Understanding Political Science Research Methods

Understanding Political Science Research Methods PDF Author: Maryann Barakso
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113662239X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This text starts by explaining the fundamental goal of good political science research—the ability to answer interesting and important questions by generating valid inferences about political phenomena. Before the text even discusses the process of developing a research question, the authors introduce the reader to what it means to make an inference and the different challenges that social scientists face when confronting this task. Only with this ultimate goal in mind will students be able to ask appropriate questions, conduct fruitful literature reviews, select and execute the proper research design, and critically evaluate the work of others. The authors' primary goal is to teach students to critically evaluate their own research designs and others’ and analyze the extent to which they overcome the classic challenges to making inference: internal and external validity concerns, omitted variable bias, endogeneity, measurement, sampling, and case selection errors, and poor research questions or theory. As such, students will not only be better able to conduct political science research, but they will also be more savvy consumers of the constant flow of causal assertions that they confront in scholarship, in the media, and in conversations with others. Three themes run through Barakso, Sabet, and Schaffner’s text: minimizing classic research problems to making valid inferences, effective presentation of research results, and the nonlinear nature of the research process. Throughout their academic years and later in their professional careers, students will need to effectively convey various bits of information. Presentation skills gleaned from this text will benefit students for a lifetime, whether they continue in academia or in a professional career. Several distinctive features make this book noteworthy: A common set of examples threaded throughout the text give students a common ground across chapters and expose them to a broad range of subfields in the discipline. Box features throughout the book illustrate the nonlinear, "non-textbook" reality of research, demonstrate the often false inferences and poor social science in the way the popular press covers politics, and encourage students to think about ethical issues at various stages of the research process.

Understanding Political Science Research Methods

Understanding Political Science Research Methods PDF Author: Maryann Barakso
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113662239X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This text starts by explaining the fundamental goal of good political science research—the ability to answer interesting and important questions by generating valid inferences about political phenomena. Before the text even discusses the process of developing a research question, the authors introduce the reader to what it means to make an inference and the different challenges that social scientists face when confronting this task. Only with this ultimate goal in mind will students be able to ask appropriate questions, conduct fruitful literature reviews, select and execute the proper research design, and critically evaluate the work of others. The authors' primary goal is to teach students to critically evaluate their own research designs and others’ and analyze the extent to which they overcome the classic challenges to making inference: internal and external validity concerns, omitted variable bias, endogeneity, measurement, sampling, and case selection errors, and poor research questions or theory. As such, students will not only be better able to conduct political science research, but they will also be more savvy consumers of the constant flow of causal assertions that they confront in scholarship, in the media, and in conversations with others. Three themes run through Barakso, Sabet, and Schaffner’s text: minimizing classic research problems to making valid inferences, effective presentation of research results, and the nonlinear nature of the research process. Throughout their academic years and later in their professional careers, students will need to effectively convey various bits of information. Presentation skills gleaned from this text will benefit students for a lifetime, whether they continue in academia or in a professional career. Several distinctive features make this book noteworthy: A common set of examples threaded throughout the text give students a common ground across chapters and expose them to a broad range of subfields in the discipline. Box features throughout the book illustrate the nonlinear, "non-textbook" reality of research, demonstrate the often false inferences and poor social science in the way the popular press covers politics, and encourage students to think about ethical issues at various stages of the research process.

Understanding Political Science Statistics

Understanding Political Science Statistics PDF Author: Peter Galderisi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136819509
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
In politics, you begin by asking theoretically interesting questions. Sometimes statistics can help answer those questions. When it comes to applied statistics, students shouldn’t just learn a vast array of formula—they need to learn the basic concepts of statistics as solutions to particular problems. Peter Galderisi demonstrates that statistics are a summary of how to answer the problem: learn the math but only after learning the concepts and methodological considerations that give it context. With this as a starting point, Understanding Political Science Statistics asks students to consider how to address a research problem conceptually before being led to the appropriate formula. Throughout, Galderisi looks at problems through a lens of "observations and expectations," which can be applied to myriad statistical techniques, both descriptive and inferential. This approach links the answers researchers get from their individual data analysis to the research designs and questions from which these analyses are derived. By emphasizing the underlying logic of statistical analysis for greater understanding and drawing on applications and examples from political science (including law), the book illustrates how students can apply statistical concepts and techniques in their own research, in future coursework, and simply as an informed consumer of numbers in public discourse. The following features help students master the material: Legal and Methodological sidebars highlight key concepts and provide applied examples on law, politics, and methodology; End-of-chapter exercises allow students to test their mastery of the basic concepts and techniques along the way; A Sample Solutions Guide provides worked-out answers for odd-numbered exercises, with all answers available in the Instructor’s Manual; Key Terms are helpfully called out in both Marginal Definitions and a Glossary; A Companion Website (www.routledge.com/cw/galderisi) with further resources for both students and instructors; A diverse array of data sets include subsets of the ANES and Eurobarometer surveys; CCES; US Congressional district data; and a cross-national dataset with political, economic, and demographic variables; and Companion guides to SPSS and Stata walk students through the procedures for analysis and provide exercises that go hand-in-hand with online data sets.

Understanding Political Science Research Methods

Understanding Political Science Research Methods PDF Author: Maryann Barakso
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136622381
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
This text starts by explaining the fundamental goal of good political science research—the ability to answer interesting and important questions by generating valid inferences about political phenomena. Before the text even discusses the process of developing a research question, the authors introduce the reader to what it means to make an inference and the different challenges that social scientists face when confronting this task. Only with this ultimate goal in mind will students be able to ask appropriate questions, conduct fruitful literature reviews, select and execute the proper research design, and critically evaluate the work of others. The authors' primary goal is to teach students to critically evaluate their own research designs and others’ and analyze the extent to which they overcome the classic challenges to making inference: internal and external validity concerns, omitted variable bias, endogeneity, measurement, sampling, and case selection errors, and poor research questions or theory. As such, students will not only be better able to conduct political science research, but they will also be more savvy consumers of the constant flow of causal assertions that they confront in scholarship, in the media, and in conversations with others. Three themes run through Barakso, Sabet, and Schaffner’s text: minimizing classic research problems to making valid inferences, effective presentation of research results, and the nonlinear nature of the research process. Throughout their academic years and later in their professional careers, students will need to effectively convey various bits of information. Presentation skills gleaned from this text will benefit students for a lifetime, whether they continue in academia or in a professional career. Several distinctive features make this book noteworthy: A common set of examples threaded throughout the text give students a common ground across chapters and expose them to a broad range of subfields in the discipline. Box features throughout the book illustrate the nonlinear, "non-textbook" reality of research, demonstrate the often false inferences and poor social science in the way the popular press covers politics, and encourage students to think about ethical issues at various stages of the research process.

Political Science For Dummies

Political Science For Dummies PDF Author: Marcus A. Stadelmann
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119674832
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Expand your political science knowledge with a book that explains concepts in a way anyone can understand! The global political climate is dynamic, at times even volatile. To understand this evolving landscape, it’s important to learn more about how countries are governed. Political Science For Dummies explores the questions that political scientists examine, such as how our leaders make decisions, who shapes political policy, and why countries go to war. The book is the perfect course supplement for students taking college-level, introductory political science courses. Political Science For Dummies is a guide that makes political science concepts easier to grasp. Get a better understanding of political ideologies, institutions, policies, processes, and behavior Explore topics such as class, government, diplomacy, law, strategy, and war Learn the specialized vocabulary within the field of political science Help prepare for a range of careers, from policy analyst to legislative assistant Political science crosses into many other areas of study, such as sociology, economics, history, anthropology, international relations, law, statistics, and public policy. Those who want to understand the implications of changing political economies or how governing bodies work can look to Political Science For Dummies. It’s the book thatcuts through the jargon as it focuses on issues that interest readers.

The Relevance of Political Science

The Relevance of Political Science PDF Author: Gerry Stoker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1137506601
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
What does political science tell us about important real-world problems and issues? And to what extent does and can political analysis contribute to solutions? Debates about the funding, impact and relevance of political science in contemporary democracies have made this a vital and hotly contested topic of discussion, and in this original text authors from around the world respond to the challenge. A robust defence is offered of the achievements of political science research, but the book is not overly sanguine given its sustained recognition of the need for improvement in the way that political science is done. New insights are provided into the general issues raised by relevance, into blockages to relevance, and into the contributions that the different subfields of political science can and do make. The book concludes with a new manifesto for relevance that seeks to combine a commitment to rigour with a commitment to engagement.

Understanding the Political World

Understanding the Political World PDF Author: James N. Danziger
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN: 9780205854929
Category : Comparative government
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
241 The Prevalence of Elite-Based Political Systems p. 244 Focus In 9 Elite Politics in Swaziland p. 242 The Class Approach p. 244 The Public Policy Process p. 245 The Pluralist Approach p. 246 The Policymaking Process p. 247 The Debate In 9 p. 250 The Three Approaches Compared p. 251 Which Approach Is Correct? p. 251 Essential Similarities and Differences p. 252 Chapter 10 Change and Political Development p. 257 Change p. 259 Development p. 260? Characteristics of "'More Developed" Human Systems p. 260 The Process of Development p. 262 The Dynamics of Economic Development p. 264 Political Development p. 268 Characteristics of Political Development p. 268 The Process of Political Development p. 269 Focus In 10 Political Development and Modernization in Turkey p. 270 Political Development as Democratization p. 272 Debate In 10 Is Economic Development a Necessary Prerequisite for Democracy? p. 273 World of Changes p. 275 Compare In 10 p. 276 Concluding Observations p. 279 Chapter 11 Politics Across Borders p. 283 Perspectives on States' Behavior p. 286 Realist and Idealist Perspectives on the States' "Motives" p. 286 A Geopolitical Perspective p. 287 Compare In 11 Geopolitics in Two Countries p. 288 Mechanisms of Political Cooperation Across Borders p. 289 Diplomacy and Interstate Agreements p. 290 International Law p. 293 International Organizations p. 295 Political Competition Across Borders p. 300 Transnational Systems of Power p. 301 Domination and Dependence p. 303 Focus In 11 The Faces of Colonialism: Congo p. 305 Globalization? p. 306 The Debate In 11 p. 308 Competition in the Globalizing World p. 309 Chapter 12 Political Violence p. 315 Violence p. 317 Political Society p. 318 Types of Political Violence p. 319 State Violence Against Individuals or Groups p. 319 Individual Violence Against an Individual p. 321 Group Violence Against an Individual p. 322 Group Violence Against a Group p. 325 The Debate In 12 Is Terrorism Ever a Justifiable Form of Political Violence? p. 326 Individual or Group Violence Against the State p. 330 Use of Force Between States p. 334 War p. 335 What Causes War? p. 336 Focus In 12 p. 337 Compare In 12 p. 339 Evaluating Political Violence: Means and Ends p. 342 Part V Politics Among States Chapter 13 The Developed Countries of the Global North p. 349 Grouping the States in the Contemporary World p. 351 The Developed Countries of the Global North p. 352 The Developing Countries of the Global South p. 353 The Transitional Developed Countries p. 354 Goal: Prosperity p. 355 Mixed Economy p. 355 Compare In 13 Sweden and Switzerland p. 357 Performance p. 358 Challenges to Prosperity p. 360 The Debate In 13 Are the Social Democracies Dying? p. 362 Goal: Stability p. 363 Liberal Democracies p. 363 Political Institutionalization p. 364 Order Maintenance p. 365 Focus In 13 Welcome to the Brave New World: Singapore p. 365 Challenges to Stability p. 367 Goal: Security p. 369 The Era of Colonialism p. 369 The Cold War Period p. 370 The Post-Cold War Period p. 370 Challenges to Security p. 371 The Developed Countries Overall p. 372 Chapter 14 The Developing Countries of the Global South p. 376 Grouping Countries in the Developing World p. 379 Developmental Classification p. 379 Regional Classification p. 380 Achieving Development in the Global South: Some Obstacles p. 382 Compare In 14 Obstacles to Development: Nigeria and the Philippines p. 384 Goal: Prosperity p. 386 The Quest for Prosperity: Strategic Choices p. 386 Focus In 14 Poor Women and Development: Microcredit in Bangladesh p. 391 Current Outcomes p. 392 Goal: Security p. 395 Interstate Violence p. 395 Economic Security p. 397 Goal: Stability p. 398 Inadequate Political Development p. 398 The Decline of Order p. 399 Democratization p. 400 Political Approaches p. 402 Is it Getting Better all the Time? p. 405 The Debate In 14 Will There Always Be a Third World? p. 407 Chapter 15 The Transitional Developed Countries p. 412 The Postcommunist Developed Countries p. 415 Compare In 15 Acid Test II p. 416 Goal: Prosperity p. 418 Strategy p. 418 Performance p. 418 Challenges p. 419 Goal: Stability p. 420 Strategies p420 Challenges p. 422 Social Disorder p. 422 Nationality Conflicts p. 423 Entry into Europe and Global Society p. 423 Goal: Security p. 424 The Newly Industrializing Countries p. 425 Goal: Prosperity p. 426 Approach p. 426 Performance p. 427 FocusIn 15 p. 431 Goal: Stability p. 433 Asian NICs p. 433 Latin American NICs p. 433 Democratization? p. 433 Goal: Security p. 434 Asian NICs p. 434 Latin American NICs p. 435 The Future of the Transitional Developed Countries p. 435 The Postcommunist Developed Countries p. 436 The NICs p. 436 Next? p. 437 So ... p. 437 The Final Debate What Time Is It? p. 438 Appendix: Political Analysis p. 443 Glossary p. 457 References p. 469 Photo Credits p. 485 Index p. 486.

The Evolution of Political Knowledge

The Evolution of Political Knowledge PDF Author: American Political Science Association. Annual Meeting
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
ISBN: 0814209343
Category : Political science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
Over the course of the last century, political scientists have been moved by two principal purposes. First, they have sought to understand and explain political phenomena in a way that is both theoretically and empirically grounded. Second, they have analyzed matters of enduring public interest, whether in terms of public policy and political action, fidelity between principle and practice in the organization and conduct of government, or the conditions of freedom, whether of citizens or of states. Many of the central advances made in the field have been prompted by a desire to improve both the quality and our understanding of political life. Nowhere is this tendency more apparent than in research on comparative politics and international relations, fields in which concerns for the public interest have stimulated various important insights. This volume systematically analyzes the major developments within the fields of comparative politics and international relations over the past three decades. Each chapter is composed of a core paper that addresses the major puzzles, conversations, and debates that have attended major areas of concern and inquiry within the discipline. These papers examine and evaluate the intellectual evolution and natural history of major areas of political inquiry and chart particularly promising trajectories, puzzles, and concerns for future work. Each core paper is accompanied by a set of shorter commentaries that engage the issues it takes up, thus contributing to an ongoing and lively dialogue among key figures in the field.

Understanding Political Science

Understanding Political Science PDF Author: Andrew Glen Davison
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 800

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Book Description


Statistics for Political Analysis

Statistics for Political Analysis PDF Author: Theresa Marchant-Shapiro
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483323684
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
Statistics are just as vital to understanding political science as the study of institutions, but getting students to understand them when teaching a methods course can be a big challenge. Statistics for Political Analysis makes understanding the numbers easy. The only introduction to statistics book written specifically for political science undergraduates, this book explains each statistical concept in plain language—from basic univariate statistics and the basic measures of association to bivariate and multivariate regression—and uses real world political examples. Students learn the relevance of statistics to political science, how to understand and calculate statistics mathematically, and how to obtain them using SPSS. All calculations are modeled step-by-step, giving students needed practice to master the process without making it intimidating. Each chapter concludes with exercises that get students actively applying the steps and building their professional skills through data calculation, analysis, and memo writing.

Field Research in Political Science

Field Research in Political Science PDF Author: Diana Kapiszewski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107006031
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 471

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Book Description
This book explains how field research contributes value to political science by exploring scholars' experiences, detailing exemplary practices, and asserting key principles.