Graduate Seminar
in Political Science Research Methods
California
State University, Northridge
Political
Science 571
Spring 1999
Professor
Matthew Cahn
Wednesday: 6:00 - 8:45 pm
Office: ST 208
Phone:
677-6518
Office
Hours: Monday 10-11 am Email: mcahn@csun.edu
& Wed 1-2 pm & 5-6 pm
Seminar Description
As a social
science, political science endeavors to apply social scientific methodologies
to social and political problems facing our society. In this sense, we have a special obligation. As scientists, we are responsible for
joining the scientific community in addressing the myriad of challenges before
us. As social and political scientists,
we are responsible for applying unique tools to these challenges. This seminar introduces students to advanced
methods of data collection and analysis.
Emphasis is placed on the procedures for handling complex data files
with available statistical packages (e.g., SPSS). The seminar will work collectively to design and implement a
research project of professional quality, utilizing available literature, field
study, and computer lab analysis.
Required Reading
Kuhn, The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd edition
(University
of Chicago Press, 1970)
Earl
Babbie: The Practice of Social
Research, 8th edition
(Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1997)
Ethridge: The
Political Research Experience: Readings and Analysis
(Dushkin
Publishing 1994, 2nd ed.)
The required reading for the seminar is
purposely low. This is to allow seminar
participants the time to research their substantive research project. As a participant in a graduate seminar you
will be expected to read between 200 and 250 pages per week, including both
assigned readings and literature you have identified in your research. As well, you can expect to spend several
hours per week in the library, in the computer lab (or on your home computer),
and doing field work (collecting data).
The quality of your education, and of the seminar, depends entirely on
the energy you put in.
Course Requirements
Seminar
Participation 30%
Group
Participation
30%
Research
Paper 40%
The course
employs the traditional +/- grading system.
Requirements include participation in working groups, discussion, weekly
exercises, and completion of a semester research paper. There are no midterms and there is no final
exam. University policy requires me to
remind you that cheating or plagiarism (representing the work of another as
one's own) will result in an "F" and may result in further
disciplinary measures.
The Research Paper
Research is the
main focus of the course. Students will
work with The General Social Survey data collected by the
National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The data will be analyzed using SPSS, and
the final results written up according to the protocol outlined in the APSA Style
Manual.
Each student
will develop and write an individual research paper based on the GSS
data. The final research paper will be
the culmination of the semester's work, and must include a clear discussion of
the research question, a review of the relevant scholarly literature, a
description of the population sample, discussion of survey questions, summation
of data, and most importantly, analysis of that data. As always, the papers must use proper citation and bibliographic
format.
Semester Outline
Please note
that reading MUST be done PRIOR to day it is
listed. Please plan accordingly.
Week I (2/3): The Nature of Political Inquiry
- Plan of Semester
- The Nature of
Political Inquiry
! Epistemology
! Normative
Concerns
(Rdg: Babbie
chs. 1-5)
Week II (2/10): Conceptualizing the
Study: Applied Research
- Discuss Kuhn:
Scientific Revolutions & Paradigm Changes
- The
Scientific Method
! Hypotheses
& Variables
! Identifying
Meaningful Relationships
- Developing
the Literature Review
- Components of
the Research Project
! Executive
Summary
! The Research
Question
! Literature
Review
! Research Methodology ! Appendices
! Data summary ! Notes
! Data Analysis ! References
! Conclusions
& Further Research
(Rdg: Kuhn, all) **
Research Question Due **
Week III (2/17): Methodological Tools A
-
Operationalizing
- Indexes &
Scales
(Babbie chs. 6
& 7)
** Literature
Review:
Due 3/3 **
Week IV (2/24): Methodological Tools B
- Survey
Research
! Developing the
Questionnaire
! Interviewing
! Coding Data
- Experimental
Methods
! Research
Design
! Artificially
Manipulating Dependent Variables
- Field
Research
! Observational
Research
- Unobtrusive
Research (Document Analysis)
! Content
Analysis
! Historical
Analysis
(Babbie chs.
10, 9, 11, 12, 13)
** Continue
Literature Review; Begin Developing
Hypotheses **
Week V (3/3): Sampling
- Sampling
Designs
(Babbie ch. 8) ** Literature Review due NOW! **
Week VI (3/10): Introduction to SPSS
- Using SPSS
for Data Analysis
- Accessing and
Defining Dataset
- Reviewing
Hypotheses ** Continue Developing Hypotheses **
Week VII (3/17): Data Analysis
- Quantifying
Data
- Univariate
Analysis
(Babbie chs. 14
& 15)
Week VIII (3/24): Basic Social Statistics
- Descriptive
Statistics
- Inferential
Statistics
(Babbie ch. 17)
Week IX (3/31): Spring Recess
Week X (4/7): Revisiting Social Statistics
- Quantifying Data ! Frequency
Distributions
- Introductory Social Statistics ! Measurements of Central Tendency
- Descriptive Statistics ! Variance
(Babbie
ch. 18-19) ** Begin Analyzing Data **
Week
XI (4/14): Bivariate Analysis
- Crosstabulations
- Correlation Analysis
- Comparing Population Means
(Readings in Ethridge: TBA in class)
Week
XII (4/21): Testing Hypotheses by Comparing Means
! Comparing Means
! The Normal Distribution
(Readings in Ethridge: TBA in class)
Week
XIII (4/28): Multivariate Analysis
- One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
- Correlation, Multiple Correlation, Partial
Correlation
(Readings in Ethridge: TBA in class)
Week
XIV (5/5): Regression
- Regression, Multiple Regression
(Readings in Ethridge: TBA in class)
Week
XV (5/12): Present Papers & Final Discussion
** Final Papers Due on Day of Final Exam:
TBA **
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Matthew Cahn
Department of Political Science
California State University Northridge
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8254
(818) 677-3488
matthew.cahn@csun.edu