Students

Chapter 1 - Why Do We Need a Science of Politics?

To learn more about the field of political science, visit the website for the American Political Science Association:  http://www.apsanet.org/

Chapter 2 - How Do We Get a Science of Politics?

For more general information about what social science research is all about visit: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/

Chapter 3 - Case Study and the Comparative Method

Exemplary Research:

  1. Bunce, Valerie. 2003. “Rethinking Recent Democratization: Lessons from the Postcommunist Experience.” World Politics 55: 167–192 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/25054217)
  2. Huntington, Samuel. 1991/92. “How Countries Democratize.” Political Science Quarterly 106: 579–616 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/2151795)

Weblinks

The Consortium on Qualitative Research Methods (CQRM) at www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan_cqrm.aspx

Chapter 4 - Field Research

Exemplary Research:

  1. Corstange, Daniel. 2012. “Religion, Pluralism, and Iconography in the Public Sphere: Theory and Evidence from Lebanon”. World Politics 64: 116–160 (available at: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8464973)
  2. Agrawal, Arun and Sanjeev Goyal. 2001. “Group Size and Collective Action: Third Party Monitoring in Common Pool Resources.” Comparative Political Studies 34: 63–93 (available at: http://cps.sagepub.com/content/34/1/63.full.pdf  )

Weblinks

The Grounded Theory Institute at http://www.groundedtheory.com/

Chapter 5 - Interviews

Exemplary Research:

  1. Aberbach, Joel, James Chesney, and Bert Rockman. 1975. “Exploring Elite Attitudes: Some Methodological Lessons.” Political Methodology 2: 1–27 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/25791403)
  2. Eliasoph, Nina. 1999. “‘Everyday Racism’ in a Culture of Political Avoidance: Civil Society, Speech, and Taboo.” Social Problems 46: 479–502 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/3097072)

Weblinks

The Grounded Theory Institute at http://www.groundedtheory.com/

Chapter 6 - Statistical Research

Exemplary Research:

  1. Farber, Henry and Joanne Gowa. 1995. “Polities and Peace.” International Security 20: 123–146 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/2539231)
  2. Ingelhart, Ronald, Roberto Foa, Christopher Peterson, and Christian Welzel. 2008. “Development, Freedom, and Rising Happiness.” Perspectives on Psychological Science 3: 264–285 (available at: http://pps.sagepub.com/content/3/4/264.abstract or www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/publication_578)
  3. Ingelhart, Roland. 2008. “Changing Values among Western Publics from 1970 to 2006.” West European Politics 31 (1–2): 130–146 (available at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01402380701834747#preview  or www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/publication_559)

Weblinks

The Inter-University Consortium for Politics and Social Research at www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/

A Wiki about quantitative and formal methods in political science: http://quantitativepolitics.wikia.com/

Interactive e-lessons in quantitative methods: http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/qmss/

Campaign Ad Project Website:  The following website contains a dataset which codes presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2008.  The codebook can also be accessed at this site and there is a blog which the co-directors of the website will be updating with discussion of the current election season advertisements in comparison to past advertisements: www.unl.edu/unecap

Chapter 7 - Survey Research

Exemplary Research:

  1. Brady, Henry, Sidney Verba, and Kay Schlozman. 1995. “Beyond SES: A Resource Model of Political Participation.” American Political Science Review 89(2): 271–294 (available at: www.jstor.org/stable/2082425?seq=3)
  2. Inglehart, Ronald F. 2008. “Changing Values among Western Publics from 1970-2006.” West European Politics 31 (1–2): 130–146 (available at: www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs/articles/folder_published/publication_559)
  3. Sullivan, John L., James E. Piereson, and George E. Marcus. 1978. “Ideological Constraint in the Mass Public: A Methodological Critique and Some New Findings.” American Journal of Political Science 22(2): 233–249 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/2110615)
  4. Tessler, Mark. 2002. “Islam and Democracy in the Middle East: The Impact of Religious Orientations on Attitudes toward Democracy in Four Arab Countries.” Comparative Politics 34(3): 337–354 (available at: www.jstor.org/stable/4146957)
  5. For a good general discussion of the role that surveys have played in political science research, see: Henry Brady, 2000. “Contributions of Survey Research to Political Science.” PS: Political Science and Politics. 33(1): 47–57 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/420775)

Weblinks

For more information about the World Values Survey and for publications using this survey see: http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/

For general information about the Pew Research Center and its surveys see: http://pewresearch.org/

The American Association for Public Opinion Research has a very good discussion of poll and survey FAQs: http://www.aapor.org/Home.htm

Access ANES surveys as well as the General Social Survey, do some basic frequencies and crosstabs at the Survey Documentation and Analysis website at Berkeley: http://sda.berkeley.edu/

Access the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan: http://www.src.isr.umich.edu/ - click on data resources for access to a variety of surveys including Monitoring the Future which may be of particular interest to students as it measures the attitudes of young people

Chapter 8 - Secondary Data Analysis

Exemplary Research:

  1. Trenholm, Christopher, Barbara Devaney, Kenneth Fortson, Melissa Clark, Lisa Quay, and Justin Wheeler. 2008. “Impacts of Abstinence Education on Teen Sexual Activity, Risk of Pregnancy, and Risk of Sexually Transmitted Diseases.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 27: 255–276 (available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.20324/pdf)
  2. Uscinski, Joseph, Michael S. Rocca, Gabriel R. Sanchez, and Marina Brenden. 2009. “Congress and Foreign Policy: Congressional Action on the Darfur Genocide.” PS: Political Science & Politics 42 (3): 489–496 (available at: www.unm.edu/~sanchezg/Publication%20FIles/Uscinski_Rocca_Sanchez_PS_2009.pdf  )

Weblinks

The Urban Institute has reports on a variety of public policy issues: http://www.urban.org/

The Brookings Institute is a nonpartisan think tank employing reputable political scientists with Ph.Ds in American and Comparative politics.  See their reports and publications: http://www.brookings.edu/

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR): Called e-Source, this website provides researchers with comprehensive discussion of the various research methods available to social scientists interested in the topic of public health. http://www.esourceresearch.org

Chapter 9 - Content Analysis

Exemplary Research:

  1. Hart Roderick P., Sharon E. Jarvis, and Elvin T. Lim. 2002 (Sept.). “The American People in Crisis: A Content Analysis.” Political Psychology 23(3): 417–437 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/3792586)
  2. Holian, David B. 2004. “He’s Stealing My Issues! Clinton's Crime Rhetoric and the Dynamics of Issue Ownership.” Political Behavior 26 (2): 95–124 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/4151362)
  3. Peterson, Bill E. and Emily D. Gerstein. 2005. “Fighting and Flying: Archival Analysis of Threat, Authoritarianism, and the North American Comic Book.” Political Psychology 26 (6): 887–904 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/3792469)

Weblinks

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism provides many content analyses of trends in news coverage:  http://www.journalism.org/

The following website contains links to interesting political documents and speeches that could be content analyzed as well as links to more information about the method:  http://janda.org/politxts/index.html

The Center for Media and Public Affairs at George Mason University has a great website which illustrates content analysis of broadcast media: http://www.cmpa.com/

The following website provides numerous links and examples of software packages that can be used to do content analysis: http://www.content-analysis.de

Campaign Ad Project Website:  The following website contains a dataset which codes presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2008.  The codebook can also be accessed at this site and there is a blog which the co-directors of the website will be updating with discussion of the current election season advertisements in comparison to past advertisements: www.unl.edu/unecap

Chapter 10 - Experimental Research

Exemplary Research:

  1. Brader, Ted. 2005. “Striking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions.” American Journal of Political Science, 49(2): 388–405 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/3647684)
  2. Miller, Joanne M. and Jon A. Krosnick. 2004. “Threat as a Motivator of Political Activism: A Field Experiment.” Political Psychology 25: 507–524 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/3792406)

Weblinks

For an interesting ongoing, online experiment on implicit attitudes, explore the Harvard Implicit Association Website and the research associated with it.  Your students can participate in the study as well: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/

Chapter 11 - Formal Modeling

Exemplary Research:

  1. Bennett, Peter. 1995. “Modeling Decisions in International Relations: Game Theory and Beyond.” Mershon International Studies Review 39: 19–52 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/222691)
  2. Jervis, Robert. 1988. “Realism, Game Theory, and Cooperation.” World Politics 40: 317–349 (at stable URL: www.jstor.org/stable/2010216)

Weblinks

A Wiki about quantitative and formal methods in political science: http://quantitativepolitics.wikia.com/

Chapter 12 - Normative and Ethical Considerations of Political Science Research

See the American Political Science Association’s statement on ethics and download the APSA Guide to Ethics in Research at: http://www.apsanet.org/pubs/ethics.cfm

Read the book On Being a Scientist: A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research available for free at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12192#toc

For more information, slide show and discussion questions about the Stanford Prison Experiment, see: http://www.prisonexp.org/