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On Think Tanks was founded in mid 2010. It has evolved from a blog into a global platform dedicated to study and support policy research and policy research centres, or think tanks. The members of the On Think Tanks Team and its Advisory Board are spread out across 6 continents!

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Methods for researching think tanks

These articles present the reports of a series of international webinars that aimed to bring together academics studying think tanks and practitioners in the world of think tanks (as well as in politics, economics, the media, business and others) with the purpose of learning about, comparing approaches and sharing insights into the advantages and shortcomings of different ways of understanding and researching these organisations. The webinars involved presentations on qualitative research methods, social network analysis, and the use of surveys.
  1. 1

    Researching a murky subject: definitions, questions, and methods

    On Think Tanks has launched an online conference on studying think tanks. This post reports on the pre-launch event in London in August 2015. It serves as a discussion article to inform the series of webinars and deals with the definition of think tanks, the questions that need to be asked about them, and the methods that could be used. Read full article
  2. 2

    #TTmethods – Session 1: Case studies, qualitative methods and diachronic perspectives

    This session explores an approach to study think-tanks that relies on an array of qualitative methods – including interviews, ethnography, document analysis – to understand these organisations from a closer perspective. Read full article
  3. 3

    Conference on Methodologies for Researching Think tanks: Case Studies

    In advance of the first International Online Conference: Insights into Think Tanks (August – October 2015), Marcos Gonzalez Hernando, shares a Methodology Brief on Case studies, Qualitative Methods and Diachronic Perspectives. Read full article
  4. 4

    #TTmethods – Session 2: Researching think-tanks with social network analysis

    This session will look at how social network analysis (SNA) can be applied to the political world and to public policy research. Read full article
  5. 5

    Conference on Methodologies for Researching Think tanks: Social Network Analysis

    In advance of the first International Online Conference: Insights into Think Tanks (August – October 2015), Jordan Soukias Tchilingirian, shares a Methodology Brief on Social Network Analysis Read full article
  6. 6

    #TTmethods – Session 3: Quantitative Survey Analysis

    This session explores an approach to study think-tanks that relies on quantitative methods –namely survey analysis– to understand these organisations in a manner that may allow for generalisations. Read full article

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