Please note: This course will be taught online only. In person study is not available for this course.
Juan Masullo is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan and an Associate Researcher at the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University. He also serves as co-editor of Qualitative & Multi-Method Research, the biannual publication of the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section.
Juan’s research integrates diverse methods and forms of evidence—observational and experimental—often grounded in immersive fieldwork. He has conducted extensive research in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, and Italy, exploring how individuals and communities make decisions amid violence and how their lived experiences shape their political views and preferences toward peace, security, and democracy.
Methodologically, Juan is passionate about qualitative and mixed-methods research. He has years of experience conducting, teaching, and writing about fieldwork, interviewing, case study research, process tracing, and mixed-methods research. His article on aligning interviewing and process tracing, published in Sociological Methods & Research, received the 2025 APSA Alexander George Best Article Award, while his mixed-methods paper on the historical legacies of World War II partisan resistance in Italy, published in Comparative Political Studies, won the 2025 NEPS Medal for Best Publication in Peace Science. He regularly offers PhD-level methods training across Europe—in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom Italy—helping early-career researchers sharpen their methodological craft and connect it to meaningful empirical work.
Before joining the University of Milan and Leiden University, Juan taught and conducted research at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) and Nuffield College, at the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Science (BIGSSS), and at Yale University’s Program on Order, Conflict, and Violence (OCV). He earned his Ph.D. from the European University Institute. You can learn more about his research, including publications and current projects, here: www.juanmasullo.com
Course Description
This course delves into the essentials of qualitative research methods. It blends a theoretical and practical orientation with a twofold goal: help participants (a) become thoughtful and critical consumers of social science research that relies on qualitative methods, and (b) begin designing and implementing—depending on where they are in their own research journeys—solid projects that use qualitative approaches, on their own or in combination with quantitative ones.
The course is organized into three interconnected parts:
Part I discusses the kinds of questions qualitative methods are best suited to answer, the logic of inference that underpins qualitative inquiry, and the most common within-case (e.g., process tracing) and cross-case (e.g., controlled comparison) research designs in contemporary social science.
Part II turns to the craft of data collection. We will explore well-established techniques—such as participant observation, interviews, and focus groups—as well as less conventional ones, including memory workshops and community mapping.
Part III addresses how to assess the quality and evidentiary strength of qualitative data. It also introduces key coding strategies and provides a hands-on overview of widely used tools (software) for data organization and analysis.
The course concludes with a short overview of mixed-methods designs, illustrating how qualitative within- and cross-case approaches can be effectively combined with quantitative analysis.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants should be able to:
- Recognize and distinguish the most common qualitative research designs and techniques in the social sciences.
- Understand and critically assess methodological choices in published qualitative research.
- Identify the advantages and limits of different qualitative research designs and data types.
- Make sound and defensible design choices for their own qualitative (or mixed-methods) projects, aligning research questions, evidence, and methods in a coherent way.
Method of Instruction
The class combines interactive lectures and group discussions.
Lectures will introduce the session topics, drawing on both the existing literature and the instructor’s hands-on experience in the field. Group discussions will revolve around “dissecting research design” exercises—close readings of exemplary studies using the methods covered—as well as conversations grounded in participants’ own projects.
The course consists of 35 hours, distributed over 10 sessions, and will be held online. After each session, the instructor will remain in the virtual classroom for informal discussion. Dedicated time will also be set aside during class to talk through participants’ research designs and fieldwork plans.
Requirements
To make the most of the course, participants are expected to:
- Complete all mandatory readings before each session.
- Attend all sessions and take an active part in discussions.
- Complete a few short written exercises before and during the course.
