Political Science 100BFall 2013
Political Science Methods: Research, Design, and Modes of Analysis
Tuesday and Friday, 12:30 – 1:50pm
Professor Jill Greenlee
Email:
Office: 205 Olin-Sang
Office Hours: Thursday from 3:30-5:30pm and by appointment
COURSE OVERVIEW:This goal of this course is to provide you with an introduction to the methods that political scientists use to answer questions about politics. Over the course of the semester, we will explore general claims about particular research methods and explore specific applications of the methods from current political science research. To be more precise, the course begins with a discussion of the primary difficulties involved in making descriptive and causal inferences about politics and moves on to a discussion of the basic concepts and techniques of qualitative research methods before ending with an introduction to quantitative analysis. You should emerge from the course better equipped to undertake your own research and better able to evaluate the work of others.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING: Grades for this course will be determined by a midterm examination (20%), four homework assignments (40%), final project (20%), attendance (10%), and class participation (10%).
The central assignment of this course is a research prospectus. This final project will be a detailed proposal for an original research project, and will build on all the material that we will cover over the course of the semester.The prospectus should serve as a culmination of the homework assignments; this means that the work you do throughout the semester will help you write a strong final project.
The due dates for the assignments are listed in the syllabus. All assignments should be turned in at the beginning of class. Late work will be marked down 1/3rd of a letter grade or every 24 hours it is late. I grant extensions only in well-documented cases of extenuating circumstances.
You should expect to attend class regularly; not only is participation part of the grade for the course, it will also be an integral part of understanding concepts that, at times, can be quite difficult. You are permitted two free absences during the semester; additional absences will be reflected in your grade. (Each additional absence will mean a 1-point deduction in your attendance grade.)
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade for the course. Academic dishonesty is defined as cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, falsifying academic records, and any act designed to avoid participating honestly in the learning process. Scholastic dishonesty also includes, but is not limited to, providing false or misleading information to receive a postponement or extension on a test or assignment, and submission of essentially the same written assignment for two different courses without the prior permission of faculty members.
Please feel free to speak with me at any time about the course requirements and their evaluation. In addition, if you have any special needs, please feel free to speak to me about how we might work together to establish an optimal learning and testing environment for you. You can also learn about resources on campus by contacting the Disabled Students’ Program.
READINGS: All readings can be found on the Latte course website.
DISTRIBUTION CREDIT: This course counts toward the quantitative reasoning (QR) requirement. It is also highly recommended for students who plan to write an honors thesis in the politics department.
Class Schedule and Readings[*]
PART 1: DESIGNING RESEARCH – AN OVERVIEW OF METHODS CONCEPTS
August 30 & September 3:
A Brief Overview of Research Methods in Political Science
Kornell, Nate. “Close that Laptop in Class!” Psychology Today. May 15, 2013
Brooks, David. “One Nation, Slightly Divisible” The Atlantic Monthly.December 2004
Issenberg, Sasha. “Boo Boos in Paradise” Philadelphia Magazine. April 2004
Shively, W. Phillips. The Craft of Political Research, 5th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002, Chapter 1.
Babbie, Earl. ThePractice of Social Research, p. 72-77.
King, Gary, Robert Koehane, and Sidney Verba. (KKV) Designing Social Inquiry, p. 12 – 28 & 34 – 43
Stephen Van Evra. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. p. 7-20.
September 10:
Issues in Measurement
Babbie. The Practice of Social Research, p. 103 - 119.
Shively. The Craft of Political Research, Chapter 4.
Corbett, Michael and Michael K. Le Roy. Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using Microcase, 5th Edition. South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2003, p. 25-31.
September 13 & 20:
More on Issues in Measurement
Variables and Relationships
Corbett and Le Roy. Research Methods in Political Science, p. 63-71.
Shively. The Craft of Political Research, p. 74-78 and p. 94-95.
Lyons, Patrick. “You Gotta Believe.” The New York Times, July 4, 1997.
John Horgan, “Your Analysis is Faulty,” New Republic, April 2, 1990.
Associated Press, “Math Adds up to College, Report Says.”
September 24, 27October1:
Homework #1 Due on September 24 at the beginning of class
More on Variables and Relationships
Formulating and Testing Hypotheses: Design Options
Shively. The Craft of Political Research, Chapter 2.
Babbie. The Practice of Social Research, p. 87 - 93.
Johnson and Joslyn. Political Science Research Methods, p. 45 – 53.
October 4, 8 & 11:
Examples of Various Research Methodologies – Experiments and Quasi-Experiments
Iyengar, Shanto and Donald Kinder. News That Matters: Television and American Opinion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987, p. 6-33.
Milgram, Stanley. “Some Conditions of Obedience and Disobedience to Authority,” Human Relations, 1965: 57-75.
Campbell, Donald and H. Laurence Ross. “The Connecticut Crackdown on Speeding: Time Series Data in Quasi-Experimental Analysis.” The Quantitative Analysis of Social Problems. Reading, MA: Addison Wesley, 1970, p. 33-53.
Erikson, Robert and Laura Stoker. 2011. “Caught in the Draft: The Effects of Vietnam Draft Lottery Status on Political Attitudes. American Political Science Review
October 15, 1822:
Sampling
Babbie. The Practice of Social Research, p. 141 - 149.
Shively. The Craft of Political Research, Chapter 7.
Johnson and Joslyn. Political Science Research Methods, p. 148 – 161.
October 2529:
Examples of Various Research Methodologies – Large and Small N Research
Green, Donald and Ann Elizabeth Gerken. “Self-Interest and Public Opinion Toward Smoking Restrictions and Cigarette Taxes.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 1989, p. 1-16.
Dreze, Jean and Amartya Sen. “China and India.” Hunger in Public Action. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, p. 204-225.
Qualitative Methodologies
Manheim, Jarol B., Richard Rich and Lars Willnat. Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science, 7th Edition. p. 322 - 331.
Stephen Van Evra. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science. p. 49 – 75.
Alexander George. “Case Studies and Theory Development: The Method of Structured, Focused Comparison.”
Juliet Kaarbo, Ryan K. Beasley . “A Practical Guide to the Comparative Case Study Method in Political Psychology” Political Psychology, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Jun., 1999), pp. 369-391.
November 1: Exam
Midterm in class
PART II: COLLECTING DATA
November 5:
Homework #2 Due on November 5 at the beginning of class
Observational Studies
Manheim, Jarol B., Richard Rich and Lars Willnat. Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science, 7th Edition. Chapter 19.
Content Analysis
Babbie. The Practice of Social Research, Chapter 11.
Humphrey, Ronald and Howard Schuman. “The Portrayal of Blacks in Magazine Advertisements: 1950-1982.” Public Opinion Quarterly, 1984, p. 551-563.
November 8 12:
Survey Questions and Focus Groups
Manheim, Jarol B., Richard Rich and Lars Willnat. Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science, 7th Edition.Chapter 8 and Chapter 20.
Open-ended Interviewing
PART III: ANALYZING DATA
November 15:
Homework #3 Due on November 15 at the beginning of class
Frequency Distributions, Charts and Graphs
Manheim, Jarol B., Richard Rich and Lars Willnat. Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science, 7th Edition. Chapter 15.
Johnson, Janet Buttolph, H.T. Reynolds and Richard Joslyn. Political Science Research Methods, 4th edition. Chapter 11.
November 19:
Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion
Manheim, Jarol, Richard Rich, Lars Willnat, and Craig Brians. Empirical Political Analysis, 7th edition. Chapter 16.
The Normal Distribution and Statistical Inference
Corbett, Michael and Michael K. Le Roy. Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using Microcase, 5th Edition. South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2003, p. 137-147.
Joint Distributions and Cross-tabs
Johnson, Janet Buttolph, H.T. Reynolds and Richard Joslyn. Political Science Research Methods. Chapter 12.
Corbett, Michael and Michael K. Le Roy. Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using Microcase, 5th Edition. South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2003, p. 157-163.
November 22:
Correlations and Associations
Manheim, Jarol, Richard Rich, Lars Willnat, and Craig Brians. Empirical Political Analysis, 7th edition. Chapter 17.
Linear Regression
Manheim, Jarol, Richard Rich, Lars Willnat, and Craig Brians. Empirical Political Analysis, 7th edition. p. 303-305.
November 26:
No Class
December 36:
Homework #4 Due on December 3 at the beginning of class
Interpreting Multivariate Regression
In the computer lab.
Tools for Quantitative Analysis
In the computer lab.
December 12: Final Project due by 5pm.
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[*] These dates are intended to help you keep up with the reading. But the dates – with the exception of the midterm, final project and homework assignments – are tentative. Sometimes we will cover material more quickly than indicated here and sometimes we will take more time.