‘Global’ IR and Self-Reflections in Turkey: Methodology, Data Collection, and Data Repository

Abstract

This article covers the disciplinary debates on 'global' IR and the self-reflections of IR scholars about the state of the discipline in Turkey. It argues that high quality methodological training can contribute to overcoming the dissatisfaction felt by scholars of IR in Turkey. It suggests that inclusion of IR knowledge produced in the non-core into the 'Global' pool can be achieved through local 'revolutions', and that the potential for progress in this direction lies in methodological improvement and data-collection projects. The article offers three exemplary data projects to crystalize the argument: the Social Sciences Data Repository, the Global Security Database (GloSec) and the Global Risk Assessment Dataset (GRAD). These projects aim to: disseminate data-based research and encourage data sharing among scholars in Turkey, train prospective IR scholars to produce research based on clear, replicable, and rigorous methodology in Turkey, encourage graduate students in Turkish universities to have a global scholarly outreach and talk to the global scholarly community, and contribute to IR scholarship with these local pedagogical and academic experiences. Two separate groups of researchers composed of graduate students from various universities across Turkey are trained in the ways of research design, the fundamentals of data collection, and writing research papers based on rigorous methodological design, data, and replicable findings. Thus, the paper not only discusses the diagnoses in the literature regarding the shortcomings of the International Relations discipline in Turkey, but also offers concrete directions for a potential treatment.

Applied linguistics and language education research in Turkey: 2016–2022

“…While progress has been made in relation to the above-mentioned areas of research, the same methodological concerns persist among the studies we reviewed between 2016–2022 – an issue that is by no means unique to the field of applied linguistics in Turkey (Aydınlı, 2022; Sula, 2022; Tetik, 2022). For instance, two of the concerns we raised in our previous review were the lack of genuine mixed-method research and lack of a genuine gap statement/discussion (Aydınlı & Ortaçtepe, 2018).…”

Teaching Methodological Approaches on the Study of International Relations: Case of Türki̇ye

“…As Sula (2022) said, what IR needs in Türkiye is not just more quantitative methods, but rather more method and methodological knowledge in general. In this context, a course syllabus proposal can be presented to IR graduate students within the framework of the stages given in Figure 1.…”

“…Likewise, the book compiled by Aydınlı (2021: 11-20) mentions the inadequacy of methodology courses in IR education. Sula (2022) on the other hand, addressed the methodological deficiencies in the studies of Turkish academics and argued that the methodology should be taught well for international relations research to be of higher quality. This study, on the other hand, focuses on the course contents of scientific research methods in IR graduate programs; it aims at putting forward the distribution of the subjects covered in scientific research method courses in IR programs, to understand the case in Türkiye and to discuss it in depth.…”

From Realist Billiard Balls and Liberal Concentric Circles to Global IR’s Venn Diagram? Rethinking International Relations via Turkey’s Centennial

“…And they have done so despite persistent obstacles to securing the uptake of "homegrown theorizing" 71 within a discipline that, as Tolay maps, entails multiple modalities of reproducing Eurocentrism. 72 This claim has been empirically nuanced in recent studies by Aydınlı and Erpul; 73 Bakir and Ersoy 74 and Sula 75…”