Political Science 503
Empirical Political Inquiry
Kim L. Fridkin
6752 Coor Hall (Office)
Office Hrs: 10:30-11:30 TTh and by appt
6:40-9:30 Tuesdays
Fall 2006
This course is designed to introduce you to research methods in the social
sciences. We will take up matters of design, data collection, and measurement. In
this course, we adopt the position that no one method is best, and that different
methods have their own characteristic strengths and weaknesses. I expect that
when you complete this class you will be well equipped to undertake research of
your own and better able to evaluate the research of others.
You must be prepared each week to discuss and critique the assigned material.
There will be a series of informal exercises and brief papers to help organize the
readings and structure the class discussions. The assignments are due in my
mailbox or in my office by Monday at 1:00. Only in extraordinary circumstances will
I accept homework via email. No late assignments will be accepted. Students must
complete a research proposal about 15 pages long (double spaced, normal margins
and default fonts) and no late papers will be accepted. There is also a final
examination in class at the end of the semester. Finally, students will be expected
to lead
Course Requirements
Homework
Research Proposal
Final Examination
Participation
Portion of Grade
32% (4% * 8 Assignments)
30%
25%
13%
Date Due
Monday 1:00pm
November 28th
December 12
Required Readings:
Textbook: The Practice of Social Research (Earl Babbie)
Journal Articles (available via JSTOR or ASU library website)
Schedule of Topics
August 22
INTRODUCTION
Babbie, Chapter 1-2
August 29
BASICS OF RESEARCH DESIGN (Exercise #1)
Babbie, Chapter 4
Andre Bennett, Aharo Barth and Kennet R. Rutherford. 2003. Do We Preach
What We Practice? A Survey of Methods in Political Science Journals and
Curricula PS: Political Science & Politics, Volume 36, Issue 03, July 2003, pp 373378.
Peregrin Schwartz-Shea and Andre Bennett 2003. “Introduction—Methodological
Pluralism in Journals and Graduate Education? Commentaries on New Evidence.”
PS: Political Science & Politics, Volume 36 (3) , pp 371-372/
Peregrine Schwartz-Shea 2003. Is This the Curriculum We Want? Doctoral
Requirements and Offerings in Methods and Methodology. PS: Political Science &
Politics, Volume 36, Issue 03, July 2003, pp 379-386
Bear F. Braumoeller. 2003. Perspectives on Pluralism.
Politics, Volume 36, Issue 03, July 2003, pp 387-389
PS: Political Science &
James D. Morrow. 2003. Diversity through Specialization. PS: Political Science &
Politics, Volume 36, Issue 03, July 2003, pp 391-393
September 5 MEASUREMENT (Exercise #2)
Babbie, Chapter 5
Larry M. Bartels. 1993. Messages Received: The Political Impact of Media
Exposure, American Political Science Review, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Jun., 1993) , pp. 267285
John Brehm, Wendy Rahn. 1997. Individual-Level Evidence for the Causes and
Consequences of Social Capital. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 41, No. 3
(Jul., 1997) , pp. 999-1023
September 12 INDICES AND SCALES
Babbie, Chapter 6
Michael X. Delli Carpini, Scott Keeter. 1993. Measuring Political Knowledge:
Putting First Things First. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 37, No. 4
(Nov., 1993) , pp. 1179-1206
Richard G. Niemi, Stephen C. Craig, Franco Mattei. 1991. Measuring Internal
Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study. American Political Science
Review, Vol. 85, No. 4 (Dec., 1991) , pp. 1407-1413
Hugh Hinton. 1993. Reliability and Validity of Student Evaluations: Testing
Models versus Survey Research Models PS: Political Science and Politics,
Vol. 26, No. 3 (Sep., 1993) , pp. 562-569
September 19 NO CLASS
September 26 EXPERIMENTS (Exercise #3)
Babbie, Chapter 8
S Iyengar, MD Peters, DR Kinder 1982. Experimental Demonstrations of the" NotSo-Minimal" Consequences of Television News Programs. The American Political
Science Review, 1982.
Kathleen McGraw. 1991. Managing Blame: an Experimental Test of the Effects of
Political Accounts. The American Political Science Review.
S Guarnaschelli, RD McKelvey, TR Palfrey. 2000. An Experimental Study of Jury
Decision Rules. The American Political Science Review,
TE Nelson, RA Clawson, ZM Oxley. 1997. Media Framing of a Civil Liberties
Conflict and Its Effect on Tolerance. The American Political Science Review.
October 3
QUASI-EXPERIMENTS (Exercise #4)
Babbie, Chapter 12
Alan Gerber and Donald Green. 2000. The Effects of Canvassing, Phone Calls, and
Direct Mail on Voter Turnout: A Field Experiment. American Political Science
Review,
Samuel J. Eldersveld. 1956. Experimental Propaganda Techniques and Voting
Behavior. The American Political Science Review.
Lawrence S. Rothenberg, Mitchell S. Sanders. 2000. Severing the Electoral
Connection: Shirking in the Contemporary Congress American Journal of Political
Science, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Apr., 2000) , pp. 316-325
Mark Schneider, Paul Teske, Melissa Marschall, Michael Mintrom, Christine Roch.
1997. Institutional Arrangements and the Creation of Social Capital: The Effects
of Public School Choice American Political Science Review, Vol. 91, No. 1 (Mar.,
1997) , pp. 82-93
October 10
SAMPLING/INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYS
Babbie, Chapter 7
R. Michael Alvarez, Charles H. Franklin. 1994. Uncertainty and Political Perceptions
Journal of Politics, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Aug., 1994) , pp. 671-688
Henry E. Brady. 2000. Contributions of Survey Research to Political Science
PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Mar., 2000) , pp. 47-57
WM Rahn, JA Krosnick, M Breuning. 1994. Rationalization and Derivation
Processes in Survey Studies of Political Candidate Evaluation. American Journal of
Political Science
John Zaller and Stanley Feldman. 1992. A Simple Theory of the Survey Response:
Answering Questions versus Revealing Preferences. American Journal of Political
Science.
October 17
QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION (Exercise #5)
Babbie, Chapter 9
JA Krosnick, MK Berent. 1993. Comparisons of Party Identification and Policy
Preferences: The Impact of Survey Question Format. American Journal of
Political Science.
George F. Bishop, Alfred J. Tuchfarber, Robert W. Oldendick. 1978. Change in the
Structure of American Political Attitudes: The Nagging Question of Question
Wording. American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 22, No. 2 (May, 1978) , pp.
250-269
George F. Bishop, Robert W. Oldendick, Alfred J. Tuchfarber. 1978, Effects of
Question Wording and Format on Political Attitude Consistency. Public Opinion
Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Spring, 1978) , pp. 81-92
Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Gary C. Jacobson, J. Tobin Grant. 2000. Question
Wording and the House Vote Choice: Some Experimental Evidence
Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Autumn, 2000) , pp. 257-270
October 24
INTERVIEWER EFFECTS
Ian McAllister and Martin P. Wattenberg. 1995. Measuring Levels of Party
Identification: Does Question Order Matter? Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 59,
No. 2 (Summer, 1995) , pp. 259-268
SE Finkel, TM Guterbock, MJ Borg. 1991. Race-of-Interviewer Effects in a
Preelection Poll: Virginia 1989. The Public Opinion Quarterly.
BA Anderson, BD Silver, PR Abramson. The Effects of the Race of the Interviewer
on Race-Related Attitudes of Black Respondents in SRC/CPS. The Public Opinion
Quarterly.
Darren W. Davis Brian D. Silver. 2003. Stereotype Threat and Race of
Interviewer Effects in a Survey on Political Knowledge. American Journal of
Political Science. Volume 47.
October 31
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH (Exercise #6)
Babbie, Chapter 10
Cindy Simon Rosenthal. 1999. One Experience Is Worth a Thousand Words:
Engaging Undergraduates in Field Research on Gender PS: Political Science and
Politics, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Mar., 1999) , pp. 63-68
Richard Fenno. 1978. Homestyle Appendix (A copy will be available in the
departmental office)
Glenn Beamer. 1998. Service Learning: What's a Political Scientist Doing in
Yonkers? PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Sep., 1998) , pp. 557-561.
Lee Sigelman. 1973. Reporting the News: An Organizational Analysis
American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 79, No. 1 (Jul., 1973) , pp. 132-151.
November 7
UNOBTRUSIVE RESEARCH (Exercise #7)
Babbie, Chapter 11
James Druckman, Justin Holmes. 2004. Does Presidential Rhetoric Matter?
Priming and Presidential Approval, Presidential Studies Quarterly
Volume 34, December 2004.
Frank Gilliam and Shanto Iyengar. 2000. Prime Suspects: The Influence of Local
Television News on the Viewing Public. American Journal of Political Science.
Kim Fridkin Kahn. 1994. The Distorted Mirror: Press Coverage of Women
Candidates for Statewide Office. Journal of Politics , 1994, Vol 56(1), 154-173.
Michael Laver, John Garry. 2000. Estimating Policy Positions from Political Texts
American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Jul., 2000) , pp. 619-634
November 14 STATISTICS (Exercise #8)
Babbie, Chapter 14-16
November 21 ETHICS
Babbie, Chapter 3
Diana Baumrind. 1985. Research Using Intentional Deception: Ethical Issues
Revisited. American Psychologist. Vol 40 (2), February 1985, pp. 165-174
Karen Jacobsen and Loren B. Landau, 2003. The Dual Imperative in Refugee
Research: Some Methodological and Ethical Considerations in Social Science
Research on Forced Migration. Disasters, Volume 27 (3)
C.D. Herrera. 2001. Ethics, Deception, and ‘Those Milgram Experiments.’ Journal
of Applied Philosopy. Vol 18 (3).
November 28
PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH DESIGNS
December 5
PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH DESIGNS
FINAL EXAMINATION: December 12 (6:40pm-8:30pm)
Signup for Class Discussants
August 29
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September 5
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September 12
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September 26
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October 3
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October 10
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October 17
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October 24
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October 31
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November 14
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November 21
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BASICS OF RESEARCH DESIGN
MEASUREMENT
INDICES AND SCALES
EXPERIMENTS
QUASI-EXPERIMENTS
SAMPLING/INTRODUCTION TO SURVEYS
QUESTIONNAIRE CONSTRUCTION
INTERVIEWER EFFECTS
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
UNOBTRUSIVE RESEARCH
ETHICS