Course Overview. This course provides an overview of research methods in Political Science. Unlike most Political Science courses, this class does not concentrate on a particular subject area, country, or political era. Rather, this course covers how political scientists (and other social scientists) go about investigating research questions systematically. This course will increase your understanding of research that you encounter in your other courses as well as in the media and will prepare you to undertake your own research as well.

Because social scientific research is a process, the course is organized in order of the major steps necessary for conducting research. Assignments throughout the semester will allow you to evaluate and apply your understanding of key steps the research process. In the second half of the class, you will pull all the steps together when you complete a research project on a social science research topic of your choice.

Required Texts (available in GW Bookstore):

In order to pass this class, all requirements must be completed. As a rule, there will be no make-up exams or deadline extensions given in this course. Exceptions only will be made with prior consent for planned events such as sponsored GWU activities or religious observances or under unusual circumstances such as a documented medical emergency. In all other cases, completing the assignment after the deadline will result in a substantial point deduction of one full letter grade per day (24 hours). There will be no "extra credit" in this course. All graded work must be completed in accordance with The George Washington University Code of Academic Integrity.

Assignments. The due dates on the assignments are specified in the table above and the course schedule below. The midterm exam will cover material from the first two sections of the course, while the final will emphasize the material after the midterm. On a few occasions, we may meet in the computer lab in 636 Funger. In order to complete the data analysis assignments, you will need a Novell account so that you can use the software in the computer lab. You can get a Novell account in the basement of the Academic Center.

Participation and Reading. You are expected not only to attend lecture, but also to participate. I will not take attendance, but this is a small class, and your absence will be noticed. You should complete each reading assignment before the class period(s) for which it is assigned. Doing the reading prior to class will make it easier for you to follow lecture and will increase your ability to contribute constructively to class discussion.

Posing Questions and Constructing Answers
 

January 14 (M)	Course Overview
January 16 (W)		JJR, ch. 1;Putnam, "Bowling Alone"  [link]
January 21 (M)	Martin Luther King, Jr. Day--NO CLASS
January 23 (W)	Political Science as Science	JJR, ch. 2
January 28 (M)	Research Questions	JJR, ch. 3
January 30(W)	Theory and Explanation	Bill James, "On Baseball being 75% pitching" [handout]
February 4 (M)	Summarizing Data: Descriptive Statistics	JJR, ch. 11; Gonick and Smith, chs. 4 & 5

Research Design?How can we answer research questions?
 

February 6 (W)	Measurement I		JJR, ch. 4
February 11 (M)	Measurement II		Popkin and McDonald "Turnout"  [link]
February 13 (W)	Research Design: Experiments I		JJR, pp. 112-133 Gonick & Smith, ch. 10
February 18 (M)	Presidentís Day--NO CLASS
February 20 (W)	Research Design: Experiments II		David Glenn "The Voucher Vortex" [link ]
February 25 (M)	Research Design: Observational I	Data Analysis I Due
February 27 (W)	Research Design: Observational II	Readings TBA [links on webpage]
March 4 (M)	MIDTERM EXAM
March 6 (W)	Statistical logic	Gonick & Smith, chs. 1-3

Data Collection?How should we gather evidence?
 

March 11 (M)	Sample Selection	JJR, ch. 7;  Gonick & Smith, ch. 6 (skim)
March 13 (W)	Data Collection I:  Participant Observation	JJR, ch. 8
March 18 & 20	Spring Break, NO CLASSES
March 25 (M)	Data Collection II: Document Analysis	JJR, ch. 9
March 27 (W)	Data Collection III: Interviews and Surveys	JJR, ch. 10

Data Analysis:  How do we summarize evidence?
 

April 1 (M)	Bivariate Analysis I	JJR. ch. 12
April 3 (W)	Bivariate Analysis II	Gonick & Smith, ch. 7
April 8 (M)	Bivariate Analysis III	Gonick & Smith, ch. 8, 9, 11
April 10 (W)	Bivariate Analysis IV	Data Analysis II Due
April 15 (M)	Multivariate Analysis I	JJR, ch. 13
April 17 (W)	Multivariate Analysis II
April 22 (M)	Multivariate Analysis III

Coming to conclusions:  What can we claim, given our analysis?
 

April 24 (W)	Reaching Conclusions	JJR, ch. 14	Data Analysis III Due
April 29 (M)	Second half overview

Note: The schedule, policies, and assignments in this course are subject to change in the event of extenuating circumstances.