| Summary: | "Political Research in the Middle East and North Africa focuses specifically on doing research in one of the most important regions in contemporary world politics. It is also one of the most difficult areas to do research in given the current high levels of violence, political instability, and authoritarianism that plague the region. Gathering together a large and diverse group of researchers who study the region, Janine Clark and Francesco Cavatorta's volume will serve as a foundational methods guide for young academics on how to conceive and carry out their research projects. At the same time the topics in the book provide a useful refresher to more established scholars so that their methodological training and ethical considerations keep pace with novel approaches and changing obstacles in the field. What makes this volume especially useful is its focus on methodological 'lessons learned' from the contributors' first hand experiences. Each chapter deals with the challenges of implementing qualitative and quantitative methods in the field, the real-life obstacles encountered and the possible solutions to overcoming them. It will therefore be an invaluable companion book to more standard methods books, which focus on the 'how to' of methods but are often devoid of any real discussion of the challenges of on-the-ground fieldwork."--Publisher's summary
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