Teaching Methodological Approaches on the Study of International Relations: Case of Türki̇ye

Abstract

This study focuses on the contents of the syllabuses of scientific research methods and equivalent courses in International Relations (IR) graduate programs in Türkiye. The study aims at analyzing what the subjects in the syllabus are and which subjects are taught. To display the distributions, two categories were determined under the theme of methodology and method. The first is the “meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology” category, which represents the more philosophical and theoretical dimension, and the second is the “research methods” category, which represents the more technical dimension. Among 133 graduate programs, 141 syllabuses were scanned, and 68 syllabuses were examined. The research was designed according to the case study within the qualitative research approach. The data collection method of the study is document analysis. The data analysis method is content analysis. According to the findings, it was observed that there was a concentration on the “research methods” category at a rate of 81% and the category of “meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology” at a rate of 19%. It was seen that the subjects of data collection methods, research designs, and data analysis methods were mostly covered in the category of “research methods”. The mixed research approach is almost non-existent in the syllabuses. It was determined that there is a concentration on the meaning of science and positivism within the category of the meaning of science, philosophy of science and methodology. Critical realism, anti-positivism, and pragmatism are among the least covered subjects. As a result, it showed that the syllabuses were not up-to-date, and the philosophical and theoretical part of the method was not discussed in depth in the lessons. In the study, a syllabus for research method courses was presented. This syllabus proposal is considered to be a guide for bringing method courses up-to-date.