Research Methods and Data Collection

Abstract

This chapter identifies firstly the main research tasks that need to be carried out in order to advance a suitably scientific, evidence-based interpretation of the apparent changes in statecraft and authority structures in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and--as per the framework--to test robustly the hypothesis that MBS and MBZ have effectively supplanted the ‘sheikhly rule’ of their predecessors with something more autocratic and possibly even sultanistic. Secondly, it considers the numerous methodological challenges involved in navigating the ‘fields of power’ in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, including the opacity of official data and the numerous difficulties involved in relying on academic research, media outputs, and non-governmental organization sources. Finally, it discusses the possible means of circumventing some of these obstacles, and suggests that certain primary data gathering opportunities are nonetheless plausible (including interviews and surveys), subject to certain ‘workarounds’.