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Member rate £527.50
Non-Member rate £1055.00
Save £45 Loyalty discount applied automatically*
Save 5% on each additional course booked
* If you attended our Methods School during the calendar years 2024 or 2025, you qualify for £45 off your course fee.
Date: Thursday 21 – Friday 22 August and Tuesday 26 – Thursday 28 August 2025
Location: Online and Leontos Sofou Building, CITY College
Time: 08:45 – 12:15 EEST
This course offers an in-depth exploration of mixed methods research in the dynamic field of political marketing, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches.
You'll gain the skills you need to analyse political behavior, voter preferences, and campaign strategies comprehensively. The course covers how to design, implement, and integrate diverse data collection and analysis techniques – ranging from in-depth interviews and focus groups to surveys and statistical modeling. With a core focus on the practical application of methods, you will be able to translate complex data into actionable insights.
This course will provide you with a strong foundation in mixed-methods research for political marketing. You will explore key concepts such as branding, voter segmentation, and targeting while learning to combine qualitative and quantitative methods. You will design effective research frameworks, and apply tools like interviews, focus groups, surveys, and conjoint analysis.
Using real-world case studies and hands-on exercises, you'll develop practical skills in analysing voter behavior and evaluating political campaigns. This will deepen your understanding and foster critical skills in research design, data integration, and results presentation.
You will complete the course with knowledge and techniques to conduct impactful political marketing research.
3 ECTS credits awarded for engaging fully in class activities.
1 additional ECTS credit awarded for completing a post-course assignment.
Vasiliki Bouranta is a Political Scientist with expertise in political systems, digital governance, and political participation. She holds a PhD in Political Science and is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in EU-funded projects on Artificial Intelligence in governance and active civic and democratic engagement.
Vasiliki teaches as an adjunct lecturer at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Open University and the Open University of Cyprus, specializing in qualitative and quantitative research methods, political marketing, digital public administration, and applied policy analysis. Her research and teaching focus on democratic innovation, e-governance, and data-driven decision-making.
This course explores the logic and application of mixed methods research in the field of political marketing – a dynamic interdisciplinary domain that examines how marketing principles, tools, and strategies are used to influence political behavior, shape public opinion, and design effective campaigns. Political marketing goes beyond electoral communication; it includes strategic branding of candidates, segmentation and targeting of voters, message framing, media strategy, and the construction of long-term political relationships with the public.
In this context, the course focuses not only on methodological tools and techniques, but also on the conceptual and analytical decisions that shape every stage of the research process – from study design to data collection, analysis, and reporting. You will learn how to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches to capture the complexity of political communication and voter behavior in contemporary democratic systems.
This course introduces you to the core principles of political marketing and the logic behind mixed-methods research, exploring how different research traditions can be integrated to answer complex political questions. You will not only examine the tools and techniques used in political research but also engage deeply with the epistemological and methodological decisions that shape the entire research process–from design to execution.
You will explore the fundamentals of political marketing, including key concepts such as branding, segmentation, and voter targeting. You will also examine how qualitative and quantitative approaches can be brought together, assessing the strengths and limitations of mixed methods and learning how to design a mixed-methods study in a political context.
With a focus on qualitative methods, you will learn how to conduct interviews and focus groups, analyse political discourse and messaging, and engage with case studies and ethnographic material.
You will turn your attention to quantitative methods, including survey design, experimental techniques, and the application of statistical tools like conjoint analysis to understand voter preferences and campaign effectiveness. You will consider how deductive logic and statistical inference function within political marketing research.
With guidance, you will bridge both traditions by exploring how to integrate qualitative and quantitative data, using triangulation, validation strategies, and mixed methods case studies. You will think critically about how to deal with inconsistencies across methods, and how to visualise your findings–whether through quotes, models, matrices, or charts.
You will apply everything you have learned by developing your own mixed methods research plan. In a collaborative setting, you will receive feedback on your design, troubleshoot methodological challenges, and consider emerging trends in the field – ranging from digital campaigning to the ethical dimensions of political data analysis.
Throughout the course you will work with your own research ideas and data, engage in hands-on activities, and reflect on foundational questions such as:
This course is not only about methods, but also about developing a critical and reflexive mindset as a political researcher.
You will be expected to attend two online sessions on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 August, for around six hours in total. The in-person classroom sessions will take place on Tuesday 26 - Thursday 28 August at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, for three hours each day. You must attend all sessions to complete the course.
This is an introductory course and does not require any prior knowledge of political marketing, research methods, or specific software.