Qualitative Approach: Foreign Policy - Case Study Example

Qualitative study approach: Foreign Policy The Methodology used in this study is that of historical case studies, involving the comparison of three different conflicts where Russia was militarily involved - the separatist wars between Moldova and Transdniestra, Georgia and Abkhazia and the civil war in Tajikistan (Jackson:3). The background material collected before carrying out the detailed case study analysis is an identification of the broad ideas about foreign policy that formed the foundation for the formulation of the views of the Russian political elite and based upon this, the narrow policy implications for foreign policy relations with the states that were once part of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The major stages in the evolution of this debate are also examined, divided into three distinct historical periods, each with different results in terms of foreign policy. In applying the case study approach, the methodology of this study does not restrict itself to only one theoretical approach or model. It incorporates insights offered by various sources and approaches in order to determine which the ideas of significance in Russian foreign policy (Jackson, 23). Did these ideas develop during periods of crisis when the evolution of new beliefs is favored in order to solve problems? Did foreign policy evolve and change because of the lessons learnt and experience gained by the Russian political elite? The author has taken different ideas, views and perspectives on foreign policy into consideration, to explore whether they led to the development of a consensus or a policy framework that limited the introduction of Western ideas and was premised to a much greater extent upon the development of nationalist ideas and interests. The case study approach carries out a detailed study of Russia’s key interests in the conflict, such as how the conflict impacted upon its security, its diaspora living in those areas of conflict and its economic interests, and the extent to which these key interests were impacted upon by earlier Soviet and Tsarist history. This assessment also takes into account the constraints existing in the environment at the time of the conflict, so that an assessment could be made about how much uncertainty existed in terms of providing room for debate about foreign policy choices. This analysis is further supplemented with the debates about Russia’s foreign policy options towards each particular conflict, comparing the government’s official policy position and Russia’s military action on the ground. The sources from which the content of such foreign policy debate were elicited for examining the three case studies, were official statements found in official statements, from the Russian media and government reports and this focuses almost exclusively on the foreign policy debate as framed by the Russian political elite. Such a comparative assessment of each of the three case studies allows for a comparative assessment and reveals to what extent, the ideas and debate about foreign policy in general were outwardly reflected in Russia’s policies on the military conflicts. It seeks to determine the extent to which Russia’s political debates and rhetoric are actually demonstrated in practice in the three of Russia’s military involvements that are examined in the study. It also seeks to determine whether the ideas evident in these conflicts can be pinpointed to the debate on general policy issues or whether they are irrelevant from this standpoint. Strengths and weaknesses of the research design: The choice of the case study method to carry out this research is an excellent choice. Since a very detailed examination of issues is required in the examination of foreign policy, the case study method is the ideal methodology to use when a holistic, in-depth investigation is required.(Feagin et al, 1991). Case studies are designed to elicit the details on the viewpoints of the participants using multiple sources of data. In Jackson’s study also, the application of the case study has yielded good results in terms of the provision of the maximum amount of detail, using multiple sources such as speeches of political leaders, Government reports, news reports and a variety of sources. Jackson has gathered a vast amount of data which has been used as the basis for the qualitative research pattern of this study. The use of multiple sources of data also helps in providing multiple perspectives and aids in triangulation of data collected in the study.(Yin, 1984). This study shows theory triangulation, because in arriving at conclusions on foreign policy insofar as the three case studies are concerned, the author has not restricted herself to any particular theoretical model, but has rather taken into account several theories and views, this providing a richer base of data to work with and analyze. This study has also established construct validity and internal validity using the single case explanatory design (Levy, 1988). Jackson has rightly chosen to use the case study method to explore specific military situations in detail; this enables the focusing of the research problem, i.e, exploring the impact of foreign policy decisions in terms of their impact on the ground, in specific military conflicts. The focus upon documentary research and the collection of data from a wide ranging base of sources as mentioned above has helped to strengthen the levels and quality of data available for this study. In a qualitative study since the primary sources of data are generally textual or verbal matter, the collection of large amounts of data helps the researcher to detect more common trend sin the data and to filter it down to extract the most relevant data. It also enables higher levels of concordance of data through searches using specific words and thus enables a high quality analysis to be made. But there are also some limitations in this study, as also detailed further in the next section. The most notable of these is the failure to include the views of foreign journalists and foreign policy experts. The study could also have been improved by using multiple research instruments, such as surveys and questionnaires. This would have enabled better triangulation of data and the study should have been reinforced more strongly by Jackson in terms of better triangulation. Suggestions for improvement: A case study approach would be the best choice for an examination of foreign policy. Jackson would have perhaps arrived at better results by narrowing the focus of the study to one specific military conflict rather than attempting to deal with three. I would design a qualitative study focusing on one specific military solution but I would use a much wider base of documentary and factual data in formulating the general theoretical basis for this study. In my view, Jackson’s study is limited in one very important aspect; it almost completely ignores the input of foreign journalists and foreign policy analysts in arriving at its theoretical framework. By failing to include such views, Jackson has neglected to consider one of the most important perspectives, i.e., an outside perspective from outside Russia, which could have helped to provide a more holistic base of data upon which to base the results in the study. Hence, my study would also include foreign policy data from non-Russian sources, since the analysis of such data would provide a more holistic base of data. Denzin (1984) has also pointed out data triangulation is a valuable research strategy in a case study approach, where a researcher basically looked for concordance and similarity in the data collected from different contexts. Jackson’s failure to include input from foreign policy experts however, does not allow this process of triangulation of data to validate the results drawn from the study. Hence, in redesigning this study, one of the most important limitations to be addressed is the need to include foreign policy analyses from outside, foreign sources which may also be less biased and thereby provide a better source of data. It would also aid in the process of triangulation of data and provide a wider base of multiple perspectives for inclusion in the study. Yin (1984) also suggests that multiple sources of evidence should be used as a way to ensure construct validity. This is yet another aspect that is a limitation in Jackson’s study, and which needs to be addressed. Jackson’s study is primarily based upon the analysis of existing documentary data. But the use of multiple sources of evidence, such as surveys and interviews combined with documentary data, would have considerably improved the quality of data available for analysis in the study. As a result, in the reframing of the study, I would include survey questionnaires that could be circulated among politicians and foreign policy experts in order to gather their views on one specific conflict and the degree to which they see foreign policy debate playing a role in the on-the-ground conduct of that specific conflict situation. Lastly, my study of foreign policy conflicts would not limit itself to only a qualitative analysis of data. While it is no doubt true that documentary and text analysis is the basic source of data for research on the subject of foreign policy, there are also possibilities to include some quantitative data and analysis within the framework of this study. For example the questionnaire could be designed using a Likert style format, where numerical values are assigned to verbal responses. When large numbers of responses are collected, the assignment of numerical values enables quantitative statistical analyses through median and mean values, correlations, etc. References: * Feagin, J., Orum, A. and Sjoberg, G. (Eds.), 1991. “A case for case study”,. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. * Denzin, N, 1984. “The research act”, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. * Jackson, Nicole J, “Russian Foreign policy and the CIS: Theories, Debates and Actions”, Routledge * Yin, R, 1984. “Case study research: Design and methods” (1st ed.). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publishing. Read More