Overall is our research strongly empirically driven. We believe that only on the basis of empirical data new conceptual insights can be won. While our research is therefore descriptive in nature, we are generating empirical data not as an end in itself but as a means for developing and testing theoretical concepts.

Much of our current empirical research is interview based and of qualitative nature. However, we have also frequently done and continue to do quantitative research based on large-scale surveys. Another methodological approach we are pursuing at our Department is experimental research. Consequently, we are completely open to different methodological approaches and have no patience for methodological infights. However, irrespective of the method we are employing in a given project, we always strive for methodological rigor which we consider to be of utmost importance and an indispensable condition for high level journal publications.