PS 260 Q Scope and Methods of Political Science

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1 PS 260 Q Scope and Methods of Political Science Fall 2005 Class Times: 12:15 PM to1:30 PM TR in Pasteur Hall 210 Instructor David Prince Office Pasteur Hall 208-B Phone dprince@bellarmine.edu Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM By Appointment Course Description An introduction to the basic concepts and theories of Political Science, including the nature of science, the traditions and approaches used within the discipline, and an analysis of research methodology for political scientists. This course will be very different from many other political science courses you may have taken. This course will attempt to provide you with the skills necessary to better understand and evaluate research you will encounter during the course of your college as well as professional careers. Additionally, this course attempts to move you from being merely consumers of political research but producers of political research by introducing you to the process and methods of conducting research in Political Science. Course Objectives 1. Students will gain the ability to better understand and critique academic research. 2. Students will gain an understanding of different research approaches within Political Science. 3. Students will gain the skills necessary to engage in original research in Political Science. 4. Students will demonstrate their research skills through the preparation of a research design paper. General Education Objectives (This course addresses the following General Education Expectations from the University Catalog) Office Hours: 5. Students should be able to demonstrate quantitative literacy by employing quantitative analysis as a method of problem solving. 6. Students should be able to demonstrate thinking skills by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of particular modes of inquiry. My office is located in 208B in Pasteur Hall. My office hours are 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on Monday and Wednesday and Friday and by appointment. I am happy to talk to

2 students any time I am on campus therefore feel free to stop by at any other time to see if I am in. Additionally, please do not hesitate to set up an appointment at a mutually convenient time. Also feel free to me with any questions or concerns you may have. is probably the most efficient means of communication as I check my e- mail compulsively. Course Web Site: I have created a course web site at All students that have officially enrolled for the course are already registered for the course at Blackboard. Please refer to the above site for information on gaining access to Blackboard. You need to make sure you can access the web site as soon as possible. This will be my means of communication with you. Any announcements for the course will be posted at the web site. Additionally, you will be able to access your grades online at the web site and I will place links to required online readings as well as any handouts and notes for the course. If you have any problems accessing Blackboard please me. Required Text: There are two required books for the course which are available at the campus bookstore. The Johnson and Reynolds book will be our main text for the course. In addition to our main text you are required to purchase the work book companion to the primary text. You should buy this book new as pages may be missing/and or the book may be written in. Johnson, Janet Buttolph, and H.T. Reynolds Political Science Research Methods, Fifth Edition: Congressional Quarterly Press. Johnson, Janet Buttolph, and H.T. Reynolds Working with Political Science Research Methods Problems and Exercises: Congressional Quarterly Press. Evaluation: Your grade for the course will be based on a midterm, a final exam, a series of exercise and problem assignments and a paper. Grades will be weighed as indicated below and based on the traditional grade scale. Grade Weights: Midterm Exam 20% Final Exam 25% Problems and Exercises 20% Research Design 25% Presentation 10% Grade Scale: 2

3 A+ = 100 to 97.5 A = 97.4 to 93.5 A- = 93.4 to 89.5 B+ = 89.4 to 86.5 B = 86.4 to 83.5 B- = 83.4 to 79.5 C+ = 79.4 to 74.5 C = 74.4 to 69.5 D = 69.4 to 59.5 F = 59.4 to 0 Exams There will be a midterm and a final exam. The midterm is scheduled for October 6 with the final scheduled for December 8 at 12:00PM. The midterm will be worth 20% of your grade for the course and final will be worth 25% of the course grade. The exams may consist of a variety of multiple choice, short answer, essay questions and so forth. The material in the course is cumulative by nature therefore a working knowledge of the material from the first part of the course is necessary for the final exam. Problems and Exercises As a required part of the course you are required to complete a series of problems and exercises in the work book for the course in addition to any other assignments I may give you throughout the course of the semester. These exercises are designed to supplement the regular text and enforce what you are reading in the main text. The problems and exercises will be worth 20% of your grade for the course. You are expected to do your own work on the assignments. Test questions will be asked from the assignments therefore failure to do your own work will be detrimental in performing at the highest level on the exam. The assignments and the due dates are listed in the class schedule. Late assignments will be accepted with a 10 point per day deduction for each day the assignment is late. Research Design Paper A research design paper is required as part of the course. In this paper you will identify an important question in Political Science and establish a research strategy to attempt to answer the question. In order to do an adequate job on a paper such as this progress must be made through out the semester, therefore in order to facilitate that process you are required to turn in various parts of the paper through out the semester. I will return each section with comments thus giving you the opportunity to improve the final paper. The paper will be worth 25% of your final grade in the course with 10% of that total being derived from submitting each section on time as indicated in the course schedule. Your paper should be doubled spaced with not over a 12 point font and include a title page. Additionally, folders, special bindings and so forth are unnecessary and undesirable as 3

4 they make grading papers more difficult. One staple in the upper left corner is sufficient. You should exercise care in always turning in work that is professional in appearance therefore folded corners, printing to light to read, and so forth should be avoided. I will provide you with more details on the format of the paper later in the course. The final paper is due on December 1 which is the last day of class. Paper Topic The topic for your paper can be any topic of interest to you in Political Science. It can be from any of the major areas of political science such as American Politics, International Relations or Comparative Politics. My substantive areas of interest focus on American and Legislative politics therefore I can be most helpful to students wishing to write in those areas, however, feel free to explore topics in other areas of political science as well.. Additionally, in selecting your topic keep in mind that your topic should be one that can be empirically researched. You need to immediately begin to think about possible topics for your paper. You should submit a 1 to 2 page paper proposal on what you plan to do your paper on by September 15. I recognize as you actually get into your research you will often find the need to vary your research focus therefore the proposal is not set in stone but merely an indication of your general focus for the paper. Additionally, I would expect that your topic will become much narrower once you begin the research process. Introduction and Literature Review The first two sections you are required to submit are the introduction and the literature review. The introduction should be 1 to 2 pages and serves to introduce the reader to your topic and why it is important. The second section required is a literature review. In this section you will review what scholars have found out in the past concerning your topic and identify how your research fits into the existing research. You should attempt to place your topic into context of the existing literature and how it attempts to advance our knowledge. The literature review section should normally be 3 to 5 pages but may be longer depending on your chosen topic. However, if you are finding that the amount of relevant literature is very voluminous then this may be an indication that you need to narrow your focus. The sources used for your paper should be primarily from academic journals, and academic books. Occasionally, newspapers and magazines may be used for background information, however uses of these sources should be kept to a minimum and need to be subjected to the approval of the instructor. We will discuss in greater detail, in class, what are appropriate sources to be used in writing a research paper. In addition to the introduction and literature review sections you should submit a reference page. We will discuss the proper way of citing your courses during the course of the semester. The introduction, literature review and reference page is due on October 13. Theory and Hypotheses In this section you will identify the research question of interest and propose explanations to answer the question of interest. You will provide a specific statements or series of 4

5 statements of how you believe the phenomena of interest are related. You should refer back to the literature in the justification of the hypotheses you are going to test. This section should be approximately 2 pages in length but may be longer depending on the number of hypotheses you may have. The theory and hypotheses section is due by October 27. Data and Methods In this section you should identify the data you will use to test your hypotheses. This section will probably be 2 to 3 pages in length. You need to indicate the source of the data you will use and any problems or limitations of the data you may use. While you will not be running the actual analysis you should locate the data you would use or indicate how you would obtain the data. It is important to keep in mind that the analysis you propose should be feasible and given another semester you would be able to actually gather and analyze the data. Additionally, in this section you should indicate the model you will be testing. This includes a description of each variable you will include in the model and how you will operationalize the variables in the model. Finally, you should indicate the statistical methods you will use to estimate the proposed model. The methods section is due on November 10. Presentations Each student will be required to give an approximately 15 minute presentation on their research design paper. The presentation should cover what the research question is, why the question is important, a brief overview of what has been found in past research, how the research contributes to our existing research, what the proposed model is, how it will be tested and what findings you expect. Students are encouraged to use PowerPoint and any other visual aids to make their presentation clearer to the class. Presentations will take place on November 22, 29, and December 1 and will be worth 10% of the final grade for the course. More information will be provided on presentations at a later date as well as a sign up sheet for which date the student will give their presentation. Makeup Exams: No makeup exams will be given without a documented excuse such as for a universitysponsored event, a doctor s excuse for an illness, a death in the family or a major religious holiday. A doctor s appointment does not constitute a valid excuse for missing class as class is your top priority and therefore appointments should be scheduled at times other than class. Additionally, an appointment with an advisor is not a valid excuse for missing class. If appointments are only available during class time please discuss this matter with your advisor as most professors are willing to work out other times if asked. Additionally, makeup exams will be given in the case of the death of an immediate family member (spouse, sibling, child, parent or grandparent) if a copy of the obituary is 5

6 provided. The excuses stated above are the only situations in which a makeup exam will be given therefore please do not ask for other exceptions to be made. Class Conduct and Courtesy In order to achieve the greatest benefit from the course please practice courtesy toward other students and me. Please arrive on time for class and avoid leaving early and packing up books prior to the time when I end class as this is extremely rude and inconsiderate. Additionally, please turn off cell phones, beepers and so forth prior to entering class and refrain from reading newspapers in class and doing work for other courses. Finally, always show courtesy toward other students by listening to their opinions and not talking over them. Differences of opinions are expected and encouraged; however, personal attacks and disrespect of other students will not be tolerated. Cheating and Plagiarism: Bellarmine students are expected to demonstrate a high standard of academic honesty in all aspects of their academic work and university life. Without intellectual integrity there can be no genuine learning. Academic dishonesty represents a direct attack on this integrity. In taking tests and examinations, completing assignments and laboratory work, writing papers, and using information technology, students are expected to perform honestly. (For explanation of actions taken in the event of academic dishonesty, see Catalog pp ) Disability Services Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Disability Services Coordinator. Please do not request accommodations directly from the professor. The Disability Services Coordinator is located in room 225 Horrigan; phone Attendance Policy: Attendance is expected as part of the course. Attendance is critical to perform at the highest level in the class, as the lectures will cover material not included in the readings that will be included on the exams. The cumulative nature of the material in this course makes attendance critical. If you miss class it will make it more difficult to understand the future material in the course. Attendance will also be used as a factor in determining borderline grades for the course. Escape Clause: I reserve the right to make any changes to the syllabus as necessary. In some cases we may find it necessary to spend more time on a certain section depending on class interest. 6

7 Any changes in the syllabus will be reflected in the online version of the syllabus and therefore you should check frequently with the course web site. August 23 Introduction Class Schedule August 25 - Studying Politics Scientifically Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapters 1 and 2 Read: Problems and Exercises Chapter1 and 2 and complete exercises for Chapter 2 (Not required to turn in) August 30 - Choosing a Topic in Political Science Research and Developing a Research Question Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Pages September 1 No Class (American Political Science Meeting) September 6 Conducting Literature Reviews Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 5 September 8 Conducting Literature Reviews Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 5 Due September 13 - Formulating Hypotheses and Defining Concepts Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 4 September 15 Formulating Hypotheses and Defining Concepts Continued Paper Topics Due Problems and Exercises Chapter 4 Due September 20 Measurement Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 6 September 22 Measurement Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 6 Due September 27 - Research Design Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 3 September 29 Research Design continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 3 Due October 4 Catch Up and Review For Midterm 7

8 October 6 Midterm Exam October 11 No Class October 13 Sampling and Data Collection Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 7 and 9 Introduction and Literature Review Sections Due October 18 Sampling and Data Collection: Document Analysis Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 8 Problems and Exercises Chapter 7 and 9 Due October 20 Sampling and Data Collection: Survey Research Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 10 Problems and Exercises Chapter 8 Due October 25 Survey Research Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 10 Due October 27 Descriptive Statistics and Univariate Data Analysis Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 11 Theory and Hypothesis Section Due November 1 Descriptive Statistics and Univariate Data Analysis Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 11 Due November 3 Bivariate Data Analysis Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 12 November 8 Bivariate Data Analysis Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 12 Due November 10 Multivariate Data Analysis Read: Johnson, and Reynolds Chapter 13 Data and Methods Section Due November 15 Multivariate Data Analysis Continued November 17 Multivariate Data Analysis Continued Problems and Exercises Chapter 13 Due November 22 Presentations November 24 No Class Thanksgiving November 29 Presentations 8

9 December 1 Presentations Final Paper Due December 8 Final Exam (12:00 PM) 9