Qualitative Replication as a Pedagogical Approach to Teaching Research Methods

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe importance of replication has been a major matter of discussion among political scientists for decades. However, in the past five years, the issue has gained greater traction, with many major journals adopting official standards for Data Access and Research Transparency (DA-RT). At the same time, scholars suggest the pivotal role that replication might play in methods training for students. Unfortunately, these conversations have been limited in that they emphasize quantitative methods and training of graduate students. This article seeks to fill this gap by offering commentary on the author’s experience in introducing a qualitative replication project in an upper-division undergraduate course. The students in the course replicated Ross’s (2004) influential article on the “resource curse,” but the assignment framework can be adopted for various topics and contexts.