Methods of Research in Political Science Research Design and the Selection of Techniques

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1 METHODS OF RESEARCH IN POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH DESIGN AND THE SELECTION OF QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES 3 rd Year, Undergraduate Program in Political Science Lecturer OVERVIEW This course covers three main topics in the field of Methodology in Political Science: the process of scientific research, the quantitative paradigm and an introduction to its techniques of analysis, and the qualitative paradigm and a selection of some relevant techniques. Consequently, the course is organized in three blocs of contents. The first bloc addresses in detail the process of scientific research and its main components. It unfolds in five themes, starting with the assessment of the main epistemological approaches in social scientific inquiry (the quantitative and the qualitative paradigms). This first theme is essential to one key objective of this course, which is to know the characteristics of the quantitative and qualitative paradigms and the possibilities to bridge both in an encompassing research design. While a combination of these two paradigms is not always possible, it is however desirable that students know how this possibility may benefit a process of research. The introductory bloc then unfolds in four main themes characterizing the process of scientific research: the departure from theory building, the translation of concepts into operational measures, the research strategies for data collection, and the research design and hypotheses testing. These themes include a stepbystep assessment of a scientific process of research, and are aimed to offer the students strong grounds for developing their assigned task to elaborate a research design during this course. The second bloc offers introductory knowledge of the quantitative paradigm and its main tool of research: structured interviewing or survey research. This bloc brings in four themes: the characteristics of surveys, sample design and questionnaire implementation, and two themes devoted to offer an introduction to statistical analysis. The first one comprises descriptive statistics of univariate distributions and measures of correlation for bivariate tests. The last theme introduces an overview of multivariate quantitative techniques and includes factor analysis as one exploratory technique of data reduction that is useful for learning the first steps of more complex data mining. The third bloc addresses the qualitative paradigm, its epistemological foundations in Social and Political Science, and a selection of the most widely used techniques of qualitative analysis in Political Science. Four techniques are covered in this course: content and discourse analysis, semistructured interviews, and focus groups. The overarching character of the course offers the students knowledge of the paradigms and the techniques of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A key objective is that the students learn when to choose a quantitative or qualitative technique and the consequences of that choice, i.e. the advantages and limits of each technique. 1

2 OFFICE HOURS Office hours are held on Mondays, h.; Tuesdays, 1315 h.; Wednesdays, h. Meetings can be scheduled outside these usual office hours by appointment. COURSE WORK AND GRADING This course is intensive in the number and variety of activities to be graded, given its comprehensive nature, i.e. its inclusion of both theory and practice. The students will be required to both acquire the theoretical knowledge presented in the lectures and included in the reading materials, and develop the aptitude to apply the acquired knowledge to a research question. Grades will be assigned on the basis of a final exam, a paper where a research design is developed, a public presentation to the class of the selected research question and the planned research design, and the applied assignments attached to each theme. The following weights are assigned to each component: Final exam, 30%. The reading materials and the content covered in the lectures, including the online materials elaborated by the instructor, are the basis to prepare for this exam. A paper with a research design, 30%. The student will be able to choose a research question and develop a complete research proposal containing a research design. It is convenient that the student regularly discusses with the instructor the selected research question and the parts of the proposal s/he is developing on the basis of the advancement of the course. A public presentation on the development of the research paper, 20%. The students will elaborate a presentation to the class with the material they are collecting to write the research proposal. The evaluation criteria of this presentation will be the clarity of the presentation, the attainment to the time slot assigned to each presentation (15 minutes), and the capacity to answer the questions from other students or from the instructor regarding the proposed research design. This activity is thought to enrich the research proposal of all students through the active participation of the students in the Questions and Answers after the presentation (20 minutes). Applied assignments, 20%. Each theme will have an attached assignment to be submitted to the instructor a week following its reception. The assignments have an applied character and will involve the management of data in the computer lab for the themes of blocs 2 and 3. COURSE SYLLABUS General Readings G. King, R. Keohane, and S. Verba (1994), Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Piergiorgio Corbetta (2003): Social Research. Theory, Methods and Techniques. Sage publs, London. Henry Brady and David Collier (2010): Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards. Rowman & Littlefield publs., Plymouth. 2

3 David E. McNabb (2010): Research Methods for Political Science. Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. M.E. Sharpe Inc., New York. Akan Malici and Elizabeth S. Smith (eds.) (2013): Political Science Research in Practice. Ed. Routledge, New York. BLOC 1. THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH. CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL TOOLS. EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS AND APPROACHES THEME 1. EPISTEMOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Piergiorgio Corbetta (2003): Social Research. Theory, Methods and Techniques. Sage publs. Chapter 1: Paradigms of Social Research and Chapter 2 Quantitative and Qualitative Research (pp. 754). Gary King, Robert O. Keohane and Sidney Verba (1994): Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Chapter 1: The Science in Social Science (pp. 313). James D. Fearon and David Latin (2008) Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, in Janet M. BoxSteffensmeier, Henry E. Brady and David Collier (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. James Mahoney and Gary Goertz (2006) A Tale of Two Cultures: Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research, Political Analysis 14, 3: James A. Caporaso (1995): Research Design, Falsification, and the QualitativeQuantitative Divide, in American Political Science Review, Vol. 89(2) (pp ). Sidney Tarrow (1995): Bridging the QuantativeQualitative Divide in Political Science, in American Political Science Review, Vol. 89(2) (pp ). THEME 2. THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH. THE GENERATING ROLE OF THEORY BUILDING Paul M. Kellstedt and Guy D. Whitten (2009): The Fundamentals of Political Science Research. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2: The Art of Theory Building (pp. 2450). (2011) (3 rd Ed.): Empirical Political Analysis. Ed. Pearson. Chapter 2: The Political World: Building Theories and Hypotheses Ronald Rogowski (1995): The Role of Theory and Anomaly in Social Scientific Inference, in American Political Science Review, Vol. 89(2) (pp ). THEME 3. FROM ABSTRACTION TO MEASUREMENT. OPERATIONALIZATION AND MEASUREMENT STRATEGIES G. Goertz (2008): Concepts, Theories and Numbers: a Checklist for Constructing, Evaluating and Using Concepts or Quantitative Measures, in 3

4 Janet M. BoxSteffensmeier, Henry E. Brady and David Collier (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology. Oxford University Press. David Collier, Jody Laporte and Jason Seamwright (2008): Typologies: Forming Concepts and Creating Categorical Variables, in Janet M. Box Steffensmeier, Henry E. Brady and David Collier (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology. Oxford University Press. Robert Adcock and David Collier (2001): Measurement Validity: a Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research in American Political Science Review, Vol. 95 (pp ). Kenneth A. Bollen (1980): Issues in the Comparative Measurement of Political Democracy, in American Sociological Review, Vol. 45(2) (pp ). Gerardo L. Munck and Jay Verkuilen (2002): Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices, in Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 35(1) (pp. 534). THEME 4. RESEARCH STRATEGIES FOR DATA COLLECTION Gary King, Robert O. Keohane and Sidney Verba (1994): Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton University Press, Princeton. Chapter 4: Determining What to Observe (pp ). Simon Hug (2003): Selection Bias in Comparative Research. The Case of Incomplete Datasets, in Political Analysis, Vol. 11(3) (pp ). Charles Teddlie and Abbas Tashakkori (2009): Foundations of Mixed Methods Research. Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Sage publs. Chapter 9: Considerations Before Collecting Your Data and Chapter 10: Data Collection Strategies for Mixed Methods Research (pp ). THEME 5. RESEARCH DESIGN AND HYPOTHESES TESTING James D. Fearon (1991): "Counterfactuals and Hypothesis Testing in Political Science, in World Politics, Vol. 43(2) (pp ). John Gerring (2001): Social Science Methodology: A Critical Framework. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Part III: Research Design (pp ). Matthew Gabel (1998): Public Support for European Integration: an Empirical Test of Five Theories, in The Journal of Politics, Vol. 60, Issue 2 (pp ). BLOC 2. QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES THEME 6. SURVEY RESEARCH Piergiorgio Corbetta (2003): Social Research. Theory, Methods and Techniques. Sage publs. Chapter 5: The Survey (pp ). Floyd J. Fowler, Jr. (2013): Survey Research Methods. Sage publs. Chapter 8: Survey Interviewing (pp ) and Chapter 11: Ethical Issues in Survey Research (pp ). 4

5 THEME 7. SAMPLE DESIGN AND QUESTIONNAIRE IMPLEMENTATION (2011) (3 rd Ed.): Empirical Political Analysis. Ed. Pearson. Chapter 7: Who, What, Where, When: the Problem of Sampling. Janet Buttolph Johnson and H.T. Reynolds (2011): Political Science Research Methods. Sage publs. Chapter 7: Sampling (pp ). James L. Esposito and Jennifer M. Rothgeb (1997): Evaluating Survey Data: Making the Transition from Pretesting to Quality Assessment, in Lars Lyberg et alia (eds.): Survey Measurement and Process Quality. John Wiley & Sons Inc. publs. (pp ). THEME 8. QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS I: UNIVARIATE AND BIVARIATE ANALYSIS Michael K. Le Roy (2012): Research Methods in Political Science. Ed. Wadsworth, Boston. Chapter 8: Descriptive Statistics (pp ). (2011) (3 rd Ed.): Empirical Political Analysis. Ed. Pearson. Chapter 17: Statistics II: Examining Relationships between two variables. Paul M. Kellstedt and Guy D. Whitten (2009): The Fundamentals of Political Science Research. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 7: Bivariate Hypothesis Testing (pp ). Janet Buttolph Johnson and H.T. Reynolds (2011): Political Science Research Methods. Sage publs. Chapter 13: Investigating Relationships between Two Variables (pp ). THEME 9: QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS II: MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES Jacques Tacq (1997): Multivariate Analysis Techniques in Social Science Research. From Problems to Analysis. Sage publs. Chapter 2: The Classification of Classical Techniques of Multivariate Analysis (pp. 3155). Gary King, Michael Tomz and Jason Wittenberg (2000): Making the Most of Statistical Analyses: Improving Interpretation and Presentation, in American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 44, No. 2 (pp ). JaeOn and Charles W. Mueller (1978): Introduction to Factor Analysis. What It Is and How to Do It. Sage publs. BLOC 3. QUALITATIVE TECHNIQUES THEME 10. INTRODUCTION TO QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS David Collier (2011) Understanding process tracing, in Political Science and Politics, Vol. 44, 4. (pp ). Lisa Weeden (2010) Reflections on Ethnographic Fieldwork in Political Science, in Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 13. (pp ). Steven J. Taylor and Robert Bogdan (1998): Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. JohnWiley & Sons Inc. Ed. Chapter 1: Introduction: Go to the People (pp. 323). 5

6 Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1967): The Social Construction of Reality. First Anchor Books Ed. Part I: The Foundations of Knowledge in Everyday Life (pp. 1946) and Part III: Society as Subjective Reality (pp ). THEME 11. CONTENT AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS APSA: Qualitative Methods Symposium: Discourse and Content Analysis, in Qualitative Methods 2, 1 (2004) (pp. 1540). David Howarth (1998): Discourse Theory and Political Analysis, in Elinor Scarbrough and Eric Tanenbaum (eds.): Research Strategies in the Social Sciences: a Guide to New Approaches. Oxford University Press, Oxford. (pp ). Robert Philip Weber (1990): Basic Content Analysis. Sage publs. Chapter 3: Techniques of Content Analysis and Chapter 4: Issues in Content Analysis (pp. 4080). Reine Keller (2013): Doing Discourse Research. Sage publs. Chapter 2: Approaches in Discourse Research (pp. 568) and Chapter 5: The Detailed Analysis of Data (pp ). THEME 12. SEMISTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Steven J. Taylor and Robert Bogdan (1998): Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. JohnWiley & Sons Inc. Ed. Chapter 4: InDepth Interviewing (pp ). Piergiorgio Corbetta (2003): Social Research. Theory, Methods and Techniques. Sage publs. Chapter 10: The Qualitative Interview (pp ). Joel D. Aberbach and Bert A. Rockman (2002): Symposium. Conducting and Coding Elite Interviews, in Political Science and Politics, Volume, Issue 4 (pp ). Thomas Diefenbach (2009): Are Case Studies More than Sophisticated Storytelling?: Methodological Problems of Qualitative Empirical Research Mainly Based on Semistructured Interviews, in Quality & Quantity, Vol. 43, Issue 6 (pp ). THEME 13. FOCUS GROUPS (2011) (3 rd Ed.): Empirical Political Analysis. Ed. Pearson. Chapter 20: Focus Groups Methodologies. David L. Morgan (1996): Focus Groups, in Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 22 (pp ). Alan Johnson (1996): It s Good to Talk : the Focus Group and the Sociological Imagination, in The Sociological Review, Vol. 44, Issue 3 (pp ). 6

7 Jane Mansbridge (2003): Rethinking Representation, in American Political Science Review, Vol. 97, Issue 4 (pp ). Diana C. Mutz (2002): The Consequences of Crosscutting Networks for Political Participation, in American Political Science Review, Vol. 46, No. 4 (pp ). 7