Nicole Loew hat zusammen mit Dr. Jasmin Siri (LMU) und Dr. Marcel Lewandowsky (HSU) einen Artikel in der „SAGE Research Methods Cases“ Reihe veröffentlicht, in dem die Autor*Innen erläutern, wie man mit einem Mixed-Methods Design den ideologischen Bestandteilen einer jungen Partei nachgehen kann. Im Vordergrund steht dabei die Frage, inwieweit ein Mixed-Methods-Ansatz dabei helfen kann, die schwierige Datenlage bei neuen Parteien zu überbrücken. Am Beispiel der frühen AfD wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob die Partei als rechtspopulistisch kategorisiert werden kann.

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Titel

The Man That Wasn’t There: Exploring the Subcutaneous Manifestations of Party-Based Radical Right Populism  

Abstract

This case study introduces a mixed-method, explorative research project on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the first 2 years of its existence (2013–2014). As the debate on the early Alternative for Germany has shown, the ideological features of a new party might be inconclusive depending on the data at hand. The extended focus is therefore on the study of ideologically ambiguous new parties, and it is argued that these can be encountered by case-oriented, explorative approaches. Thus, in the early stages of its existence, the party is viewed in its entirety, examined in its political context, and evaluated by qualitative and quantitative data. The authors consider this approach as especially useful in the case of new and young parties that often lack sophisticated party platforms/manifestos. Researchers therefore often must rely on other sources. The case study presents the approach, the data basis and the structure of the research project and concludes with an evaluation of the chosen methods. It also discusses the theoretical and conceptual as well as the practical research problems that arise from studying new parties.

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Link:

http://methods.sagepub.com/case/exploring-subcutaneous-manifestations-of-party-based-radical-right-populism