Ethnographic research - polysci vs. sociology programs

[bibble1998]

I'm hoping to apply to Ph.D. programs in 2-3 years (taking some time off after my undergrad). Broadly I'm interested in studying social movements and political culture, and while I am not opposed to quantitative methods (and do already have some background in them), I really want to attend a doctoral program that is strong in its qualitative methods training, particularly ethnographic research - interviewing, observation, etc. I'm not sure how to approach researching schools, since it feels like the topics I am interested in are more suited for a political science Ph.D., while the method training I am looking for is more robust in a sociology (or anthropology?) program. 

Any advice on how to go about deciding schools to apply to? I can apply to doctoral programs in both disciplines, but I'm curious whether ethnographic methods in political science is on its way out - and if I'm better off looking to sociology programs instead. Any insight is much appreciated!

Edited December 2, 2020 by bibble1998
forgot to add tags

[kineto]

Read the research published by a department's faculty to get a sense of the training you'll have access to. If ethnographic training is important to you then political science probably doesn't make sense if you are in the US. Based on your interests I recommend taking a look at communication in addition to sociology.

[ovejal]

I took a course last year that aligns fairly well with your interests, and the professor was an anthropologist (who conducted ethnographic research) who is actually employed by my school's sociology department. It seems like both of those might be a good fit for what you're looking for, although there are certainly political scientists who are ethnographers and study political culture. I agree with the commenter above that you should look at specific faculty to get a sense of different departments. 

[Clintarius]

There are scholars in political science that produce a lot of research using qualitative work. If your main substantive interest is politics, I would not exclude political science programs, especially if you are interested in also taking quantitative methods courses. I would suggest to look into the work of these scholars (e.g. Lisa Wedeen or Erica Simmons), and also look up the work that they are referencing themselves. This should give you a good idea of the type of qual work done in poli sci. Once you have a list of scholars you can just look at where they work, and even reach out to them to discuss whether they think their institutions, and political science in general, would be a good fit for you.