systematic or methodologically heavy)  research design:     methods: fascination with surveys; direct observation - dangers tendency towards large questions (the intellectual puzzle can be large; the focus should be narrow) research question (puzzle!!) is NOT the research topic secure consistence/coherence between RQ and RD  secure control over vocabulary/concepts used

Securitization Theory

Wordle.net

Foucault: “ ‘discursive formations’ refer to regular bodies of ideas and concepts claiming to produce knowledge about the world.” E. Laclau, C. Mouffe    discourse is concerned specifically with the analysis of political process   

all objects and practices are discursive affirms the relational character of identity discourses incorporate elements and practices from all parts of society

process by which discourses are constructed –

articulation

social systems are structured according to the rules of discourse

 an approach as well as a method of data analysis (processing of text based documents – large population of texts, representative selection)  a higher form of text analysis  study of social practices / ideas in political life  relevance to political science: “Language is always already politics”

foundations

 analyses how systems of meaning or ‘discourses’ shape the way individuals understand their roles in society and influence their political activities  examine ways in which structures of meaning make possible certain forms of conduct  subject of inquiry: hegemonic discourse/meta-discourses  limited change unless rupture (i.e. 1989)  But also “alternative” discourses (fringe, dissent)

criticisms

Philosophical :  idealist/reductionist dimension  relativism Eco: mocked obsession with “true” meaning Substantive:  focus: “soft” politics as opposed to analysis of social / political institutions

author • Significant (Marxist/psycho-analysis) • Insignificant: Russian formalists/linguists Reader insignificant • Contaminates scientific analysis through subjectivity • Russian Formalism/ Sausaurean linguistics Reader significant • Lacan: it is the reader, as well as the author that determine meaning • Eco: understanding and meaning of a text depends upon the experience of the reader

Objectivist/logicist (autonomy of text)

 text analyzed as a body of grammar and syntax  analysis = static and rigid  author/audience = irrelevant  Russian formalism, Saussaurean linguistics deconstructivism

Historicist/Subjective (text in context)

Laclau, Mouffe: discourses are historically contingent and politically constructed Rorty: language like social agents are historical products subject to change and transformation Q. Skinner – tripartite axis: a.

b.

c.

historical circumstances ideological formation/change relation btw ideology and political action it represents

 discourse = a form of ‘social practice’  discourse is “socially constitutive as well as socially shaped: it constitutes situations, objects of knowledge, and the social identities of and relationships between people and groups of people.” (Fairclough, Wodak)  Fairclough, Wodak, Van Dijk,  Laclau, Mouffe

large messages / frames ideas / metaphors

Discourse construction –

antagonisms

words

ideas/messages interpreted within the context in which produced; in terms of ideological connotation; examine in relation to other ideas present or with other ideas within the public/political space • vital for the establishment of political frontiers • central for the partial fixing of the identity of discursive formations and social agent • experience of antagonisms is exemplary in showing the contingency of identity

 method of data analysis = any techniques making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specific characteristics of message  examines trends and patterns in written documents  simplistic: word frequency count (how many?)  assumption: words mentioned most often reflect the greatest concerns  text analysis through = coding /code books (Krippendorf)  coding: subjective process   researcher bias inter-coder reliability (two/more coders)

   coding: a preliminary analytical method that tabulates the initial results of content analysis in a content frame. a single publication or article is analyzed in order to establish codes that can be used as the basis for the units of measurement to be counted. It is essentially a questionnaire that is filled in by the analyst. a separate content frame is devised to investigate each general question, and each column in the frame is headed by a subquestion that is a component of the general one. The answers to these subquestions provide the codes that suggest appropriate units of measurement.

 NUDIST  NVIVO  ATLAS TI  AnSWR

M. L. King, 1963

SOME THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS accommodate discourse and/content analysis by default as they rely upon speech act theory.