Ethological Methods for Observing Small Group Political Decision Making

Abstract

Students of biopolitics and others are concerned with the relevance and contribution of this emergent subfield to the traditional or “normal” problems of more established areas in the discipline of political science (Hines, 1982; Blank, 1982). My article addresses this issue by illustrating how ethological methods of inquiry can be applied in research on collective political decision making in small groups. (Watts, 1981). Rather than presenting a final methodology and set of findings fait accompli, my primary purpose is heuristic and developmental-that is, to contribute to critical discussion, awareness, and application of alternative field research methods in political science.