Applied research methods in international relations

There is no way around it that studying social facts such as international relations and attempting to prepare a description of them or interpret them or make comparisons between them forces the researcher necessarily to resort to choosing methods and research tools. The paradox is striking, as in contrast to the relative abundance of theoretical books and writings that address topics of international relations, the awareness of the various necessary means to conduct empirical or field investigation has not seen appropriate development. This book gathers the contribution of more than twenty researchers and teachers and aims to provide a scene of data, sources, and methods that help in conducting any research in international relations and establishing it in an accurate manner to the furthest extent. Within this book, a critical perspective is reflected on how to build data banks and their uses; on how meetings are conducted; on the use of cartographic methods; as well as on discourse analysis and image analysis, and on how to apply quantitative methods. The goal of this book, which is considered a practical guide for the researcher, also extends to the audience of non-specialist readers who have an interest in studies in international relations and a justified curiosity to know how the conclusions of "experts" are prepared.