EMW: Overview

The Emerging Methodologists Workshop (EMW) intends to broaden and enrich the field of qualitative methodology. Each year, it selects six advanced political science graduate students and junior faculty and pairs them with “methods mentors,” bringing them together to present their methodological contributions during the Weekend Workshops that take place in tandem with the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (IQMR) at Syracuse University in June. Through this event and others, the EMW fosters the networks critical to extending and enhancing the community of scholars who develop qualitative methods and techniques for multi-method research.

While the community of scholars who engage in qualitative and multi-method explanatory research is large, the group of scholars who develop, write about, and teach these methods is relatively small. This deficit results, in part, from a “pipeline problem” in which junior scholars are not encouraged or actively mentored to become qualitative methodologists. The EMW intends to contribute to building this pipeline by identifying promising work and welcoming new scholars into the sub-field.

We aim to build a network of support and mentorship to encourage junior scholars to develop, write, and teach about qualitative research methods and approaches to combining the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Early-career scholars who are selected to present papers at the workshop receive access to:

1. Intensive Mentorship — Selected participants are paired with senior faculty members who review and assist in the development of their scholarship toward peer-reviewed publication before, during, and after the workshop.

2. Weekend Workshops — Selected participants share their scholarship and receive feedback and support from their peers, their mentor, and other senior faculty members.

3. Virtual Workshop — Selected participants connect across cohorts to share methodological works in progress.

4. Ongoing Networking Opportunities — Selected participants are integrated into the APSA Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (QMMR) section and introduced to new networks of qualitative methods scholars.

The EMW was funded through 2025 by the National Science Foundation, and supported by the APSA Qualitative and Multi-Method Research section; it also receives multiple types of support from IQMR / CQMI.

The EMW takes place on Sunday, June 21, 2026 at Syracuse University.

For questions about the EMW, contact the organizers at emw.qmer@gmail.com.