POLS5377W, Section 01 (CID: 80972) The Scope and Methods of Political Science Fall 2012: Tuesdays, 6:00 8:50 PM, TWC203 Dr.

POLS5377W, Section 01 (CID: 80972) The Scope and Methods of Political Science Fall 2012: Tuesdays, 6:00 8:50 PM, TWC203 Dr. Stacy Ulbig Phone: 936-294-1468 Text to: 936-274-3040 E-mail: Ulbig@shsu.edu Webpage: http://www.shsu.edu/~sgu001/ Course Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pols5377 Course Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/pols5377 Office Hours In CHSS489 TuTr 9:00-9:30AM, 1:00-2:00PM Wed 10:00-11:30AM In TWC310 Tue 5:00-5:50 By Appointment Everyday Course Description: This is a study of the discipline of modern political science and an inquiry into the literature, scope, and techniques of research with particular emphasis upon the mathematical and quantitative methods of empirical research. Course Objectives: Specific course objectives include: gaining factual knowledge and information regarding quantitative statistical methods learning fundamental principles and theories in the area of statistical methods increasing analytical, critical thinking, and communication skills Textbooks & Required Materials: Caldwell, Sally. 2007. Statistics Unplugged 3 rd Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning. Additional readings posted on the course website. Optional Materials: SPSS(GradPack). This is the SPSS data analysis software we use in class, and is available on-line for $39.99 (see course website for link). This will allow you to load the software on your personal machine and use it for 6 months. Exams and Grading: Your grade in this course will be determined by your performance on 10 problem sets, practice exercises, a semester-long project, and a comprehensive final exam: Practice Exercises 10% Problem Sets (10@4% each) 40% Final Project Exercises 10% Full Final Project 20% Final Exam 20% The practice exercises will require students to work alone or in teams to apply concepts that are introduced in class. You should complete these exercises before we meet in class, and we will review the correct answers to each practice exercise in class together. These exercises are worth a maximum of 100 points each. Practice exercises must be completed and placed in the electronic dropbox before the start of class each week, and you should bring a copy (printed or electronic) of your practice exercise to class as well. Students submitting a completed practice exercise before the start of class and attending class will receive full credit (i.e., 100 points) for the assignment. Students who either submit a completed practice exercise before the start of class or attend class (but do not do both) will receive half credit (i.e., 50 points) for the assignment. Students who neither submit a completed practice exercise before the start of class nor attend class will receive no credit (i.e., 0 points) for the assignment. The problem sets will apply concepts discussed in the lectures and the practice exercises, and will often involve data analysis using SPSS. We will review the correct answers to each problem set in class together. So that you can review your graded problem set when we go over the correct answers, all problem sets are due by 11:59 PM on the day before we cover them in class (i.e., on the Monday before our Tuesday class meeting). Problem sets turned in after 11:59 PM and before the start of the class will earn a twenty (20) point penalty. Problem sets turned in after the start of class, as well as those not turned in, will earn a grade of zero ( 0 ). Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 1

For the final project, each student will draft a professional research manuscript and create a PowerPoint presentation that is suitable for presentation at a professional conference. More detailed instructions on this project are posted on the course website and will be discussed in class. This project is worth a maximum of 100 points. Final project exercises will encompass different portions of the final project. There will be exercises for each of the following components: (a) research focus (research question, hypothesis, literature search) (b) literature review and theory (c) data, concepts, & measures; and (d) statistical methods. Each portion is worth a maximum of 25 points. More detailed instructions on the final project exercises are posted on the course website and will be discussed in class. The final exam is cumulative and will involve critique of a research design and interpretation of statistical output. It is a closed book, closed notes exam that is worth a maximum of 100 points. Course grades will be calculated according to the following scale: A=90.0-100.0; B=80.0-89.9999; C=70.0-79.9999; D=60.0-69.9999; F=less than 60. There will be no rounding on overall course grades. Students asking Dr. Ulbig to calculate their grades for them will be penalized 50 points on their overall course grade. Instructor Evaluations: Students will be given the opportunity to complete a course/instructor evaluation form near the end of the semester. You may also speak directly with Dr. Ulbig or the Chair of the Political Science Department if you have concerns about the quality of instruction you are receiving. Attendance Policy: Regular and punctual class attendance is expected of each student at Sam Houston State University. Because class attendance and course grade are demonstrably and positively related, I expect students to attend all class sessions of this course. Regular attendance is important because we will cover information in class that is not found in the texts. Attendance will be taken in every class meeting. If you are absent for any reason, it is your responsibility to become informed on what was covered in class. Please get class notes from a fellow student. It is not my policy to give out my lecture notes. Academic Dishonesty: All students are expected to engage in all academic pursuits in a manner that is above reproach. Students are expected to maintain honesty and integrity in the academic experiences both in and out of the classroom. Any student found guilty of dishonesty in any phase of academic work will be subject to disciplinary action. The University and its official representatives may initiate disciplinary proceedings against a student accused of any form of academic dishonesty including but not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work which is to be submitted, plagiarism, collusion and the abuse of resource materials. For a complete listing of the university policy, see: http://www.shsu.edu/administrative/faculty/sectionb.html#dishonesty Americans with Disabilities Act: SHSU adheres to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. If you have a disability that may affect adversely your work in this class, then I encourage you to register with the SHSU Counseling Center and to talk with me about how I can best help you. All disclosures of disabilities will be kept strictly confidential. NOTE: No accommodation can be made until you register with the Counseling Center. For a complete listing of the university policy, see: http://www.shsu.edu/~vaf_www/aps/811006.pdf Religious Holidays: Section 51.911(b) of the Texas Education Code requires that an institution of higher education excuse a student from attending classes or other required activities, including examinations, for the observance of a religious holy day, including travel for that purpose. Section 51.911 (a) (2) defines a religious holy day as: a holy day observed by a religion whose places of worship are exempt from property taxation under Section 11.20. A student whose absence is excused under this subsection may not be penalized for that absence and shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment from which the student is excused within a reasonable time after the absence. For a complete listing of the university policy, see: http://www.shsu.edu/~vaf_www/aps/811006.pdf Classroom Rules of Conduct: Students are expected to abide by the Classroom Rules of Conduct as outlined by the Dean of Students: http://www.shsu.edu/students/studentguidelines2007_2008.pdf. Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 2

CLASS SCHEDULE & READING ASSIGNMENTS Note: This schedule and the reading assignments are tentative. Changes will be announced in class and posted on the course website. O. ORIENTATION Week 00 (August 29 September 3): Course Orientation Take Notes from These Lectures Complete these Exercises Refer to these Parts of the Course Website Lecture 00A: Your Professor (length: 26:08) Lecture 00B: Course Website (length: 27:24) Prepare your computer for the semester (see Your Computer in the Orientation unit). Earn a perfect score on the Orientation quiz in order to unlock the rest of the course materials. **Due by 11:59 PM on Monday, September 3 rd ** Course Syllabus and Schedule Course FAQs Course Materials SPSS Materials Professor Information Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 3

I. RESEARCH DESIGN Week 01 (September 4): Getting Started with Research Lecture 01A: The Scientific Method (length: 11:13) Lecture 01B: Research Questions & Hypotheses (length: 30:51) Lecture 01C: Variables & Relationships (length: 20:49) Workbook Chapter 1: Getting Started with Research Practice Exercise #1 The Scientific Method Manheim, Jarol B., Richard C. Rich, Lars Willnat, and Craig Leonard Brians. 2008. The Research Process. Chapter 1 in Empirical Political Analysis: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods. New York: Pearson-Longman. Pp. 1-14. (on course website) Research Questions Johnson, Janet Buttolph and H.T. Reynolds. 2008. Specifying the Research Question. Excerpt from chapter 3 in Political Science Research Methods. 6 th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Pp. 60-65. (on course website) Hypotheses Johnson, Janet Buttolph and H.T. Reynolds. 2008. Formulating Hypotheses. Excerpt from chapter 3 in Political Science Research Methods. 6 th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. Pp. 70-77. (on course website) Variables & Relationships Salkind, Neil J. 2009. All About Variables. Excerpt from chapter 2 in Exploring Research. 7 th ed. New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall. Pp. 21-25. (on course website) Almer, Ennis C., Liquor Outlets Cause Crime? Chapter 17 from Statistical Tricks and Traps: An Illustrated Guide to the Misuses of Statistics. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishig. Pp. 34-35. (on course website) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 4

Week 2 (September 11): Literature Review and Theory Building Lecture 02A: Developing a Theory (length: 12:11) Lecture 2B: Exploring the Literature (length: 41:16) Lecture 02C: Writing a Literature Review (length: 29:54) Workbook Chapter 2: Literature & Theory Building Practice Exercise #2 Developing a Theory White, Louise G. 1999. From Explanations to Theory Building Chapter 2 (pp. 32-34) in Political Analysis: Technique and Practice. 4 th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. (on course website) Exploring the Literature Baglione, Lisa A. 2007. Addressing the Scholarly Debate: The Literature Review. Chapter 3 (pp. 31-34 and 43-44) in Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods. Belmont, CA: Thomason Wadsworth. (on course website) Johnson, Janet Buttolph and H.T. Reynolds. 2008. Conducting a Literature Review. Chapter 6 (pp. 182-200) in Political Science Research Methods. 6 th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press. (on course website) The Literature Review Baglione, Lisa A. 2007. Addressing the Scholarly Debate: The Literature Review. Chapter 3 (pp. 45-55) in Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods. Belmont, CA: Thomason Wadsworth. (on course website) Johnson, Janet Buttolph Johnson and H.T. Reynolds. 2008. Conducting a Literature Review. Chapter 6 (pp. 200-207) in Political Science Research Methods. 6 th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press. (on course website) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 5

Week 3 (September 18): Collecting Data Lecture 03A: Research Designs (length: 48:38) Lecture 03B: Data Collection Strategies (length: 48:39) Lecture 03C: Sampling (length: 30:48) Lecture 03D: Measurement (length: 24:22) Workbook Chapter 3: Collecting Data Practice Exercise #3 Data Collection Strategies White, Louise G. 1999. Alternative Research Designs. Chapter 4 in Political Analysis: Technique and Practice. 4 th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. (on course website) Online readings on internal and external validity. (Links posted on Bb) Sampling Carlson, James M. and Mark S. Hyde. 2003. How to Achieve Maximum Representativeness: Sampling. Chapter 9 in Doing Empirical Political Research. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. (on course website) Measurement Carlson, James M. and Mark S. Hyde. 2003. How Conceptualizing, Operationalizing, and Measuring Variables. Chapter 7 in Doing Empirical Political Research. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. (on course website) Caldwell, Chapter 1 (pp. 8-10) SEPTEMBER 20 (THURSDAY): FINAL PROJECT EXERCISE I: RESEARCH FOCUS DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 6

SEPTEMBER 24 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #1 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 4 (September 25): Counting and Displaying Responses II. DESCRIBING DATA Introduction to SPSS Lecture 04A: Workbook Chapter 4: Orientation to Spreadsheets Introduction to SPSS (length: 14:27) Lecture 04B: Orientation to SPSS (length 45:50) Lecture 05A: Introduction to Frequency Tables (Length: 36:51) Lecture 05B: Producing Frequencies in SPSS (length: 17:58) Lecture 06A: Introduction to Crosstabs (length: 18:33) Lecture 06B: Producing Crosstabs in SPSS (length: 8:58) Lecture 07A: Graphically Summarizing Data (length: 14:23) Lecture 07B: Producing Graphics in SPSS (Length: 13:54) Workbook Chapter 5: Frequencies Workbook Chapter 6: Crosstabs Workbook Chapter 7: Charts & Graphs Complete these Practice Exercises Practice Exercise #4 Practice Exercise #5 Practice Exercise #6 Practice Exercise #7 Green, Samuel B. and Neil J. Salkind. 2011. Getting Started with SPSS and Creating and Working with Data Files. Units 1 and 2 in Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data. 6 th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Pp. 1-39. (on course website) Green, Samuel B. and Neil J. Salkind. 2011. SPSS Basics and Creating an SPSS Data File. Parts I and II in SPSS Quick Starts. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Pp. 2-19. (on course website) Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics Caldwell, Chapter 1, pp. 13-16 ( The Purposes of Statistical Analysis ) Frequencies Levin, Jack and James Alan Fox. 2004. Organizing the Data. Excerpt from chapter 2 in Elementary Statistics in Social Research: The Essentials. Boston, MA: Pearson. Pp. 19-31. (on course website) Crosstabs Levin, Jack and James Alan Fox. 2004. Cross-Tabulations. Excerpt from chapter 2 in Elementary Statistics in Social Research: The Essentials. Boston, MA: Pearson. Pp. 32-37. (on course website) Graphical Representations of Data Levin, Jack and James Alan Fox. 2003. Graphic Presentations. Excerpt from chapter 2 in Elementary Statistics in Social Research. 9 th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson. Pp. 56-60. (on course website) Caldwell, Chapter 3, pp. 52-60 ( The Basic Elements and Beyond the Basics ) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 7

OCTOBER 1 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #2 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 5 (October 2): Descriptive Statistics Lecture 08A: Measures of Central Tendency (length: 44:04) Lecture 08B: Measures of Dispersion (length: 38:27) Lecture 08C: Producing Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion in SPSS (length: 3:41) Workbook Chapter 8: Measures of Central Tendency & Dispersion Practice Exercise #8 Measures of Central Tendency Caldwell, Chapter 2, pp. 20-28 ( Measures of Central Tendency ) Measures of Dispersion Caldwell, Chapter 2, pp. 28-43 ( Measures of Variability or Dispersion ) Jaisingh, Lloyd. 2000. The Range and The Interquartile Range. Excerpts from chapter 3 in Statistics for the Utterly Confused. New York: McGraw-Hill. Pp. 44-46. (on course website) Measures of Central Tendency & Dispersion Pyrczak, Fred. 2004. Descriptive Statisics: Their Value in Research. Chapter 55 in Success at Statistics: A Worktext with Humor. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. Pp. 343-352. (on course website) OCTOBER 4 (THURSDAY): FINAL PROJECT EXERCISE II: CONCEPTS & MEASURES DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 8

OCTOBER 8 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #3 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 6 (October 9): Probability and the Normal Curve III. TESTING HYPOTHESES Lecture 09A: Introduction to Probability Theory (length: 26:12) Lecture 09B: Probability & the Normal Curve (length: 22:36) Lecture 10: Z-Scores (length: 21:33) Workbook Chapter 9: Probability & the Normal Curve Workbook Chapter 10: Z-Scores Complete these Practice Exercises Practice Exercise #9 Practice Exercise #10 Introduction to Probability Theory Meier, Kenneth J. and Jeffrey L. Brudney. 2002. Basic Concepts in Probability. Chapter 7 (pp. 107-111) in Applied Statistics for Public Administration. 5 th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. (on course website) Meier, Kenneth J. and Jeffrey L. Brudney. 2002. The General Rule of Addition. Chapter 7 (pp. 115-118) in Applied Statistics for Public Administration. 5 th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. (on course website) Probability & the Normal Curve Caldwell, Chapter 4, pp. 71-79 ( Real-World Normal Curves and Into the Theoretical World ) Pyrczak, Fred. 2004. A Closer Look at the Standard Deviation and Another Look at the Standard Deviation. Chapters 14-15 in Success at Statistics: A Worktext with Humor. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. Pp. 75-84. (on course website) Z-Scores Caldwell, Chapter 4, pp. 79-91 ( The Table of Areas Under the Normal Curve and Finally, an Application. ) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 9

OCTOBER 15 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #4 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 7 (October 16): Testing Hypotheses Lecture 11A: Confidence Intervals (length: 31:48) Lecture 11B: Confidence Intervals & Sample Size (length: 9:43) Lecture 12A: One Sample t-test (length: 43:22) Lecture 12B: Types of Error (length: 6:37) Workbook Chapter 11: Confidence Intervals Workbook Chapter 12: One Sample t-test Complete these Practice Exercises Practice Exercise #11 Practice Exercise #12 Caldwell, Chapters 5 and 6 Caldwell, Chapter 7 Sampling and Confidence Intervals One Sample t-test Hypothesis Testing Pyrczak, Fred. 2004. Inferential Statistics: Their Value in Research, Limitations of Inferential Statistics: I, and Limitations of Inferential Statistics II. Chapters 56-58 in Success at Statistics: A Worktext with Humor. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak Publishing. Pp. 353-374. (on course website) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 10

OCTOBER 22 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #5 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 8 (October 23): Comparing Two Samples Lecture 13A: Independent Samples t-test (length: 32:18) Lecture 13B: Independent Samples t-test in SPSS (length: 11:36) Lecture 14: Dependent Samples t-test (length: 21:45) Workbook Chapter 13: Independent Samples t-test Workbook Chapter 14: Dependent Samples t-test Complete these Practice Exercises Practice Exercise #13A Practice Exercise #13B Practice Exercise #14 Comparing Two Independent Samples Caldwell, Chapter 8, pp. 188-197 ( Independent Samples ) Comparing Two Dependent Samples Caldwell, Chapter 8; pp. 179-188 ( Related Samples ) Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 11

OCTOBER 29 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #6 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 9 (October 30): Bivariate Relationships, Part I IV. EXAMINING RELATIONSHIPS Take Notes from This Lecture Use these Workbook Materials Refer to these Readings Lecture 15: Crosstabs & Chi-Square (length: 39:30) Workbook Chapter 15: Crosstabs & the Chi-Square Statistic Practice Exercise #15 Caldwell, Chapter 11 Crosstabs and the Chi-Square Statistics NOVEMBER 1 (THURSDAY): FINAL PROJECT EXERCISE III: DATA PREPARATION DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM NOVEMBER 5 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #7 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 10 (November 6): Bivariate Relationships, Part II Take Notes from This Lecture Use these Workbook Materials Refer to these Readings Lecture 16: Crosstabs & Other Measures of Association (length: 38:27) Workbook Chapter 16: Crosstabs & Additional Measures of Association Practice Exercise #16 Crosstabs & Other Measures of Association Measures of Association Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 12

NOVEMBER 12 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #8 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 11 (November 13): Bivariate Relationships, Part III Lecture 17: Scatterplots & Correlations (length: 37:18) Lecture 18: Bivariate Regression (length: 51:43) Workbook Chapter 17: Scatterplots & Correlations Workbook Chapter 18: Bivariate Regression Practice Exercise #17 Practice Exercise #18 Scatterplots & Correlations Caldwell, Chapter 12, pp. 275-293 ( Scatterplots and Correlation Analysis ) Bivariate Regression Caldwell, Chapter 12, pp. 293-303 ( Regression Analysis ) NOVEMBER 15 (THURSDAY): FINAL PROJECT EXERCISE IV: STATISTICAL METHODS DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM NOVEMBER 19 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #9 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Week 12 (November 20): NO CLASS MEETING View this Video Use these Workbook Materials Refer to these Readings None None The graded problem set that has been placed in your electronic dropbox. None Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 13

Week 13 (November 27): Multivariate Relationships Take Notes from This Lecture Use these Workbook Materials Refer to these Readings Lecture 19: Multivariate Regression (length: 1:05:12) Workbook Chapter 19: Multivariate Regression Practice Exercise #19 Multivariate Regression Pollock, Philip H. 2009. Multiple Regression. In The Essentials of Political Analysis. 3 rd Ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press. Pp. 187-189. (on course website) DECEMBER 3 (MONDAY): PROBLEM SET #10 DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM V. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Week 14 (December 4): Final Project Help Session Bring your Final Project to class to get help on it. DECEMBER 6 (THURSDAY): COMPLETED FINAL PROJECT (WRITTEN REPORT & POWERPOINT PRESENTATION) DUE IN ELECTRONIC DROPBOX BY 11:59 PM Finals Week (December 11): Final Exam, 8:00 10:00 PM Ulbig, POLS 5377W, Section 01 14