Interpretive Process Analytics (QMMR C)
Half Day Short Course
1:30pm – 5:30pm
This short course introduces participants to the logic, tools, and best practices of interpretive process analytics, a broad methodological framework that includes interpretive process tracing, practice tracing, and following techniques. Designed for researchers across all levels, the course does not require prior training in interpretive epistemology and is especially well-suited for scholars interested in applying interpretive methods to dynamic social and political processes.
The course begins with a meta-theoretical foundation rooted in the relational turn in ontology and practice theory, both of which center process as the core unit of analysis in social science. Drawing from sociology and political science, these theoretical frameworks offer a basis for thinking through how to conceptualize and trace social mechanisms and practices.
Participants will explore how to empirically access and analyze key elements of process, including practices, categories, and concepts, through a diverse range of methods: ethnography, political ethnography, interpretive interviews, document analysis, and practice tracing. The course addresses the practical and ethical challenges of these methods while offering an emerging set of best practices tailored to interpretive analysis.
In the final portion of the course, participants will join small breakout groups to workshop their own research designs and methodological questions. Whether facing theoretical, data access, analytical, or ethical dilemmas, participants will receive constructive, peer-supported feedback aimed at advancing their interpretive research.
Instructor Bio:
Jeffrey T. Checkel is Professor of International Relations at the European University Institute and an expert on qualitative methods, international institutions, civil war, and identity formation. He has co-led APSA’s foundational process tracing short courses since 2014 and regularly teaches qualitative and philosophical methods at EUI.