America at a Crossroads A Real World Introduction to Research Methods for Political Science

by Clark, Caleb

• ISBN13: 9780321224439
• ISBN10: 0321224434
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

Uniquely organized around a series of real world questions about the political crossroads at which America finds itself, this book shows students how to use research and statistical techniques to answer these questions. Students then come to understand that political methods and statistics have real meaning and offer us insights into the world in which we live.

Table of Contents

Preface

Research as Puzzle Solving

What do Our Variables Show?

Frequency Tables: Are Americans Conservative or Liberal?

Data Arrays, Graphs, And Summary Statistics: How Area We Doing?

Setting Up a Research Design

The Logic of Inquiry and Research Design

Data and Measurement: Understanding Our Data Sets

Discovering Relationships

Regression: International Patterns and Benchmarks for American Performance

Multiple Regression and Path Analysis: Testing More Complex Models of the Policy Process

Crosstabulation: Why Are Americans Conservative or Liberal?

Multivariate Tables: Specifying More Nuanced Explanations for Conservative Attitudes and Behavior

Going Beyond the Basics

Inferential Statistics: how Much Faith Can We Put in Our Findings?

Applying SPSS to Our Data Sets

Doing the Calculations Ourselves

What do Our Results Tell Us About the Insights and Limits of Political Science Research?

The Insights and Limits of Quantitative Research

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