Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research

Social movement studies have grown enormously in the last few decades, spreading from sociology and political science to other fields of knowledge, as varied as geography, history, anthropology, psychology, economics, law and others. With the growing interest in the field, there has been also an increasing need for methodological guidance for empirical research. This volume addresses this need by introducing the main methods of data collection and data analysis as they have been used in past research on social movements. Unlike other volumes, the book offers a practical, how-to approach and not simply a review of the methodological literature. Each author writes on a method they are very familiar with, having used it extensively in their own work. And each chapter presents specific discussions on every stage of research: from research design to data collection and the use of the information gathered. Throughout, research dilemmas and choices are presented, illustrated, and discussed. The volume offers an essential point of references for anyone undertaking research on social movements.

1 - Social Movement Studies and Methodological Pluralism: An Introduction
2 - The Potentials of Grounded Theory in the Study of Social Movements
3 - Qualitative Comparative Analysis: What It Is, What It Does, and How It Works
4 - Triangulation in Social Movement Research
5 - Comparative Historical Analysis
6 - Historical Methodologies in Social Movement Research:. Historical Methodologies in Social Movement Research: Archival Research and Oral History
7 - Participant Observation
8 - Field Work in the Context of Violent Conflict and Authoritarian Regimes
9 - Discourse and Frame Analysis:In-Depth Analysis of Qualitative Data in Social Movement Research
10 - In-depth Interviews
11 - Life Histories
12 - Focus Groups
13 - Surveying Protestors: Why and How
14 - Protest Event Analysis and Its Offspring
15 - Social Network Analysis
16 - Methodological Practices in Social Movement Online Research
17 - Working with Images
18 - The Ethics of Social Movement Research

Donatella Della Porta is professor of sociology in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute and professor of political science at the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane (on leave of absence). At the EUI, she has launched COSMOS (Consortium on Social Movement Studies). She is now starting a major ERC project Mobilizing for Democracy, on civil society participation in democratization processes in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. She is co-editor of the European Political Science Reviews (ECPR-Cambridge University Press). In 2011, she was the recipient of the Mattei Dogan Prize for distinguished achievements in the field of political sociology. Her main fields of research are social movements, the policing of public order, participatory democracy and political corruption.