Methods Guide

Start here when the method is still unsettled. Choose the method by asking what evidence you have and what claim you want to make.

Method selection

Match your project to a method

Answer the questions below and use the result as a place to begin.

What is your main material? What is your main analytical task? How comfortable are you with code?

Recommended section

Corpus planning

If the answer is still unclear, define the source base first. Method choices usually get easier once you know what evidence you actually have.

Open Building a Corpus

Browse Method Cards

Workflow

Building a Corpus

Start here if the archive, search terms, or inclusion rules are still fuzzy.

Qualitative

Comparative Case Study

For two or more cases that share enough context to make their differences count.

Qualitative

Process Tracing

For questions where timing matters and each link in the causal chain needs evidence.

Qualitative / mixed

Framing Analysis

For projects about how an issue is packaged in headlines, speeches, or policy text.

Qualitative

Discourse Analysis

For claims about how language builds identities or turns one view into common sense.

Computational prep

Preprocessing

Decide what counts as a token and what gets dropped. Document each choice.

Computational

Topic Analysis

A first map of a large corpus. The model points to clusters. You still name them.

Computational

Sentiment Analysis

Useful when tone matters and the score can be checked against your own texts.

Computational

Word Embeddings

For similarity, conceptual drift, or retrieval when keyword searches are too brittle.

AI & Code

For source folders, scripts, and logs that need to stay inspectable.

Other Methods To Consider

These methods are only sketched here. Some projects will still need one of them.

Method	Brief description	Common in
Qualitative interviewing + thematic analysis	Semi-structured interviews coded for repeated themes	All programs, especially fieldwork-based theses
Content analysis	Rule-based coding of textual material, quantitative or qualitative	IR, media-adjacent topics
Survey methods / quantitative analysis	Statistical analysis of original or secondary survey data	MAIR especially, BAIS with quantitative focus
Archival research	Close reading of historical documents and official records	Korean Studies, history-focused MAAS theses

Qualitative interviewing + thematic analysis

Semi-structured interviews coded for repeated themes.

Common in

All programs, especially fieldwork-based theses.

Content analysis

Rule-based coding of textual material. Can be quantitative or qualitative.

Common in

IR, media-adjacent topics.

Survey methods / quantitative analysis

Statistical analysis of original or secondary survey data.

Common in

MAIR especially, BAIS with quantitative focus.

Archival research

Close reading of historical documents and official records.

Common in

Korean Studies, history-focused MAAS theses.

For general planning, see Getting Started, Step 4: Building Your Analytical Framework. For assessment, see Assessment Standards, Application of Knowledge.