Political Science Research Methods

by Johnson, Janet Buttolph

• ISBN13: 9780872894426
• ISBN10: 0872894428
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-20
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

Don't let an introduction to research methods be your students' least favorite (and most intimidating) political science course. Relevant, timely, insightful, comprehensive, and always mindful of their student audience, the authors have revamped their popular text so that the sixth edition is friendlier and more intuitive than ever-the perfect gateway to understanding not just the how but also the why behind research into politics. Covering the discipline's major methods, the authors lead students step-by-step through the logic of research design. Building block chapters on hypothesis formation and testing, variables, and measurement are right up front; the introduction to research design, sampling, and literature reviews now come with more explanation as to why a researcher would pursue different kinds of methods; the stats chapters begin with a common-sense primer that walks students through foundational ideas and practices. Throughout the text, updated examples of contemporary research problems keep readers engaged. Each chapter has bolded key terms that are also listed in a glossary at the end of each chapter and the end of the text. Helpful hints feature boxes give students nuts-and-bolts reminders they can refer to when they conduct their own research or assess the work of others. NEW TO THIS EDITION New examples of political science research in Chapter 1, including a case on judicial decision making and current research into public opinion on the war in Iraq. Expanded discussion of theory in Chapter 2, showing how competing paradigms can be applied to the same topic of study. Substantially updated discussion of survey research including coverage of Internet polling and a fuller description of interviewing. Computational formulas and calculations are now featured in How It's Done boxes allowing students to separate lengthy calculations from substantive discussion of the meaning or interpretation of statistical results. Greater coverage of newer developments in applied statistics, including exploratory data analysis and descriptive and inferential statistics for counts and functions of counts. In general, less emphasis on computation, and more on interpretation. Reorganized statistics chapters for better comprehension with regression analysis and logistic regression in their own chapters. A new overview of statistical analysis, including discussion of data preparation, description, modeling, inference, interpretation, and the communication of results.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Research on Winners and Losers in Politics

Who Votes, Who Doesn't?

Repression of Human Rights

a Look into Judicial Decision Making and Its Effects Influencing Bureaucracies

Effects of Campaign Advertising on Voters

Research on Public Support for U.S. Foreign Involvement

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Studying Politics Scientifically

Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge

The Importance of Theory

Acquiring Empirical Knowledge: The Scientific Method

Deduction and Induction

The Scientific Method at Work

Is Political Science Really "Science"?

Practical Objections

Philosophical Objections

a Brief History of Political Science as a Discipline

The Era of Traditional Political Science

The Empirical Revolution

Reaction to Empiricism

Political Science Today: Peaceful Coexistence?

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, and Variables

Specifying the Research Question

Proposing Explanations

Formulating Hypotheses

Characteristics of Good Hypotheses

Specifying Units of Analysis

Cross-level Analysis: Ecological Inference and Ecological Fallacy

Defining Concepts

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement

Devising Measurement Strategies

Examples of Political Measurements: Getting to Operationalization

The Accuracy of Measurements

Reliability

Validity

Problems with Reliability and Validity in Political Science Measurement

The Precision of Measurements

Levels of Measurement

Working with Precision: Too Little or Too Much

Multi-item Measures

Indexes

Scales

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Research Design

Causal Inferences and Controlled Experiments

Causal versus Spurious Relationships

Randomized Controlled Experiments

Randomization and the Assignment of Subjects

Interpreting and Generalizing the Results of an Experiment

Internal Validity

External Validity

Other Versions of Experimental Designs

Simple Post-test Design

Repeated-Measurement Design

Multigroup Design

Field Experiments

Nonexperimental Designs

Small-N Designs

Cross-Sectional Designs: Surveys and Aggregate Data Analysis

Large Longitudinal (Time Series) Designs

Panel Studies

Alternative Research Strategies

Formal Modeling

Simulation

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Conducting a Literature Review Selecting a Research Topic

Why Conduct a Literature Review?

Collecting Sources for a Literature Review

Identifying the Relevant Scholarly Literature

Identifying Useful Popular Sources

Reading the Literature

Writing a Literature Review

Anatomy of a Literature Review

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Sampling

The Basics of Sampling

Population or Sample?

Fundamental Concepts

Types of Samples

Simple Random Samples

Systematic Samples

Stratified Samples

Cluster Samples

Nonprobability Samples

Samples and Statistical Inference: a Gentle Introduction

Expected Values

Measuring the Variability of the Estimates: Standard Errors

Sampling Distributions

How Large a Sample?

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Making Empirical Observations: Direct and Indirect Observation

Types of Data and Collection Techniques

Qualitative versus Quantitative Uses of Data

Choosing among Data Collection Methods

Observation

Direct Observation

Indirect Observation

Physical Trace Measures

Validity Problems with Indirect Observation

Ethical Issues in Observation

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Document Analysis: Using the Written Record

Types of Written Records

The Episodic Record

The Running Record

The Running Record and Episodic Record Compared

Presidential Job Approval

Content Analysis

Content Analysis Procedures

News Coverage of Presidential Campaigns

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Written Record

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Survey Research and Interviewing

Fundamentals: Ensuring Validity and Reliability

Survey Research

Types of Surveys

Characteristics of Surveys

Response Quality

Survey Type and Response Quality

Question Wording

Question Type

Question Order

Questionnaire Design

Using Archived Survey Data

Advantages of Using Archived Surveys

Publicly Available Archives

Interviewing

The Ins and Outs of Interviewing

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Statistics: First Steps

The Data Matrix

Data Description and Exploration

Frequency Distributions, Proportions, and Percentages

Descriptive Statistics

Measures of Central Tendency

Measures of Variability or Dispersion

Deviations from Central Tendency

Graphs for Presentation and Exploration

Presentation Graphs: Bar Charts and Pie Diagrams

Exploratory Graphs

Statistical Inference

Two Kinds of Inference

Hypothesis Testing

Significance Tests of a Mean

Confidence Intervals and Confidence Levels: Reporting Estimates of Population Parameters

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Investigating Relationships between Two Variables

The Basics of Identifying and Measuring Relationships

Types of Relationships

The Strength of Relationships

Numerical Summaries: Measures of Association

Cross-tabulations of Nominal and Ordinal Variables

a First Look at the Strength of a Relationship

The Direction of a Relationship

Coefficients for Ordinal Variables

a Coefficient for Nominal Data

Association in 2 x 2 Tables: The Odds Ratio

Testing a Cross-tabulation for Statistical Significance

Analysis of Variance and the Difference of Means

Difference of Means or Effect Size

Difference of Proportions

Analysis of Variance

Regression Analysis

Scatterplots

Matrix Plots

Modeling Linear Relationships

The Regression Model

Interpretation of Parameters

Measuring the Fit of a Regression Line

The Correlation Coefficient

Standardized Regression Coefficients

Inference for Regression Parameters

Regression Is Sensitive to Large Values

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

Multivariate Analysis

Multivariate Analysis of Categorical Data

Multiple Regression

Interpretation of Parameters

Dummy Variables

Estimation and Calculation of a Regression Equation

Standardized Regression Coefficients

Measuring the Goodness of Fit

Tests of Significance

Logistic Regression

Estimating the Model's Coefficients

Measures of Fit

Significance Tests

An Alternative Interpretation of Logistic Regression Coefficients

a Substantive Example

Conclusion

Terms Introduced

Suggested Readings

The Research Report: An Annotated Example

Bias in Newspaper Photograph Selection

Relevant Literature

Political Atmosphere Theory

Why Newspapers

Research Design

Findings

Conclusion

Notes

References

Conclusion

Appendixes

Normal Curve Tail Probabilities

Critical Values from t Distribution

Chi-Squared Distribution Values for Various Right-tail Probabilities

F Distribution

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