Political Science 245
Spring 2009
Prof. Sean F. Evans
Office: PAC A-38
Phone: (731) 661-5237
Email: sevans@uu.edu
What is the first question that people ask when you tell them that you are a political science major? Most likely, if your experience is like mine, they ask, “Do you want to be President of the United States?” After briefly envisioning yourself in the Oval Office and riding in Marine One and Air Force One you return to earth and reply, “No.” Or you may say that you are interested in law school, teaching, government service, or something else. Yet, in the back of your mind, you may ask yourself “what is it that political scientists do?”
This class answers this question by introducing you to the discipline through an examination of its scope and methods. We begin the semester by examining the logic of scientific inquiry and how political science applies some of the methods of the “hard sciences” to politics. We will spend the remainder of the semester on research design and the collection and analyzing of data. In this section, we examine both qualitative and quantitative (i.e., statistical) methods of proving our hypotheses.
This class will introduce you to a range of techniques to study political phenomena with a special focus on survey research. Specifically, we will take a “hands on” approach to learning research through the creation of a survey to test the political beliefs of young evangelicals. Dr. Watson and I hope to administer this to Union students in the fall. Once the data is collected, students can use the data in senior seminar.
As mentioned above, the class provides an introduction to data analysis for students who do not have any experience with data analysis, statistics, or computers. While you may be secretly saying “Yuck, math! I became a political science major so I would not have to do math.” I believe that this course can be very useful for you. First, do not be overly concerned with this emphasis on math. Most of the class will not focus on math. Moreover, the mathematical concepts we encounter are no more complicated than simple arithmetic and percentages in most instances, but the techniques we study are quite powerful.
Second and more importantly, you will acquire practical skills that can be used in a variety of contexts. These skills are certainly relevant to political science and other social science classes, but they are also skills used by policy analysts, researchers, political consultants, attorneys, journalists, and others outside of academia. In fact, the short introduction to computers and statistics should put you in good standing in the private sector because more and more employers look for these skills.
Since this is a “hands on” course, it is very important that you come to class prepared each day. As we discuss our various topics, we will apply it to our research project. That means that we will be developing the survey as we go along. The better prepared you are for class, the better the survey. While Dr. Watson and I will work with the class on the survey, each student will develop his or her own hypothesis and design questions for inclusion on the survey. This requires you to work on your paper from day one and not just at the end of the semester as some are wont to do. Finally, this research project will entail work outside of the classroom.
Readings. There is one textbook required for this class and it is available at Lifeway.
Manheim, Jarol B., Richard C. Rich, Lars Willnat, and Craig Leonard Brians. 2008. Empirical Political Analysis: Research Methods in Political Science, 7th ed. NY: Pearson Longman.
In addition, there are other assigned readings that are on reserve in Summar Library. Let me suggest that you read these readings more than thirty minutes before class because all of your classmates have the same idea and the reading may not be available. Moreover, the concepts in this class are probably unfamiliar. This combined with my usual high expectations should provide incentives for you to read early so that you can digest the information, raise critical questions, and discuss it.
Grading. Your grade for this course comes from assignments, two exams (20% for exam 1 & 25% for final), and a research paper. For those of you who have had one of my classes before, you know that I have high expectations for the quality of your work. Hopefully, my former students will also say that I am more than willing to work with you to help you meet my expectations.
After exams or assignments are returned, you must wait 24 hours before discussing the exam/assignment with me. This serves as both a cooling off period and as a time for you to reflect upon the exam and what you may have done wrong. We will then sit down and discuss any problems you may have had with the exam, how we can correct this, and how you can improve over the course of the semester. If I make a mistake, I will rectify that, but I do not engage in point grubbing. Finally, what is important is what you know at the end of the semester not what you know at the beginning. If you make substantial improvement over the course of the semester, I am more than willing to forget the early grades and assess you on your performance at the end of class.
Assignments. Like you, I hate busy work. Unfortunately, the best way to insure that you are learning what you need to know is through daily assignments. All exercises are due at the beginning of the class for which they are assigned. Late homework will not be accepted for credit. Please plan your schedules so that you are not doing the exercises or the research paper at the last minute, as computer glitches of all sorts are possible, even likely. Printer jams, disk failures, or any number of goblins on the loose in your or the university’s computer are problems to be expected, but they do not count as excuses for being late or unprepared. Homework exercises are worth 25% of your grade. In determining this 25%, I reserve the right to count some assignments as more important than others.
Research Paper. The cumulative portion of this class revolves around the completion of a research design associated with a research project Dr. Watson and I are pursuing looking at the political beliefs of young evangelicals. As part of this, students will be separated into groups that will focus on certain segments of the project. For this project, you will identify a research topic, explain its significance and contribution to the discipline, present testable hypotheses, develop a research design that explains how you will collect your data and test your hypotheses, and create potential survey questions to test your hypotheses. Each student will pursue an independent part of the project but you can use your peers for feedback and ideas. The format and content of the paper will be discussed later. This paper is worth 30% of your grade.
Participation. While participation is not a portion of your grade, I believe that you will learn the most through proper preparation before class and participation in class. Moreover, I use participation to determine whether I will bump you up if you are on the border line between two grades.
Cheating. University rules on cheating apply to this class. We are here to test your abilities and not your neighbors or friends. Anyone caught cheating receives an automatic "F" for the course and will be referred to the appropriate authorities for university review and punishment.
Communication Devices. Please turn off all cell phones and other portable electronic devices while in my class. Your life is not so important that you need to answer the phone or text your friend immediately. If found using any such device, I reserve the right to answer the phone and/or read your text message to the class. Moreover, I will confiscate your communication device until the next class meeting. Therefore, if you have an emergency necessitating having the communication device on, please let me know before the class.
Computer Policy. Students are welcome to bring your laptops to class to assist you in taking notes. However, the computer is to be used solely for academic purposes and not to play games, catch up on email or Facebook, or anything else.
Recording Policy. Students are not allowed to make audio or visual recordings of lectures without the professor’s permission.
Extracurricular. Students are expected to attend any special political events this semester.
Special Needs. Students with disabilities who may need academic accommodations should discuss options with the instructor during the first week of class.
The Syllabus. I reserve the right and prerogative to modify the syllabus in accordance with student and professorial needs. The syllabus should not be construed as a contract.
Outline
Feb. 4 Introduction
Feb. 6 Studying Politics Scientifically
MRWB, Ch. 1
Feb. 9 Studying Politics Scientifically
Feb. 11 Library Resources
MRWB, Ch. 3-4
Feb. 13 Literature Review
Feb. 16 Theory Building
MRWB, Ch. 2
Feb. 18 Hypotheses
Feb. 20 Hypotheses
Assignment
Feb. 23 Measurement
MRWB, Ch. 5
Feb. 25 Research Design
MRWB, Ch. 6
Feb. 27 Research Design
March 2 Sampling
MRWB, Ch. 7
March 4 Sampling
March 6 Catch Up
March 9 First Exam
March 11 How to Read a Journal Article
Evans, Swain, and Reed “Strategic Retirement in the Republican Congresses” on reserve
March 13 Survey Research
MRWB, Ch. 8
March 16 Survey Research
March 18 Scaling
MRWB, Ch. 9
March 20 Aggregate data
MRWB, Ch. 11
March 23-27 Spring Break
March 30 Evangelical Political Beliefs
Bring lit reviews, hypotheses, and potential survey questions
April 1 Evangelical Political Beliefs
April 3 Data Management
MRWB, Ch. 14
April 6 Descriptive Statistics
MRWB, Ch. 16
April 8 SWPSA No Class
April 10 Good Friday – No Class
April 13 Bivariate Analysis
MRWB, Ch. 17
April 15 Bivariate Analysis
April 17 Multivariate Analysis
MRWB, ch. 18
April 20 Multivariate Analysis
April 22 Content Analysis
MRWB, Ch. 10
April 24 Content Analysis
Assignment
April 27 Qualitative Methods
MRWB, pp. 322-31
April 29 Case Study
TBA
May 1 Case Study
Assignment
May 4 Direct observation
MRWB, Ch. 19 and Fenno Home Style: House Members in Their Districts, ch. 1 and Appendix
May 6 Direct observation
Assignment
May 8 Elite interviewing
MRWB, Ch. 21
May 11 Elite interviewing
May 13 Writing a Research Report
MRWB, Ch. 22
May 15 Catch-up and review
May 18 11am Final Exam