Empirical Political Analysis

by Brians, Craig Leonard

• ISBN13: 9780205791217
• ISBN10: 0205791212
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-17
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Updated in a new 8th edition, this book introduces readers to the full range of qualitative and quantitative methods used in political science research. Organized around all of the stages of the research process, this comprehensive book surveys designing experiments, conducting research, evaluating results, and presenting findings. With exercises in the text and in a companion lab manual, Empirical Political Analysis gives readers applied insights on the scopes and methods of political science research.

Author Biography

Craig Leonard Brians is Associate Professor of Political Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

 

Lars Willnat is Professor of Journalism at Indiana University.

 

Jarol B. Manheim is Professor of Media and Public Affairs and of Political Science at the George Washington University.

 

Richard C. Rich is Professor of Political Science at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Table of Contents

PART I. INTRODUCTION

Chapter 1. Research as a Process

 

PART II. PREPARING TO DO RESEARCH

Chapter 2. Explaining the Political World: Building Theories and Hypotheses

Chapter 3. Developing Your Literature Review: What Others Say About Your Topic

Chapter 4. Designing Your Research and Choosing Your Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Chapter 5. From Abstract to Concrete: Operationalization and Measurement

Chapter 6. Experimental Research Methods

Chapter 7. Who, What, Where, When: The Problem of Sampling

 

PART III. QUANTITATIVE METHODS

Chapter 8. Survey Research

Chapter 9. Combining Multiple Measures: Using Scaling Techniques

Chapter 10. Content Analysis

Chapter 11. Studying Groups with Aggregate Data

Chapter 12. Comparative Research

 

PART IV. ANALYZING QUANTITATIVE DATA

Chapter 13. Social Network Analysis: Finding Structure in a Complex World

Chapter 14. Data Coding

Chapter 15. Describing the Data

Chapter 16. Statistics I: Summarizing Distributions on One Variable

Chapter 17. Statistics II: Examining Relationships between Two Variables

Chapter 18. Statistics III: Examining Relationships among Several Variables

 

PART V. QUALITATIVE METHODS

Chapter 19. Direct Observation

Chapter 20. Focus Group Methodologies

Chapter 21. Elite and Specialized Interviewing

 

PART VI. CONCLUSION

Chapter 22. Writing (and Reading) the Research Report

Chapter 23. Summary

 

Appendix A. Statistical Tables

Appendix B. Ethical Standard in Empirical Research