American Political Science and Chinese Political Science ------A Comparison of Methodology Abstract Political science is a major discipline in both the U.S. and China, but the methodological approaches in the two countries cannot be more different. We first use the American Political Science Review to illustrate the methodological transformation in American political science in the 20th century, that is, the decline of qualitative methods and the rise of quantitative methods. The resurgence of qualitative methods since the mid-1990s and the increasing use of experimental methods are also discussed. Then we examine four Chinese political science journals. We find that qualitative methods dominate Chinese political science. We conclude by discussing the major causes for the methodological differences in political science between the two countries. Key Words: Political Science, Methodology, Quantitative Methods, Qualitative Methods
1 谢韬现为北京外国语大学英语学院美国研究中心讲师,研究领域为美国政治。Lee Sigelman现为乔治·华盛顿大学(George Washington University)哥伦比亚特级政治学教授(Columbian Professor of Political Science),主要从事美国政治和比较政治研究。他在2001-2006期间担任《美国政治学评论》(American Political Science Review)主编。北京外国语大学美国研究中心的郭丹瑞同学收集和整理了文中所用的中国政治学期刊的数据,作者在此表示由衷感谢。