Applied Research Methods

Catalog description

This course is designed to provide a broad introduction to issues of research methods and design in Political Science. Emphasis is on the subfield of American Politics, but most of the methodological issues discussed could apply to other areas of the discipline as well, or even to the social sciences more generally. Consideration is given to both quantitative and non-quantitative approaches to research and no specific background in methodology is expected or assumed. The goals of this course are to prepare you to understand material taught in Political Science and other social science courses and to teach you research methods that you may use in future courses or later in your careers. We will discuss the logic of the scientific method, research design (emphasizing survey research and experiments), and statistical analysis of data.