The Graduate School of International Studies Yonsei University Fall 2009 Research Design in Social Science Ajin Choi choiajin@yonsei.ac.kr 112 New Millennium Building 3:00~5:50 Monday Office Hour: 10:00-12:00 Monday or by appointment Course Description This course purposes to introduce students the various methods of empirical inquiry in social science, and to help students learn how to formulate empirical research projects comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each method. The course begins with a discussion of the elements of research design and turns attention to the process of theory construction and the collection of data. After the midterm period, the course will be devoted to the analysis and discussion of the various methods of empirical research, including: experiments, single case studies, comparative case studies, and large-n statistical studies. The final section of the course will encourage students to present and discuss their research design papers. Course Requirements Midterm Exam: 30% Homework: 20% (to be assigned in class) Class Participation: 20% Research Design Paper: 30% Course Schedule Week 1: Introduction Week 2: What is Research Design? King, Keohane, and Verba (KKV), Designing Social Inquiry, Chapter 1 Booth, Colomb, and Williams(BCM), The Craft of Research, pp. 3-74. Week 3: Theory Building: Formulating Argument and Hypothesis KKV, Chapter 3 BCM, pp.114-150 Manheim and Rich (MR), Empirical Political Analysis, Chapter 2 Week 4: Operationalization and Measurement MR, Chapter 4 Collier, David and Robert Adcock, “Democracy and Dichotomies,” Annual Review of Political Science 2 (1999) Week 5: Collecting Data I: Survey and Interview MR, Chapter 6, 8 Earl Babbie, Survey Research Methods, Chapter 3, 4, 7, 8 Week 6: No Class Week 7: Collecting Data II: Direct Observation, Content Analysis, and Aggregate Data MR, Chapter 10, 11, 12 Jay Ovsiovitch, “News Coverage of Human Rights.” Political Science Quarterly, 46/3 (1993) Week 8: Midterm Exam Week 9: Discussion on your Project Week 10-11: Arranging Cases I: Experiments and Single Case Studies MR, Chapter 5 KKV, Chapter 6 James Fearon “Counterfactuals and Hypothesis Testing in Political Science,” World Politics 43/2 (1991) Week 12: Arranging Cases II: Comparative Case Studies and Large N Studies David Collier, “The Comparative Method,” in Ada Finifter ed., Political Science MR Chapter 15, 21 <Debate> Michael Desch, “Democracy and Victory,” International Security 27/2 (2002) Ajin Choi, “The Power of Democratic Cooperation,” International Security 28/1 (2003) Week 13: Application and Practice I Week 14: Application and Practice II Week 15: Application and Practice III Week 16: Papers Due