Established in 2019, the Department of Policy Research Methodology operates as an independent organizational unit within the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies. It brings together scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds united by a shared interest in research methodology within the social sciences. The Department’s members engage in research, teaching, and public outreach, while also serving in key positions within the Faculty and University governance structures. They are active participants in international academic institutions and research networks.

The Department is distinguished not only by its interdisciplinary profile, but also by the plurality of scientific paradigms represented among its members, including neo-positivism, interpretivism, and the critical paradigm. Consequently, research conducted within the Department draws on a broad spectrum of theoretical and methodological approaches—ranging from comparative and institutional analysis to systems approaches—and employs diverse methods of empirical inquiry.

Research Methods and Approaches

Empirical research conducted within the Department employs a broad spectrum of data collection and analysis methods, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as non-empirical forms of inquiry, reflecting the Department’s commitment to methodological diversity and rigor.

Quantitative methods include, for example, (quasi-)experimental designs, survey-based data collection techniques, analyses using linear and non-linear regression models, the construction of social indicators, and institutional grammar.

Qualitative methods include, for example, in-depth and semi-structured interviews, and focus group interviews; cognitive method; inductive, deductive, and abductive coding; as well as various approaches to qualitative data analysis, such as content analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, and critical discourse analysis (CDA), qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Research conducted within the Department also applies process tracing methods and discourse analysis (particularly in the Foucauldian or Bacchi tradition).

In addition, the Department’s scholars also draw on non-empirical scientific approaches, including conceptual and normative analysis, formal theory, theoretical simulations, and methodological critique.

Thematic Research Areas

Research conducted within the Department covers a wide range of topics reflecting the diversity of disciplines represented by its members. These include:

• Public policy, cultural policy, social policy, and specific policy domains such as ageing, housing, migration, and work–family reconciliation. Research focuses on policy-making processes, multilevel governance, policy reforms, and the societal impacts of policy measures. Other research areas include emotions in social and public policy, welfare regimes, social citizenship, deservingness, public policy in relation to artificial intelligence, and common knowledge and cultural resources.
• Social problems, cultural and civilizational challenges, social cohesion, and inequalities, as well as the political, social, and cultural dimensions of demographic processes such as population ageing, fertility, and migration.
• International relations, including the cultural dimension of international cooperation, institutional diffusion, and international cultural heritage regimes, particularly within UNESCO.
• The European Union: integration, solidarity, and diversity, as well as decision-making practices and the legitimacy of authority at the supranational level.
• Political polarization and populism, their causes and effects, social chauvinism, and the notion of deservingness in social policy.

Research Projects

The Department’s members conduct numerous national and international research projects funded by prestigious institutions. Selected ongoing projects include:

2025-2028 The European Social Survey Round 13, Rotating module: Welfare Attitudes in Europe: Social Security in Insecure Times, ESS, QDT member:  Maria Theiss

2023–2027 Przestrzenie i miejsca dostarczania usług społecznych: znaczenie polityczne z perspektywy teorii sprzężenia zwrotnego,  Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Maria Theiss

2022–2026 Populiści z państw półperyferyjnych jako decydenci w stosunkach międzynarodowych: struktury ideacyjne i praktyki,  Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Anna Wojciuk

2022–2027 Znaczenia, napięcia i konsekwencje praktyki konsensusu w Radzie Unii Europejskiej, Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Kamil Ławniczak

2023–2025 Dlaczego w niektórych miastach wydatki na programy zdrowia publicznego są hojne? Analiza porównawcza polskich miast metodą fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Wojciech Gędek

2021–2026 Fathers’ freedom of choice (not) to use parental leave (CHOICE),  Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Anna Kurowska

2021–2026 Short and long-term effects of the COVID-19 outbreak policy responses on partners’ division of paid and unpaid work and their labour market outcomes (FAMILYDEMIC),  Funding: National Science Centre (NCN), Principal Investigator: Anna Kurowska

2020–2025 Między dziedzictwem świata i ludzkości: badanie międzynarodowych reżimów dziedzictwa przez pryzmat analizy instytucjonalnej Elinor Ostrom, Funding: National Science Centre (NCN),  Principal Investigator: Hanna Schreiber

2024–2026 QUALREP: Quality of Women’s Representation
 Funding: European Research Council Synergy Grant / UK Research and Innovation, Project Leader: King’s College London, Principal Investigator at the Faculty: Wojciech Gagatek, Researcher: Aleksandra Polak

2020 – 2024 EnTrust – Enlightened trust: An examination of trust and distrust in governance – conditions, effects and remedies (Horizon 2020, Leader: Siegen University), Polish PI – Maria Theiss

Selected Methodological Courses in English at the BA, MA, and PhD levels)

• Introduction to Political Research (Undergraduate Programme in Political Science)
• Research Design (Undergraduate Programme in Political Science)
• Qualitative Methods and Mixed Methods (Graduate Programme in Political Science)
• Foundations of Quantitative Political Analysis (Undergraduate Programme in Political Science)
• Quantitative Research Methods (Social and Public Policy)
• Qualitative Research Methods (Doctoral School of Social Sciences)
• Qualitative Methods in Political Science and Administration (Doctoral School of Social Sciences)

Knowledge Dissemination and Cooperation with the Socio-Economic Environment

Members of the Department actively engage in disseminating research findings and cooperating with public institutions, museums, and non-governmental organizations, contributing their expertise to the development of evidence-based public policies and the promotion of social knowledge. Examples of such engagement include participation in expert bodies and advisory councils, as well as collaboration with cultural and research institutions. Key examples include: Expert Commission on Older Persons at the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights; Government Population Council; Senior Policy Council; Team Europe Direct – expert network at the Representation of the European Commission in Poland; Museum of Warsaw; Museum of Krakow; Museum of King Jan III’s Palace at Wilanów; History Meeting House (Dom Spotkań z Historią); City of Warsaw; Association of Folk Artists (Stowarzyszenie Twórców Ludowych); Expert Group on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Warsaw; Expert Group on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Krakow; Karol Estreicher International Training and Research Centre for Cultural Heritage in Danger, Wrocław

Examples of International Cooperation beyond Grant Projects

The Department maintains active collaboration with numerous international organizations and research networks, extending its scholarly engagement beyond formal grant-based projects. These partnerships foster cross-national exchange of knowledge, joint research initiatives, and international visibility of the Department’s work. Key examples include: UNESCO; Intangible Cultural Heritage NGO Forum; European Network for Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet); International Network on Leave Policies & Research; Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis (Ostrom Workshop, Indiana University)

Selected publications:

Gagatek, W. (2025). Politicizing Europe: Challenges to domestic political competition. In S. Grzybowska-Walecka, S. Guerra, & F. Casal Bértoa (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Polish Politics. Oxford University Press.

Gagatek, W., & Płatek, D. (2025). The salience of differentiated integration in party manifestos across the European Union. Athenaeum, 88(4), 164–183.

Gagatek, W. (2024). Party organizational development in Poland (2001–2021): The cases of Law and Justice (PiS) and Civic Platform (PO). In T. Poguntke & W. Hofmeister (Eds.), Political Parties and the Crisis of Democracy: Organization, Resilience and Reform (pp. 240–260). Oxford University Press.

Kurowska, A., Kasperska, A., & Kaufman, G. (2025). When working from home fails to support work–life balance: The role of childcare- and work-related demands. Journal of Family Issues. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X251356260

Kurowska, A., Cukrowska-Torzewska, E., Kasegn, T. D., & Rokicki, B. (2025). Life and work–life balance satisfaction among parents working from home. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 20, 1315–1338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-025-10467-5

Joecks, J., Kurowska, A., Pull, K., & Schober, P. (2024). Multidimensional gender ideologies: How do they relate to work-family arrangements of mothers with dependent children in Poland and Western Germany? International Journal of Comparative Sociology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00207152241293463

Matysiak, A., Kurowska, A., & Pavelea, A. M. (2024). His unemployment, her response, and the moderating role of welfare policies in European countries: Results from a preregistered study. PLOS ONE, 19(8), e0306964. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306964

Heydari Barardehi, I., & Kurowska, A. (2024). Were parents synchronizing their home-based working arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic? Social Indicators Research, 173, 569–588. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-024-03360-5

Osiewalska, B., Matysiak, A., & Kurowska, A. (2024). Home-based work and childbearing. Population Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2023.2287510

Allen, T., Beham, B., Ollier-Malaterre, A., Baierl, A., Alexandrova, M., Beauregard, A., Carvalho, V. S., Chambel, M. J., Cho, E., Coden da Silva, B., Dawkins, S., Escribano, P., Gudeta, K. H., Huang, T., Jaga, A., Kost, D., Kurowska, A., Leon, E., Lewis, S., & Waismel-Manor, R. (2024). Boundary management preferences from a gender and cross-cultural perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 148, 103943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2023.103943

Walentek, D., Letki, N., Dinesen, P. T., & Liebe, U. (2025). Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees. European Union Politics. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/14651165251365550

Letki, N., Walentek, D., Dinesen, P. T., & Liebe, U. (2025). Has the war in Ukraine changed Europeans’ preferences on refugee policy? Evidence from a panel experiment in Germany, Hungary and Poland. Journal of European Public Policy, 32(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2024.2304610

Letki, N., Walentek, D., Dinesen, P. T., & Liebe, U. (2024). Not the mode of allocation but refugees’ right to work drives European citizens’ preferences on refugee policy. West European Politics, 47(4), 867–892. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2023.2214878

Ławniczak, K. (2025). Review of the book Europe’s Coming of Age, by Loukas Tsoukalis (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2022, ISBN 9781509554553). JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, 63(1).

Ławniczak, K. (2024). Dichotomies of supranational socialisation and their relevance for empirical research – the case of Council officials. Online Journal Modelling the New Europe, 44.

Downing, P., Heidrich, D., & Nakonieczna-Bartosiewicz, J. (2025). Transnational advocacy network at the Poland–Belarus border: The humanitarian crisis and the diluted boomerang pattern. Colloquium, 1(57). https://doi.org/10.34813/16coll2025

Nakonieczna-Bartosiewicz, J., & Heidrich, D. (2023). How do states challenge international regimes? The case study of Poland and the international refugee regime. Problemy Polityki Społecznej. Social Policy Issues, 63(4), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.31971/pps/176256

Giziński, S., Kaczyńska, P., Ruczyński, H., Wiśnios, E., Pieliński, B., Biecek, P., & Sienkiewicz, J. (2024). Big Tech influence over AI research revisited: Memetic analysis of attribution of ideas to affiliation. Journal of Informetrics, 18(4), 101572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2024.101572

Polak, A., & Lewandowski, M. (2025). Institutions or ideology? Cross-party and cross-country analysis of factors contributing to the election of women to the European Parliament. European Political Science Review, 17(2), 338–357. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773924000286

Sidło, K., Polak, A., & Aleszko-Lessels, O. (2024). Preparing for the enlargement from a territorial perspective: Governance, policies and investments to ensure the role and means of LRAs in an enlarged EU. Publications Office of the European Union. ISBN 978-92-895-3645-5. https://doi.org/10.2863/4968861

Schreiber, H. (2025). Twenty years of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage: Experiences from the implementation of the Convention in Poland (2011–2023). In C. Wulf (Ed.), Handbook on Intangible Cultural Practices as Global Strategies for the Future (pp. 223–238). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72123-6_13

Schreiber, H. Pillage/spoilation; Archives; Conservation (obligation de) and Schreiber, H., & Jakubowski, A. Patrimoine culturel (et naturel) – dictionary entries. In M. Cornu, J. Fromageau, & C. Wallaert (Eds.), Dictionnaire comparé du droit du patrimoine culturel (New revised and expanded edition). CNRS Éditions, 2025.

Schreiber, H., & Urbinati, S. (2024). International cultural heritage law and other international legal regimes. In L. Lixinski & L. Morisset (Eds.), Routledge Handbook on Heritage and Law (pp. 61–81). Routledge.

Theiss, M., & Szelewa, D. (2025). Institutional Sources of Citizens’ Trust in the Welfare State: A Literature Review. Social Policy and Society, 1-19.

Theiss, M., Štěpánková L., Šerek, J. (2025) Welfare Users’ Perceptions of Distributive Justice and Trust When Facing Institutional Enigma. Social Policy and Society, online first

Theiss, M., Menshenina, A. (2024). Narrating Solidarity With Ukraine: European Parliament Debates on Energy Policy. Social Inclusion, 12.

Wojciuk, A., Górecki, M. A., & Kowalski, B. (2025). How can you help us, Mr Darwin? Social Darwinism in the history of Chinese international thought. Review of International Studies, 51(2), 237–255. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210524000585

Kisilowski, M., & Wojciuk, A. (Eds.). (2025). Let’s agree on Poland. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198979562.001.0001

Zubrzycka-Czarnecka, A. (2025). Constructing empathy in housing discourse. Critical Housing Analysis, 12(1), 25–36.

Zubrzycka-Czarnecka, A. (2025). Policy and polarisation: Empathy as a mitigating factor. Polityka Społeczna, 9, 18–23.

Zubrzycka-Czarnecka, A. (2024). “Maintain your hope and know that you are loved.” Mr. Anthony Albanese’s discursive construction of collective emotional resilience. Qualitative Sociology Review, 20(3), 60–79.

Zubrzycka-Czarnecka, A. (2024). The housing ‘problem’ representations in Polish housing policy discourse from 2016 to 2023. Studia z Polityki Publicznej, 11(1), 51–65.

Zubrzycka-Czarnecka, A. (2024). Empathetic leadership in times of ‘war’ as represented by President Emmanuel Macron. Studia Politologiczne, 73, 312–326.