QUALITATIVE METHODS AND PERSPECTIVES IN POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH IN NIGERIA

Abstract

A point that has often been emphasised by scholars is that Politics relates to all aspects of human behaviour. This paper is an attempt to examine the qualitative perspective in the study of politics against the background that the world has recorded remarkable growth and development in the theories and methods of studying politics and widespread influence of the „behavioural revolution‟ on the development of political science discipline globally. It is argued that it is possible to study politics using qualitative methods and perspective without compromising the laws of logic and criteria of truth. This is because, knowledge produced through qualitative methods is no less useful as the one produced using quantitative techniques. The paper advocates for the use of „mixed methods‟ that identifies with “methodological pluralism”, and also recognizes the benefits of qualitative methods and their contributions towards the development of the study of politics