Research on Research: A Decade of Quantitative and Field Research on International Organizations

1970 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 414-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chadwick F. Alger
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Research On Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Collective Activity ◽  
Systematic Inquiry ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Organization Research

Writing in 1966, I examined the degree to which changes in research methods in political science are affecting research on international organizations and made some suggestions for extending the use of more rigorous empirical methods in international organization research. This effort stimulated a desire to make a more systematic inquiry. Reported in that paper are the results of a systematic survey of fourteen journals and eleven international relations readers which have been published over the past decade. The survey identified some 300 works on international organizations, 61 of which are based on quantitative analysis and field work. This study reports data obtained from coding these works on nine characteristics and provides examples of major findings. The purpose is to help the community of scholars engaged in this work to see where our collective activity is heading in the hope that this will enable us to make more effective use of the limited skills, time, and money available.

Blessing or Curse?

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-459
Author(s):  
Lisa Katharina Schmid ◽  
Alexander Reitzenstein ◽  
Nina Hall
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
The Past ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Donor States

Abstract Earmarked funding to international organizations (IO s) has increased significantly over the past two decades. International relations scholars have examined the causes of this trend, but know less about its effects on UN entities. This article identifies different types of earmarked funding, varying from low to high discretion delegated to IO s. Secondly, it examines trends in the UN Development Programme and UN Children’s Fund and finds that both have significant proportions of earmarked funding with low discretion. Drawing on thirty interviews, the article notes four implications of tightly earmarked financing: 1) higher transaction costs for IO s; 2) less predictable funding; 3) overhead costs that are rarely covered; and 4) increasing competition for financing. Overall, the article highlights that earmarked financing exists on a spectrum from tight to minimal control by donor states, and this has important implications for multilateralism.

The Socialization of ICTs in Ethiopia

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iginio Gagliardone
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
History Of Technology ◽  
National Project ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
History Of

This paper addresses how state actors in the developing world have influenced technology adoption and favoured the diffusion of certain uses of ICTs while discouraging others. Drawing upon extensive field research and looking at the evolution of ICTs in Ethiopia, it examines how a semi-authoritarian, yet developmentally oriented regime, has actively sought to mediate the – either real or imagined – destabilising aspects of ICTs while embracing them as a tool for nation-building. A constructivist framework as developed in international relations and history of technology is employed to understand how the introduction of the new ICT framework as promoted by international organizations has been mediated both by the results of the socialization of earlier technologies in Ethiopia and by the national project pursued by the local political elite.

Research on research revisited: another half decade of quantitative and field research on international organizations

1977 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
William J. Dixon
Keyword(s):  
International Organizations ◽  
Scientific Inquiry ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
Recent Period ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Research On Research ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Half Decade

Eight journals were surveyed for articles reporting empirical research on international organizations, under the assumption that periodic self-assessment is a necessary component of any program of scientific inquiry. Forty-five article published between 1970 and 1975 are compared to articles from the 1960s on a variety of dimensions. In the recent period more authors view international organizations comparatively while fewer concentrate their efforts on the UN. The types of organizations and organizational process being studied have become more diversified, as have the research methods being utilized. Several questions receiving the sustained attention of researchers, such as studies of UN voting groups, the attributes of UN member states, the effects of economic assistance on influence in the UN, and the role of IO's in conflict resolution, all reflect a growing accumulation of knowledge about international organizations.

scholarly journals Imagining a Maya Archaeology That Is Anthropological and Attuned to Indigenous Cultural Heritage

Heritage ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia McAnany
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Anthropology ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Collaborative Process ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
Descendant Communities

Taking an aspirational approach, this article imagines what Maya Archaeology would be like if it were truly anthropological and attuned to Indigenous heritage issues. In order to imagine such a future, the past of archaeology and anthropology is critically examined, including the emphasis on processual theory within archaeology and the Indigenous critique of socio-cultural anthropology. Archaeological field work comes under scrutiny, particularly the emphasis on the product of field research over the collaborative process of engaging local and descendant communities. Particular significance is given to the role of settler colonialism in maintaining unequal access to and authority over landscapes filled with remains of the past. Interrogation of the distinction between archaeology and heritage results in the recommendation that the two approaches to the past be recognized as distinct and in tension with each other. Past heritage programs imagined and implemented in the Maya region by the author and colleagues are examined reflexively.

scholarly journals Consultation and Joint Endeavor Among All Stakeholders: China’s Stance on Multilateralism and the United Nations

2019 ◽  
Vol 05 (04) ◽  
pp. 471-492
Author(s):  
Mao Ruipeng
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
The Past ◽  
Un Peacekeeping ◽  
International Environment ◽  
China’S Foreign Policy ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

Multilateralism is one of the key notions in China’s diplomatic discourse. Unlike the European Union, China tends to define multilateralism as a consultation process amongst all related members of the international community, so that their fundamental interests and appeals can be fully heard and considered. In the Chinese view, multilateralism features inclusive participation, UN leadership, and the goal of democratization of international relations. It is believed that, as a historical trend, multilateralism is not only crucial for tackling various global challenges, but it also helps foster a favorable international environment for China’s sustainable development. Multilateralism has been deeply ingrained in China’s foreign policy, exemplified by the country’s increasing support for the UN over the past two decades. Notably, both China’s financial contribution to the UN and the number of personnel sent on UN peacekeeping missions have grown rapidly in recent years. Also, China has been advocating the notion of a “community of shared future for mankind” on UN platforms, hoping to share its experience of development with the world. As China deepens its engagement with international organizations, however, the United States is making every effort to constrain China’s influence in the UN. In the future, China needs to work closely with supporters of multilateralism, especially developing countries, so as to play a greater role in the UN.

scholarly journals Ethnographic toolkit: Strategic positionality and researchers’ visible and invisible tools in field research

Ethnography ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Reyes
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Demographic Traits ◽  
Race Ethnicity ◽  
Sociological Work ◽  
Qualitative Methodologies

For many, reflexivity is a core tenet in qualitative research. Often, scholars focus on how one or two of their socio-demographic traits compare to their participants and how it may influence field dynamics. Research that incorporates an intersectionality perspective, which brings attention to how people’s multiple identities are entwined, also has a long history. Yet, researchers tend to pay less attention to how we strategically draw on our multiple social positions in the course of field work. Drawing on data I have collected over the past several years and extending recent sociological work that goes beyond a reflexive accounting of one or two of researchers’ demographic characteristics, I argue that each researcher has their own ethnographic toolkit from which they strategically draw. It consists of researchers’ visible (e.g. race/ethnicity) and invisible tools (e.g. social capital) and ties qualitative methodologies to research on how culture is strategically and inconsistently used.

The Beginnings of A Geological Naturalist: Desmarest, The PrintedWord, and Nature

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Scientific Field ◽  
Industrial Arts ◽  
Histoire Naturelle ◽  
The Past ◽  
Archeological Evidence

Nicolas Desmarest (1725-1815), one of the great pioneering field naturalists of the eighteenth century, began to pursue geological field work only in the later 1750s, Well past the age of 30. Until that time, the patterns of Desmarest's scientific interests and thinking resembled those of a scholarWhose range of experienceWas defined mostly by books. In this essay I attempt to characterize Desmarest's intellectual orientations, prior to his conversion into an investigative naturalist. Before his first efforts in active field research, Desmarest became committed to an empiricist epistemology of a phenomenalist type, emphasizing know ledge of natural regularities in a fashion parallel to views expressed in the early volumes of Histoire Naturelle, by Georges-Louis Leclerc, comte du Buffon (1707-1788). Through his close linksWith antiquarian scholars, Desmarest formed critical mental habits regarding use of historical and archeological evidence in interpretations of the past. These early scholarly experiences helped shape his approach to work as a field geologist. I suggest also that Desmarest's employment as a government analyst of practical and industrial arts, at the very time he began active scientific field work, contributed to his rapid and successful embrace of empirical procedures in science. Let us consult nature herself, who ordinarily leaves recognizable marks of her operations, even if she likes most often to cloak them in disguise, to hide them from minds unfamiliar with her tricks, or heedless in following their solution. Nicolas Desmarest, Dissertation sur l'ancienne jonction de l'Angleterre à la France, 1753

The Technopolitics of the Ethiopian Nation

2011 ◽  
pp. 206-222
Author(s):  
Iginio Gagliardone
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
International Relations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
History Of Technology ◽  
National Project ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
History Of

This chapter addresses how state actors in the developing world have influenced technology adoption and favoured the diffusion of certain uses of ICTs while discouraging others. Drawing upon extensive field research and looking at the evolution of ICTs in Ethiopia, it examines how a semi-authoritarian, yet developmentally oriented regime, has actively sought to mediate the – either real or imagined – destabilising aspects of ICTs while embracing them as a tool for nation-building. A constructivist framework as developed in international relations and history of technology is employed to understand how the introduction of the new ICT framework as promoted by international organizations has been mediated both by the results of the socialization of earlier technologies in Ethiopia and by the national project pursued by the local political elite.

Prescribing for the reform of international organization: the logic of arguments for change

1987 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Taylor
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
International Organization ◽  
Scholarly Writing ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations

In this essay I examine the main characteristics of the proposals which have been put forward over the past few years for the reform of international institutions, particularly the United Nations. The latter's social and economic arrangements in particular have been subject to a series of incisive, hard hitting reports—the most recent being Maurice Bertrand's Report of December 19851—which have themselves become almost a matter of routine: nothing changes, even the intelligence and perception of the criticism. This essay is intended to provide a part of the answer to the question of why nothing is ever done. In addition to difficulties arising from the interests of states and organizations which are involved, there are also a range of problems arising from different conceptions of what international organizations are and can do. This essay deals with the latter. The conceptions dealt with are those found in the writings of students of international organization, largely British and American, rather than in the words or deeds of practitioners. The nature of the link between scholarly writing and the practice of international relations is itself complex and contentious and is not explored in this essay. The minimalist assumptions are made, however, that disagreements among scholars make it less likely that practitioners will agree to co-operate, and that scholarly reconciliation is at least a first step towards practical improvement.

The Law of International Organizations: A Subject which needs Exploration and Analysis

2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Directed Attention ◽  
The Past ◽  
Specific Category ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law

AbstractThe law of international organizations, including the institutional law, has been somewhat neglected in the past, even though, or perhaps because, international organizations are creations largely of the 20th century. In my treatise on Principles of the Institutional Law of International Organizations, first published in late 1996 and going now, at the request of the publisher, into a second edition, I directed attention, perhaps in a seminal way, to this institutional law, its importance and its qualification to be considered a specific category not only of general international law but also of international organizational law. In my view there is ample room for further thorough study of various aspects particularly of this law without neglecting the functional international law of international organizations. Apart from principle, their application or non-application in practice may usefully be studied. This by itself justifies a law journal devoted to the subject of international organizational law in general. Moreover, the justification is further reinforced by the fact that now international organizations have become a feature of everyday life in the world. Here, at the risk of repeating what I have said in my book referred to above, because such repetition can only emphasize the importance of the subject matter, I shall concentrate on four aspects which are relevant to international organizational law, to its importance as a part of international law and to its influence on international relations: (i) the pervasiveness of international organizations; (ii) the concept of international institutional law; (iii) its nature; and (iv) its sources.

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