SCOPE AND METHODS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE (POLS 2010) FALL 2014 TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, 3:30-­‐4:45PM NORMAN MAYER 101 Professor: Virginia Oliveros Email: volivero@tulane.edu Office: Political Science Department, 311 Norman Mayer Building Office Hours: Tuesday 12:15-­‐01:15/ Thursday 2:30-­‐3:30 COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES This course is an introduction to research in political science. By the end of the semester, students will have a basic knowledge of the discipline of political science and the methods it employs. Throughout the semester students will learn how to ask empirical questions about politics, how to answer these questions using the most appropriate methods, and how to clearly convey these answers to others. LEARNING OUTCOMES After completing this course, students should be able to: 1. Critically evaluate political science research. 2. Pose and answer research questions of their own. 3. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of theories and other elements of research design. REQUIRED READINGS Students are expected to read each of the required readings carefully before coming to class. The format of the course will combine lecture and discussion and students should be prepared to engage in discussion. There is one required textbooks (available at Tulane University Bookstore or online): Johnson, Janet B. and Reynolds, H.T. 2012. Political Science Research Methods, (7th edition). Los Angeles: CQ Press. (JR in syllabus) The rest of the assigned readings are available either electronically via Howard-­‐Tilton Memorial Library's e-­‐journals portal or on Blackboard. I will post on Blackboard ONLY the readings that are not available electronically through the Library. 1 REQUIREMENTS Assignment Date Attendance/ Participation/ Quizzes/ Assignments Various Midterm exam October 7 Bibliography October 23 Literature review November 6 Research design (20%) and presentation (5%) Various Final exam December 10 1. PARTICIPATION, ATTENDANCE, POP QUIZZES, AND ASSIGNMENTS (10%) Percent 10% 20% 5% 10% 25% 30% I expect you to keep up with the readings over the course of the semester. I employ an interactive lecture style, and you will need to have done the readings in order to participate. There will be a number of pop quizzes during the semester. Quizzes will be short (around 10 minutes), completed at the beginning of the class, and designed to make sure everyone is keeping up with the readings and lecture. There will be no make-­‐up quizzes. If you are absent (or late) from class that day, you will get a “0” on that quiz. There will also be a number of short assignments throughout the semester. 2. BIBLIOGRAPHY (5%) A bibliography on your intended research topic. Your topic must have been previously approved by the Professor (by September 25th.). Due in class on October 23rd. 3. LITERATURE REVIEW (10%) A literature review on your intended research topic. Detailed instructions will be provided. Due on November 6th in class. 4. IN-­‐CLASS MIDTERM EXAM (20%) The midterm exam will take place on Tuesday, October 7th. The format of the exam will be discussed the week before the exam. There will be no make-­‐up exams unless you have a documented medical excuse. The exam will include material presented both in the readings and in the lectures and will cover the material discussed up to Week 6. 5.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND PRESENTATION (25%) This requirement consists on a series of assignments that culminate in the writing and presentation of a research design proposal. The research design will be on a topic of interest to you in political science and will build on established research on that question in the field. To develop a research design, students are first required to submit an initial summary of a few possible topics/questions of interest. Once the professor has approved the topic, you will (1) write an annotated bibliography on that topic, (2) create a literature review, (3) present your tentative research plan in front of the class, and finally (4) write an original research proposal. Presentations will be on Weeks 14 and 15 and the final research design will be due a week from your presentation. The final research proposal should include a statement of the question, why it is of interest (to academics and/or the “real world”), a revised and focused (brief) literature review, a hypothesis or hypotheses, a description and justification of the methodology you propose 2 to use, and how it can be reasonably carried out. This final research proposal should incorporate comments and suggestions received from the professor, and classmates after your presentation. This assignment will be done in groups of four students. We will be discussing how to form these groups. 6. IN-­‐CLASS CUMULATIVE FINAL (30%) The cumulative final exam will be a closed-­‐book exam covering material from the entire semester. The format of the exam will be discussed the last day of classes. The final exam, as set by the registrar, will take place on Wednesday, December 10th, 1:00-­‐5:00 CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE 1.
2.
3.
4.
Please, do not eat during class. Beverages are fine. Students are not allowed to use laptops in class. Make sure your cell phone is turned off and do not text during class. Attendance is mandatory and part of your participation grade. If you missed a class, please get the notes from another student. POLICIES Attendance. Attendance is mandatory and extremely important to succeed in this class. During lectures I will cover some material that is not in the readings and they will be part of the exams. If you missed a class, ask another student for the notes. Make-­‐up Exams. There will be no make-­‐up exams unless you have a documented medical excuse. Late Policy. Late assignments will be downgraded by one-­‐third of a letter grade (e.g. A to A-­‐) per day. Grading. This course will be grade according to the following scale: A A-­‐ >=93 90-­‐92 B+ B B-­‐ 87-­‐89 83-­‐86 80-­‐82 C+ C C-­‐ 77-­‐79 73-­‐76 70-­‐72 D+ 67-­‐69 D 63-­‐66 D-­‐ 60-­‐62 F= 59 & below Disputing grades. I am happy to go over any exam or assignment with you to help you to improve for the following assignment or the final. Indeed, I encourage you to come to my office to do so, especially if you think that you did study hard but did not get the expected results. Request for re-­‐grading, though, must be done in writing. Any student requesting re-­‐
grading should describe (based on the class’ materials) what he/she feels constitute the correct answer and how his/hers work meets the standard described. Academic Honesty. Students are required to act in accordance with the Code of Academic Conduct. Any suspected violations will be brought before the Newcomb-­‐Tulane College 3 Honor Board. Please familiarize yourself with the Code of Academic Conduct: http://tulane.edu/college/code.cfm. Goldman Office of Disability Services (ODS). The ODS’ mission is to provide services and promote an accessible environment to all members of the Tulane community. Students with psychological, medical/physical, and learning/developmental disabilities who need accommodations must be registered with the Office of Disability Services and follow their procedures for obtaining assistance. See: http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/disability/index.cfm COURSE SCHEDULE *The readings in this schedule are subject to addition and/or change. I might make adjustments during the semester based on the class’ interests. Week 1: Introduction to the course and introduction to the science of political science [August 26-­‐28] JR, Chapter 2 *August 28: APSA Conference – No class Week 2: Research Questions [September 2-­‐4] Tuesday JR, Chapter 1 JR, Chapter 3, pp. 74-­‐81 Thursday Putnam, Robert. 1995. “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” Journal of Democracy 6(1): 65-­‐78. * Due on Thursday, September 4: A 1 page document with a very brief description of 2 research (empirical) questions of interest to you that fit into the field of political science. This assignment counts towards your participation grade and must be handed in. Week 3: Hypotheses, Concepts and Variables [September 9-­‐11] * Tuesday, September 9: Last day to confirm groups JR, Chapter 4 Fisman, Raymond and Edward Miguel. 2007. “Corruption, Norms and Legal Enforcement: Evidence from Diplomatic Parking Tickets,” Journal of Political Economy 115(6): 1020-­‐1048 (Read pages 1-­‐8 carefully; feel free to read/skim the rest). Dahl, Robert. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, Chapters 1-­‐2. 4 Week 4: Literature Review [September 16-­‐18] Tuesday Library Session: Literature Review * NOTE class on September 16 will be held in room 309 of the Howard Tilton library *Due on Tuesday, September 16: A 1 page document with a very brief description of 2 research questions of interest to your group that fit into the field of political science. For each question, note the likely independent and dependent variables. A handout with further guidelines on this assignment will be distributed. This assignment counts towards your participation grade and must be handed in. **You must receive final approval for by the Professor by Thursday, September 25th. We will talk about what this entails in class.** Thursday JR, pp. 81-­‐101. Knopf, Jeffrey W. 2006. “Doing a Literature Review” PS: Political Science & Politics 39(1): 127 – 132. Week 5: [September 23-­‐25] Tuesday: Conceptualization and Measurement JR, Chapter 5. Paxton, Pamela. 2000. “Women's Suffrage in the Measurement of Democracy: Problems of Operationalization,” Studies in Comparative International Development, 35(3): 92-­‐
111. Thursday: Causal Inference I JR, Chapter 6 **September 25th is the last day to have your research question approved by the Professor. Week 6: Causal Inference II [September 30-­‐October 2] Tuesday Kastellec, Jonathan P. 2013. “Racial diversity and judicial influence on appellate courts.” American Journal of Political Science 57(1), 167-­‐183. THURSDAY: REVIEW FOR MIDTERM Week 7: [October 7-­‐9] OCTOBER 7 [TUESDAY]: IN-­‐CLASS MIDTERM *October 9: Fall Break – No classes 5 Week 8: Forms of Data: Observational Data and Experiments [October 14-­‐16] Dunning, Thad. 2012. Natural experiments in the social sciences. New York: Cambridge U Press. Chapter 1. Bertrand, Marianne and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2004. “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination.” The American Economic Review. 991-­‐1013. Freedman et al. 2007. Statistics, 4th Edition. (Norton). Chapter 2: Observational Studies Week 9: Case Selection and the Comparative Method & Ethics [October 21-­‐23] Tuesday Lijphart, Arend. 1971. “Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method,” American Political Science Review 65(3): 682-­‐93. Geddes, Barbara. 1990. “How the Cases You Choose Affect the Answers You Get: Selection Bias in Comparative Politics.” Political Analysis 2(1): 131-­‐150. Thursday Ethics -­‐ No readings! *Due Thursday, October 23: An annotated bibliography on your intended research topic. In no more than three or four sentences per source, describe the research question, the independent and dependent variables, the methods that the authors use to answer their question, and their results. You should do this for at least 6 sources (books or articles). All sources should be from scholarly work (books, articles, or working papers). Note that you will need to incorporate at least 8 sources into your literature review. Week 10: Strategies to collect qualitative data: Archival research, ethnography, surveys, and interviewing [October 28-­‐30] JR, Chapters 8 & 9 JR, Chapters 10 (pages to be assigned) Symposium: “Interview Methods in Political Science.” 2002. PS: Political Science and Politics 35 (4): 663-­‐688. Week 11: Strategies to collect quantitative data: Survey Research and Sampling [November 4-­‐6] JR, Chapters 7 JR, Chapters 10 (remaining pages) Holden, C. 2009. “The 2010 census: America’s uncounted millions.” Science 324: 1008-­‐
1009. 6 *Due Thursday, November 6: A literature review on your intended research topic. Detailed instructions to be provided. Week 12: Descriptive Statistics and Statistical Inference [November 11-­‐13] Tuesday November 11 -­‐ Library Session: Data * NOTE class on November 11 will be held in room 309 of the Howard Tilton library Thursday JR, Chapters 11 Ross, Michael L. 2001. “Does Oil Hinder Democracy?” World Politics 53(3): 325-­‐361. Week 13: Bivariate and Multivariate Analysis [November 18-­‐20] JR, Chapters 13 & 14 Additional readings (empirical applications) to be decided Week 14: [November 25-­‐27] Tuesday Students’ presentations of research proposals *Research proposals are due a week after your scheduled presentation. *November 27: Thanksgiving holiday -­‐ No classes Week 15: [December 2-­‐4] Tuesday Students’ presentations of research proposals *Research proposals are due a week after your scheduled presentation. Thursday DECEMBER 4: LAST DAY OF CLASSES! REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAM DECEMBER 10 (WEDNESDAY): 1:00-­‐5:00 PM. FINAL CUMULATIVE EXAM http://registrar.tulane.edu/final_examination_schedules/final_examination_schedule_201430 7