PA 604: Methods of Analysis in Public Affairs
Fall 2013
Tuesdays: 7:00 – 9:40 pm
PSFA 308 (new classroom: no longer PSFA 113)
Instructor:
Office:
Email:
Professor Geoffrey Rab
By Appointment
grab@mail.sdsu.edu (please ONLY use this email address)
Office hours:
By appointment (usually before or after class on Tuesdays)
Course Description and Objectives
This course is designed as an introduction to empirical research and social science research methods.
Students will be introduced to the philosophy of science and the design, conduct, analysis, and review of
empirical research in public administration, city planning, and criminal justice. Students will be exposed
to the philosophy of science and epistemology, the contours of research study, and basic features of
qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. The curriculum is developed to give students
the skills to consume analytical research critically and to apply these techniques to solve basic analytical
problems in a professional setting. As such, the course will adopt an applied, practical approach, and
thus no previous exposure to calculus, statistics, or econometrics is necessary or required.
Upon completion of the course, students will have a foundation for:
 Forthcoming papers and projects (including comprehensive exams!) in public administration,
city planning, and criminal justice graduate courses;
 PA 606: Seminar in Quantitative Techniques (required for all SPA masters students)
 Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of evidence-based claims advanced in the political,
administrative, and policy arenas, as well as by the media and in society more broadly.
 Future work in a public agency, nonprofit organization, or private firms, specializing in the
production of public goods, delivery public services, or performance of related activities.
Course Material
Frankfort-Nachmias, C., & Nachmias, D. [FNN] (2008). Research Methods in the Social Sciences, 7th Ed.
New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN: 0-7167-5517-3.
Additional materials available via Blackboard.
Suggested additional reading: Bernard, H.R. (2000). Social research methods: Qualitative and
quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. ISBN: 0-7619-1403-X.
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Assignments and Grading
Graded materials for this course will consist of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Homework Assignments
Midterm
Research Note
Final Exam
20% (6.67% each)
20%
30%
30%
Grading Scale
94-100 = A
80-82 = B67-69 = D+
90-93 = A77-79 = C+
63-66 = D
87-89 = B+
73-76 = C
60-62 = D-
83-86 = B
70-72 = CBelow 60 = F
Protocol
Attendance to all classes is expected. If you have a legitimate emergency, please email me before class.
This is especially important if an emergency prevents you from leading the class discussion. I will do my
best to accommodate any student with a legitimate emergency, but I will not reschedule assignments,
etc. for students with non-emergency conflicts (such as work, family gatherings, vacations, etc.).
Classroom decorum: Should you choose to come to class, please plan on listening and participating
actively. Please silence your cell phones during class and do your best to avoid texting, reading the
newspaper, talking to your neighbors, etc. These kinds of things are distracting and get in the way of a
productive learning environment. Please also do your best to arrive on time and avoid walking out of
class until we are done for the day.
Professor contact: I will do my best to respond in a timely way to all reasonable emails, but cannot
respond to inquiries made right before class, late at night, etc. I will not conduct ‘virtual office hours’ nor
discuss class materials in detail over email. Please try to see me during scheduled office hours or make
an appointment.
Plagiarism and cheating: Please (please!) do not plagiarize or cheat. If I catch you doing so, you will fail
the assignment and I will report the incident to the Center for Student Rights and Responsibilities. By
this point in your academic careers, there should be no ambiguity as to what constitutes either cheating
or plagiarism. If you have any questions, please refer to SDSU’s definition of plagiarism here
(http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/htc/plagiarism.pdf) and see me to discuss in detail.
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Course Schedule* (see note below: course topics/readings/assignments subject to change)
Part 1: Introduction to research
Class Date
Topic(s)
1
8/27
Course introduction
2
9/3
Epistemology, empirical research, and the
importance of method
3
9/10
Ethics in research
Film: The Stanford Prison Experiment
Reading (read by class date listed)
N/A
FNN: Chap 1 (epis)
Popper (1963)
FNN: Chap 4
Brandt (1978)
Due
NA
NA
Reading
FNN: Chap 2
Creswell, Chaps 2 and 7
Skim: Isett et al. (2011) OR
Wright and Grant (2010)
FNN: Chap 3
Skim: Handy et al. (2005)
FNN: Chaps 7 and 8
Sutton et al. (2011)
FNN: Chaps 5 and 6
Engber – Slate.com (2012)
Due
NA
Part 2: Foundations, design, and structure of empirical research
Class
4
Date
9/17
Topic(s)
Research design and the conceptual
foundations of research
5
9/24
6
10/1
7
10/8
Research problems, units of analysis,
variables, relations, and hypotheses
Measurement, reliability, validity, and
sampling
Experiments, quasi-experiments, and nonexperiments; causality v. correlation
8
10/15
HW 1
HW 2 will
be given,
due 10/15
***MIDTERM EXAM***
Part 3: Data collection
Class
9
Date
10/22
Topic(s)
Collecting qualitative data
10
10/29
Observational methods, survey research
11
11/5
Secondary data sources, analysis
Reading
FNN: Chaps 12
Kelly et al. (qual example)
FNN: Chaps 9 and 10
Skim Page et al. (2011) AND
Tyler and Wakslak (2004)
FNN: Chap 13
Oliver (1994)
Due
Reading
FNN: Chap 15
FNN: Chap 16
Silver – Chap 5 (2012)
Due
HW 3
Part 4: Data analysis
Class
12
13
Date
11/12
11/19
Topic(s)
Univariate distribution
Bivariate analysis
14
15
11/26
12/2
NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING
Multivariate analysis and hypothesis testing
16
12/9
Summary, wrap-up, etc.
17
12/16
FNN: Chaps 17 and 19
Crewson (1997)
NA
Research
Note
***FINAL EXAM***
*I reserve the right to alter the course reading schedule and content to fit evolving circumstances in the class.
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