Prof Steffen Hertog

This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Political Science, MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics) and MSc in Political Science (Global Politics). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access). In previous years we have been able to provide places for all students that apply but that may not continue to be the case. Priority is given to students on the MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics) and the MSc in Political Science (Global Politics) and the MRes in Political Science. Students from outside these programmes may not get a place.

This course gives a practical overview of the major mainstream qualitative methods used in political science, including case studies and process-tracing, small-n comparisons, systematic case selection, and approaches for combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. It will be grounded in current debates about causal inference, how it can be achieved through qualitative methods, and how doing so is complementary to or rival to statistically based causal inference. Particular emphasis will be put on understanding how various authors apply qualitative methods in practice (both implicitly and explicitly) and on how students can choose and deploy them in their own research projects. It will also discuss practical aspects of generating qualitative data through techniques such as interviews and archival research.

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Essay (750 words).

Mock exam (750 words).

The course will involve two short (750 word) formative essays in AT. This will include:

a) A mock exam question

AND

b) A mock research design addressing a research question of their own choosing (subject to seminar teacher approval) or a methodological critique of one of the readings on the syllabus.

• Henry E Brady and David Collier, Rethinking Social Inquiry Diverse Tools, Shared Standards (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010).
• John Gerring, Case Study Research: Principles and Practices (Cambridge University Press, 2007).
• Gary Goertz and James Mahoney, A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences (Princeton University Press, 2012).
• Tasha Fairfield and Andrew E. Charman, “Explicit Bayesian Analysis for Process Tracing: Guidelines, Opportunities, and Caveats,” Political Analysis 25, no. 3 (July 2017): 363-380.
• Nina Tannenwald, “The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Normative Basis of Nuclear Non-Use,” International Organization 53, no. 3 (Summer, 1999), pp. 433-468.
• Anthony W. Marx, “Race-Making and the Nation-State,” World Politics 48, no. 2 (1996): 180–208.

Exam (100%), duration: 120 Minutes in the January exam period.