Abstract
Methodologies and methods represent one of the fundamental and persistent topics of scientific debates, especially in western political science. While Czech political science strives for deeper international integration, such an effort may be limited (among others) by insufficient methodological training of its scholars.
Acknowledging such a concern, the article compares level of methodological education at elite western universities and selected Czech universities. Data show that Czech political science programs (if compared to their western counterparts) offer (i) less methodological courses in general (ii) especially in the realm of quantitative methodologies and (iii) above all, they do not provide training in advanced (qualitative as well as quantitative) methods at all.
The long term effect include limited ability to use productively works using more sophisticated methods, which may in turn negatively affect chances at publishing research at some of the prestigious international outlets. Under these adverse conditions researchers may unwittingly eschew research questions whose solution presumes employment of an advanced method.
Considering however, on the one hand deep rooted and self-reproducing historical embeddedness of the Czech way of methodological education, and financial weakness of Czech universities on the other, one apprehends that there will not be a significant improvement in the middle-term horizon.