Replication Data for: Assessing the Renaissance of Individuals in International Relations

The study of microfoundations, especially individuals, is enjoying something of a renaissance in international relations (IR) scholarship. Yet, this rise is harder to find in publication data. Using the Teaching, Research, and International Policy (TRIP) journal article database, we show that only 13.7% of IR articles in twelve leading journals employ the first image; this proportion remains roughly the same from 1980 through 2018. Interrogating the data, we show that this distribution does not stem from epistemological or methodological commitments, such as positivism, quantitative analysis, or formal modeling. We suggest several reasons for this apparent disjuncture between qualitative assessments of the rebirth of first image theorizing and the quantitative data which implies a slower, or perhaps more limited, return.

国际关系（International Relations，简称IR）研究领域中，以个体为核心的微观基础研究正迎来一轮复兴热潮。然而这一趋势在学术发表数据中却难觅踪迹。本研究借助教学、研究与国际政策（Teaching, Research, and International Policy，简称TRIP）期刊论文数据库展开分析，结果显示，在12份顶尖国际关系期刊中，仅13.7%的论文采用第一意象（first image）分析视角；且1980年至2018年间，该占比始终维持在相近水平。通过对数据的深入剖析，本研究证实，该分布特征并非源于认识论或方法论取向的局限，例如实证主义、定量分析或形式建模等研究范式。针对学界对第一意象理论研究复兴的定性评估，与定量数据所揭示的“该研究复兴进程更为缓慢、抑或是影响范围更为有限”之间的明显脱节，本研究提出了若干潜在解释。