Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry Receives $177,060 from NSF

The Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry, based in the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs at the Maxwell School, is the host of the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry (IQMR).  IQMR has been awarded $177,060 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support the 2015, 2016 and 2017 institutes and authors’ workshops.

IQMR, initiated in 2002, is a two-week program held each summer at Syracuse University, and is co-directed by Colin Elman and Andrew Bennett.  In addition to significant support from the NSF, IQMR has over 80 sponsoring departments, including major universities across the U.S. and institutions from Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Germany, Great Britain and elsewhere.

IQMR provides students with a unique training opportunity, offering a “boot camp” format for students to learn about the application of qualitative research methods and their complementary analytic techniques in the social sciences.  The institute has grown from a 2002 class of 45 to a 2013 class of 185; overall, more than 1,600 participants have participated in IQMR.  Its graduates are prepared to design and conduct rigorous qualitative and multi-method research.

The newly awarded funds will be used to support fellowships to attend IQMR, including slots explicitly reserved for participants from developing nations.

An additional dimension of IQMR is an authors’ workshop, where junior faculty and other scholars are invited to present manuscripts on qualitative research methods. Feedback includes detailed, constructive criticism on their projects, with a view toward helping move them closer to publication.

Bennett suggests that “after 13 years in operation, the institute is now firmly established as the premier venue for qualitative research methods, with participants drawn from nearly 90 universities located in North America and beyond.”