Sheila Carapico

Associate Professor, Chairperson
Department of Political Science
University of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia 23173
Phone: (804) 289-8535
FAX: (804) 287-6833
E-mail: scarapic@richmond.edu

PS 371: Methods of Research and Analysis

Fall 1997

This is a course about what political scientists do: it address the general question 'how do we know what we know?' and introduces the tools of the discipline. It is organized around a series of problem-solving, skills-practicing exercises; there are no books, tests, or essay assignments. Each exercise requires students to utilize new, specialized tools in information gathering, analysis, and presentation; and simultaneously raises epistemological issues about social science inquiry. Class meetings constitute a rolling workshop for discussion of method, presentation of models, explanation of instructions, sharing of experiences, debates about validity and ethics, and feedback on performance.

• Exercise 1: Longitudinal Study of the American Political Science Review (9/11)
  Task: To illustrate the development of political 'science' in the twentieth century as reflected in the APSR.
  Objectives: a) to familiarize students with the leading professional journal in political science; b) to explore first-hand the evolution of the 'science' of politics; c) to learn to identify 'variables' (as discrete, separate, independent factors or dimensions of the phenomena being studied, in this case the methods used by political scientists over time); and d) to practice using your PC to construct tables and graphs to display observations systematically. You may also want to use the opportunity to collect examples of materials to use as models for subsequent exercises (e.g., diagrams, statistical tables, theories about public opinion).
  
• Exercise 2: Diagramming a Systems Simulation (9/18)
  Task: To diagram the variables in the simulation game Hamurabi.
  Objectives: a) to continue working with variables, and begin conceptualizing independent (causal) and dependent (outcome) variables; b) to gain experience with computer models of political systems; c) to practice diagraming complex relationships.
  
• Exercise 3: Manual Manipulation of Data (9/30)
  Task: To manually create the three basic kinds of bivariate data displays that are the basis of most statistics: cross-tabulations, means tables, and scatter plots.
  Objectives: a) to force students to find and analyze their own data; b) to learn how to use nominal, ordinal, and ratio data; c) to understand the processes that we will later be doing on the computer. This is the only exercise for which you may not use the computer.
  
• Exercise 4: Observing and Diagraming Richmond City Council (10/9)
  Task: To utilize field methods of participant-observation and interviews to study the institution and political dynamics of Richmond City Council and present the findings in an analytical diagram.
  Objectives: a) to get you into downtown Richmond, to observe the local democratic process in action, and also to follow Council developments this fall; b) to get a taste of field research, including public sessions, interviews, and other first-hand sources; c) to practice graphic visualization and presentation of institutional dynamics.
  
  Exercise 5: Service-Learning Analysis of Survey Data (10/23)
  Task: To help collect and analyze opinion survey data for the University of Richmond.
  Objectives: a) to walk through the steps in collection, entry, and analysis of survey data;
  b) to engage students in applied, useful research; c) to introduce the class to cross-tabulations and the utility of statistics.
  
• Exercise 6: Using SPSS to Analyze National US Survey Data I (11/4)
  Task: To test some preliminary hypotheses about US public opinion using data from a nationwide opinion survey and SPSS.
  Objectives: a) to practice using SPSS; b) to practice identifying independent, control, and dependent variables in survey data; c) to practice generating and analyzing basic cross tabulations and appropriate statistics.
  
• Exercise 7: Using SPSS to Analyze National US Survey Data II (11/11)
  Task: To develop, from research in the APSR and/ or other scholarly journals, an hypothesis about American public opinion that can be tested using the available data, conduct the test, and analyze the results.
  Objectives: a) to use a literature review to generate and explain testable, scholarly hypotheses; b) to operationalize the hypothesis by selecting the dependent variable and a series of explanatory factors (independent and perhaps control variables); to use statistics to say something about politics.
  
• Exercise 8: Using SPSS to Analyze Aggregate Cross-National Data I (11/20)
  Task: To utilize aggregate cross-national data to display information about the countries of the world in the form of cross-tabulations, means tables, and scatter plots.
  Objectives: a) to practice using SPSS to manipulate aggregate ratio data as well as nominal and ordinal variables; b) to test some preliminary hypotheses about international political and/ or economic variables; c) to begin using more statistics corresponding to means tables and scatter plots.
  
• Exercise 9: Using SPSS to Analyze Cross-National Data II (12/2)
  Task: To generate and test a series of hypotheses about international political economy.
  Objectives: a) to perfect SPSS skills; to use statistics to say something interesting about the world.
  
• Exercise 10: Open Exercise
  Present a good solid piece of empirical social science using any of the materials from previous exercises.

Back to Courses - Carapico

 © 1998 University of Richmond
Department of Political Science
Web Design: Dyan Kelly
Questions or Comments: Pat Thiel
Last Modified: June 29, 1999