The café is not a panel or roundtable session where presenters prepare formal presentations on their topics and speak in sequence. Instead, it is an informal setting—“a café” with multiple tables and places to sit—that allows for one-on-one and group discussions, networking and support. Here, cafe “visitors” will find several round tables set up in the café meeting room; each table has a placard which displays the method being discussed at that table (e.g., “Interviewing”) and one or two “specialists” in that research method sitting at that table. The café will also include tables with journal editors and representatives from funding agencies who are familiar with these methods. Topics and the names of the specialists are listed in the conference program, and one or more hosts positioned at the room’s entrance helps people figure out who is sitting where and further explain the process.

“Visitors” to the café are invited to arrive at any point in the time block allotted, visit any table they like, and stay as long as they like. A visitor might approach a table, sit down, and ask the specialist to talk about how they use the method on offer at that table.

Visitors at past cafés have ranged from doctoral students to full professors. The range of questions is equally broad and might include:
● “What is X method?” or
● “I’m in the midst of analyzing my data and I’ve run into [describes a specific problem], how should I handle it?” or
● “One of my committee members/reviewers/etc. doesn’t believe that interpretive methods are valid. How can I respond to this challenge?”

First initiated by Dvora Yanow and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea in 2005, the Methods Cafe has been a successful and well-attended part of APSA for eighteen years.

Robin L. Turner - Chair, Butler University, rlturne1@butler.edu
Biko Koenig - Chair, Franklin & Marshall College, bkoenig@fandm.edu

The Methods Café will be open from 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM (ET) in the Pennsylvania Convention Center (PCC), room 201B. It is open to all APSA attendees.