There are growing calls for the discipline of political science to become methodologically pluralist and to embrace and hone a broader range of approaches across qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods paradigms (Box-Steffensmeier, Sinclair-Chapman, and Christenson, 2023). Advancing methodological development both in the theoretical and applied realms is seen as necessary to ensure that our discipline can productively engage increasingly complex political problems today, including questions around threats to democratic governance and democratic resilience. At the same time, however, there is widely recognized “disciplinary crisis” in graduate qualitative methods training in political science, where fewer than 60% of departments offer such systematic qualitative methods training (Emmons and Moravcscik, 2020). This lack of institutionalized training is all the more pronounced in terms of interpretive methodologies and methods (Schwartz-Shae, 2003). This roundtable is animated by the tension between calls for increasingly sophisticated and pluralist research methods and the relative dearth of institutional training in interpretive methodologies. The roundtable is a productive intervention to explore means to cultivate and improve interpretive methodologies and methods in the discipline today.

The roundtable brings together ten scholars from varied ranks, subfields, and institutions to explore trends, challenges, and the future of interpretive methodologies and methods training in political science today. Participants will address a series of interrelated themes, including (i) how they ‘came to' interpretive methods and the role of mentors, networks, and institutional training; (ii) how they teach methods today, and why; (iii) departmental and curricular considerations that impact interpretive training; (iv) reflections on changes in training over time and how to improve interpretive graduate training, and (v) the prospects for the future of interpretive methods in our discipline.

A core interest of the roundtable is to provide a detailed conversation that will benefit students and scholars in attendance as they consider how to adopt, teach, and expand interpretive methodologies and methods and serve as a starting point for wider disciplinary discussions.

Read more on APSA’s 2026 Online Program.