Research Methods in Defence Studies

Delphine Deschaux-Dutard is an Associate Professor in Political Science at the University Grenoble Alpes, France. She is also a researcher at CESICE and Vice-Dean for International Relations at the Faculty of law at the same institution.

'If you still believe the old canard that defence studies are lacking in rigor or merely policy analysis about "bombs and bullets", think again. Delphine Deschaux-Dutard and her contributors pointedly show that this stereotype is not to be taken seriously. They take us on a lively journey through a wide range of indispensable methodological tools, both qualitative and quantitative, to study defence issues rigorously. Research Methods in Defence Studies will be a reference for scholars and students of defence and equally useful to practitioners who need the right methods to grasp the complexity of their rapidly changing profession. The interdisciplinary breath of the book alone is worth the price of admission.'-- Pascal Vennesson, Professor of Political Science, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University"There is now a very rich academic literature in the social sciences on warfare and the armed forces in the early twenty-first century. However, although a diversity of methods have been used by scholars in this field, there has been no systematic attempt to interrogate the methodology of military inquiry. This indispensable and comprehensive volume now fills that gap. It explores in vivid detail a variety of methodologies across the disciplines from geography, law to sociology. It will be required reading for any serious student of military affairs."-- Professor Anthony King, Chair in War Studies, University of Warwick

• Introduction Delphine Deschaux-Dutard Part I : Qualitative methods in defence studies 1. Defence studies and geography: from the practical to the critical approach Amael Cattaruzza 2. Defence Studies as an emerging research field in Public Law Anne-Sophie Traversac 3. Historical methods in defence and war studies : the case of historical defence studies in France Christophe Lafaye 4. Secondary analysis of qualitative data in defence studies : methological opportunities and challenges Laurent Borzillo & Delphine Deschaux-Dutard 5. Defence studies and public policy analysis Catherine Hoeffler 6. Sociological methods in defence studies Gregor Richter Part II: Quantitative methods and defence studies 7. Quantitative methods applied to defence studies Mayeul Kauffmann 8. Databases for defence studies Mayeul Kauffmann 9. Economic methods for defence studies Julien Malizard 10.Constructing a Parliamentary Deployment Votes Database: Challenges of Data Collection, Classification, and Indexing Falk Ostermann, Florian Böller, Flemming J. Christiansen, Fabrizio Coticchia, Daan Fonck, Anna Herranz-Surrallés, Juliet Kaarbo Kryštof Kučmáš, Michal Onderco, Rasmus B. Pedersen, Tapio Raunio, Yf Reykers, Michal Smetana, Valerio Vignoli, Wolfgang Wagner 11. The Other Civil-Military Gap. Researching Public Opinion on Security and Defence Policy Heiko Biehl, Markus Steinbrecher Conclusion: A plea for more cross-fertilization of methods in defense studies Delphine Deschaux-Dutard