Political Science Research Methods

by Johnson, Janet Buttolph; Joslyn, Richard A.; Reynolds, H. T.

• ISBN13: 9781568023298
• ISBN10: 1568023294
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Table of Contents

Tables, Figures, and Helpful Hints	xi
Preface	xvii
Introduction	1	(21)
Research on Regime Stability	3	(3)
Repression of Human Rights	6	(2)
Welfare: A Reaction to Civil Unrest?	8	(2)
Does Economic Development Promote Democracy?	10	(1)
Investigating Popular Influence on Public Policy	11	(1)
A Look into Judicial Decision Making	12	(3)
Influencing Bureaucracies	15	(1)
Effects of Campaign Advertising on Voters	16	(2)
Conclusion	18	(1)
Notes	19	(1)
Terms Introduced	20	(1)
Exercises	21	(1)
Studying Politics Scientifically	22	(23)
Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge	23	(8)
Acquiring Scientific Knowledge: Induction and Deduction	31	(3)
Is Political Science Really ``Science''?	34	(2)
A Brief History of Political Science as a Discipline	36	(4)
Traditional Political Science	36	(1)
Modern Political Science	37	(3)
Conclusion	40	(1)
Notes	41	(1)
Terms Introduced	42	(1)
Exercises	43	(1)
Suggested Readings	44	(1)
The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, and Variables	45	(27)
Specifying the Research Question	45	(3)
Proposing Explanations	48	(5)
Formulating Hypotheses	53	(11)
Characteristics of Good Hypotheses	54	(6)
Specifying Units of Analysis	60	(4)
Defining Concepts	64	(4)
Conclusion	68	(1)
Notes	68	(1)
Terms Introduced	69	(1)
Exercises	70	(1)
Suggested Readings	70	(2)
The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement	72	(39)
Devising Measurement Strategies	73	(1)
Examples of Political Measurement	74	(7)
The Accuracy of Measurements	81	(11)
Reliability	82	(2)
Validity	84	(6)
Problems with Reliability and Validity in Political Science Measurement	90	(2)
The Precision of Measurements	92	(3)
Multi-item Measures	95	(10)
Indexes	96	(2)
Scales	98	(5)
Factor Analysis	103	(2)
Conclusion	105	(1)
Notes	106	(1)
Terms Introduced	107	(1)
Exercises	108	(1)
Suggested Readings	109	(2)
Research Design	111	(43)
Experimentation	112	(6)
Internal Validity	114	(2)
External Validity	116	(1)
Control over Assignment of Subjects	117	(1)
Experimental Designs	118	(15)
Simple Post-test Design	118	(1)
Pre-test/Post-test Design	119	(3)
Time Series Design	122	(1)
Multigroup Design	123	(2)
Factorial Design	125	(1)
Solomon Four-Group Design	126	(2)
The New Jersey Income-Maintenance Field Experiment	128	(5)
Nonexperimental Designs	133	(14)
Time Series Design	133	(5)
Cross-sectional Design	138	(3)
Panel Study Design	141	(2)
Case Study Design	143	(4)
Conclusion	147	(1)
Notes	148	(1)
Terms Introduced	149	(2)
Exercises	151	(2)
Suggested Readings	153	(1)
Conducting a Literature Review	154	(28)
Selecting a Research Topic	154	(1)
Popular and Political Journals and Magazines	154	(1)
Journals and Magazines with a Government and Policy Focus	155	(1)
Reasons for Conducting a Literature Review	155	(4)
Conducting a Literature Review	159	(1)
Using the Internet to Conduct a Literature Review	160	(11)
Surfing the Net	164	(3)
Conducting an Effective Electronic Literature Review	167	(3)
Ensuring a Reliable Internet Literature Review	170	(1)
Printed Research Sources	171	(9)
Professional Journals in Political Science and Related Fields	171	(1)
Journals of National and Regional Political Science Associations	171	(1)
Specialized Journals and Journals from Related Disciplines	172	(3)
Indexes, Bibliographies, and Abstracts	175	(3)
Compact Disc Databases	178	(1)
Newspaper Indexes	178	(1)
Book Reviews	179	(1)
Conference Proceedings	179	(1)
Conclusion	180	(1)
Notes	180	(1)
Terms Introduced	180	(1)
Exercises	181	(1)
Suggested Readings	181	(1)
Sampling	182	(34)
Population or Sample?	183	(1)
The Basics of Sampling	184	(3)
Types of Samples	187	(10)
Simple Random Samples	188	(2)
Systematic Samples	190	(1)
Stratified Samples	191	(3)
Cluster Samples	194	(2)
Nonprobability Samples	196	(1)
Sample and Statistical Inference	197	(11)
Sampling Distribution	198	(7)
The Margin of Error and Sample Size	205	(3)
Conclusion	208	(1)
Notes	209	(1)
Terms Introduced	210	(2)
Exercises	212	(3)
Suggested Readings	215	(1)
Making Empirical Observations: Direct and Indirect Observation	216	(21)
Types of Data and Collection Techniques	216	(4)
Observation	220	(2)
Direct Observation	222	(5)
Indirect Observation	227	(3)
Physical Trace Measures	228	(1)
Validity Problems with Indirect Observation	229	(1)
Ethical Issues in Observation	230	(3)
Conclusion	233	(1)
Notes	234	(1)
Terms Introduced	235	(1)
Suggested Readings	236	(1)
Document Analysis: Using the Written Record	237	(34)
Types of Written Records	238	(17)
The Episodic Record	238	(6)
The Running Record	244	(7)
The Running Record and Episodic Record Compared	251	(1)
The Uniform Crime Report	252	(3)
Content Analysis	255	(8)
Content Analysis Procedures	256	(3)
News Coverage of Presidential Campaigns	259	(4)
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Written Record	263	(4)
Conclusion	267	(1)
Notes	268	(1)
Terms Introduced	269	(1)
Exercises	270	(1)
Suggested Readings	270	(1)
Elite Interviewing and Survey Research	271	(34)
Elite Interviewing	272	(4)
Survey Research	276	(21)
Question Wording	277	(3)
Question Type	280	(4)
Question Order	284	(2)
Questionnaire Design	286	(1)
Mailed Questionnaires and Telephone and Personal Interviews	287	(10)
Conclusion	297	(1)
Notes	297	(4)
Terms Introduced	301	(1)
Exercises	302	(2)
Suggested Readings	304	(1)
Univariate Data Analysis and Description Statistics	305	(33)
Frequency Distributions	307	(11)
Descriptive Statistics	318	(9)
Descriptive Statistics for Nominal Level Variables	319	(2)
Descriptive Statistics for Ordinal Level Measures	321	(2)
Descriptive Statistics for Interval and Ratio Level Measures	323	(4)
The Normal Distribution	327	(3)
The Normal Distribution and Statistical Inference	330	(3)
Conclusion	333	(1)
Notes	334	(1)
Terms Introduced	335	(1)
Exercises	336	(1)
Suggested Readings	337	(1)
Measuring Relationships and Testing Hypotheses: Bivariate Data Analysis	338	(55)
Crosstabulation	340	(23)
Statistical Independence	347	(2)
Example of a Crosstab Analysis	349	(1)
Measures of Association	350	(7)
Statistical Significance	357	(6)
Difference of Means Test and Analysis of Variance	363	(6)
Regression	369	(16)
Correlation Analysis	377	(6)
Other Issues	383	(2)
Conclusion	385	(1)
Notes	385	(1)
Terms Introduced	386	(2)
Exercises	388	(3)
Suggested Readings	391	(2)
Searching for Complete Explanations and Causal Knowledge: Multivariate Data Analysis	393	(44)
Multivariate Analysis of Categorical Data	395	(7)
Two-Way Analysis of Variance	402	(3)
Multiple Regression	405	(7)
Estimation and Calculation of a Regression Equation	408	(1)
Standardized Regression Coefficients	408	(1)
Measuring the Goodness of Fit and Testing for Significance	409	(3)
Logistic Regression	412	(18)
Estimating the Model's Coefficients	418	(1)
Measures of Fit	419	(3)
Testing Hypotheses	422	(2)
An Alternative Interpretation of Logistic Regression Coefficients	424	(3)
A substantive Example	427	(3)
Conclusion	430	(1)
Notes	431	(1)
Terms Introduced	432	(1)
Exercises	433	(2)
Suggested Readings	435	(2)
The Research Report: An Annotated Example	437	(20)
The Effects of State Abortion Policies on States' Abortion Rates	438	(17)
Conclusion	455	(1)
Exercise	455	(2)
Appendix	457	(10)
Glossary	467	(14)
Index	481