‘Mind the Gap’: Assessing Differences between Brazilian and Mainstream IR Journals in Methodological Approaches

Thales Carvalho

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil; thalesleo1@gmail.com. ORCiD 0000-0003-4410-1367.

João Paulo Nicolini Gabriel

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil; joao_paulo_apd@hotmail.com. ORCiD 0000-0002-4239-3522.

Dawisson Belém Lopes

Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte – MG, Brazil; dawisson@ufmg.br. ORCiD 0000-0002-1949-1001.

Thales Carvalho is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), and visiting graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, at the Department of Political Science. He earned a master’s degree in Political Science from UFMG and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC-MG). He is also a member of the International Institutions, Foreign Policy, and Political Regimes Research Network (RIPPERP). His research focuses on international security and defense policies in Latin America, especially on identifying how domestic and international variables interact to produce these policies. His research interests also include foreign policy, quantitative methods, scientometrics, and policy diffusion. His curriculum vitae can be found at https://tlcarvalho.netlify.app/media/cv.html. His Twitter handle is @thaleslcarvalho.

João Paulo Nicolini Gabriel is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and, simultaneously, at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium), due to a co-tutorship agreement signed in 2021. His Ph.D. dissertation addresses macro-structural causes that drove emerging powers not to adhere to multilateral non-proliferation mechanisms during the Cold War. He earned a master’s degree in International Relations from the San Tiago Dantas Postgraduate Program in International Relations (São Paulo State University - UNESP/University of Campinas - UNICAMP/Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo - PUC-SP). His research expertise is in IR theory, Indo-Pacific studies, qualitative methods, ethnic interest groups, Indian foreign policy, and comparative politics. His curriculum vitae can be found at lattes.cnpq.br/9356537757576148. His Twitter handle is @jpnicogabriel.

Dawisson Belém Lopes is a Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and a research fellow of the National Council for Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq) in Brazil. He is currently the Deputy Dean for International Affairs at UFMG and has authored/edited ten books and dozens of peer-reviewed articles on topics related to Latin American politics, Brazilian foreign policy, and international institutions. Professor Lopes has previously served as visiting researcher at Germany’s GIGA Hamburg, visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain in Mons, Belgium, Raisina Young Fellow at India’s Observer Research Foundation, and US Department of State ‘SUSI Scholar’ on Foreign Policy. His curriculum vitae can be found at http://lattes.cnpq.br/2002314936671237. His Twitter handle is @dbelemlopes.

RBPI	Frequency	Contexto Internacional	Frequency	InternationalOrganization	Frequency	World Politics	Frequency
Brazil	0.244361	international	0.229508	international	0.243137	political	0.105263
international	0.180451	politics	0.122951	trade	0.098039	international	0.078947
Brazilian	0.112782	foreign	0.118852	war	0.090196	electoral	0.073684
relations	0.109023	security	0.118852	politics	0.078431	politics	0.073684
global	0.105263	Brazil	0.106557	conflict	0.070588	evidence	0.068421
foreign	0.105263	America	0.090164	aid	0.062745	party	0.063158
policy	0.090226	policy	0.090164	global	0.062745	policy	0.063158
politics	0.086466	south	0.081967	domestic	0.047059	states	0.057895
south	0.078947	regional	0.07377	foreign	0.047059	war	0.057895
governance	0.075188	Latin	0.065574	institutions	0.043137	democracy	0.057895
America	0.075188	relations	0.061475	political	0.043137	social	0.052632
Latin	0.067669	war	0.057377	organizations	0.043137	new	0.052632
union	0.067669	European	0.057377	investment	0.039216	economy	0.047368
climate	0.06391	Brazilian	0.053279	civil	0.039216	development	0.047368
cooperation	0.056391	global	0.053279	power	0.039216	Europe	0.047368
European	0.056391	cooperation	0.04918	evidence	0.039216	change	0.042105
analysis	0.056391	BRICS	0.04918	diffusion	0.039216	institutions	0.042105
Lula	0.056391	power	0.040984	world	0.039216	violence	0.042105
defense	0.052632	integration	0.040984	policy	0.039216	conflict	0.042105
American	0.048872	union	0.040984	economic	0.035294	welfare	0.042105

TYPE OF METHODOLOGY	CRITERIA	EXAMPLES
Qualitative	Articles that mentioned methods that require small-n (a small number of observations) designs to be employed. These methods relate to analyses that dig deeper into cases, focusing on their specificities, in order to provide detailed information about facts and mechanisms.	Case Studies, Comparative Analyses, Historical Analysis, Process-Tracing, Discourse Analysis, Ethnography.Qualitative Comparative Analysis was included in this category, since it is mostly related to qualitative codification and analysis of cases.Content analysis was included in this category because, despite it sometimes relate to a high number of documents, we noted it often relates to a small number of cases.
Quantitative	Articles that mentioned methods that require large-n (a large number of observations) designs to be employed. These methods relate to analyses that often quantify information and try to establish patterns to be applied to a sample and, eventually, a population, using statistical techniques.	Regressions (logistic, ordinary least squares, etc.), Cox Proportional Hazards, Matching, Panel Data Analysis, Difference-of-means, Correlation Tests (Pearson, Spearman, etc.), Factor Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, ANOVA.
Multi-methods	Articles that mentioned methods included in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Brasil