Course Description:

This class teaches you how to be a political scientist!

Course Requirements:

Student performance will be evaluated on the following basis:

1) A 75 minute , in-class midterm exam covering the sections of the course on politics as science, research design, measurement, sampling, and conducting a literature review. The mid-term exam will account for 25% of your grade.

2) 3 brief problem set exercises applying basic statistical tools learned in weeks 11, 12 and 13 - such as graphs, tables, cross-tabs, and bivariate regression analysis - to political sciences datasets. Data and instructions for the problem sets will be made available on the course blackboard page. Data analysis can be conducted in STATA, which is available in the Data GIS Cluster (Perkins Library 2nd Floor), the computer cluster in Perkins L1 across from B023 (near The Link), and Social Sciences Bldg. 229. Course teaching assistants will be available in help students learn to operate STATA and access the datasets.

3) A research design paper will be due at 9:00 AM on MONDAY DECEMBER 7. Students will be expected to identify a topic that is of interest to them, conduct a brief literature review, identify testable hypotheses, describe the data that they would collect in order to test their hypotheses, describe their measurements of the key concepts, and describe the methods that they would use to analyze their data and draw conclusions. The research paper will account for 30% of your grade.

It is important that students cite the material that they have relied upon in writing these papers. If you have questions about when you need to provide citation for a source, please see the Duke Libraries' guide on avoiding plagaiarism. If you have questions about how to provide citation on your sources, please see the Duke Libraries' guide on citation formats. Use any citation format that you prefer, what is important is that you give credit to the sources you used.

4) A final exam, is scheduled for FRIDAY DECEMBER 11 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. This exam will be cumulative across the entire semester. The date of the exam is set by the University and no changes can be made. This exam will account for the final 30% of your grade.

EXTRA CREDIT! In addition to these graded assignments, students enrolled in PS 102 are strongly encouraged to participate in the Political Science experimental subject pool. Students will need to participate in 3 hours of Political Science Research Pool (PSRP) studies over the course of the semester to receive a 3% extra credit toward their final grade. More information on this option is available at http://www.duke.edu/web/psrp. If you wish to participate, you can register at: http://duke-psrp.sona-systems.com.

The course does not have discussion sections, but we do have two teaching assistants/graders who will be available to help you with questions about the problem sets / statistical exercises. Melanie Freeze can be reached at msw12@duke.edu and Arturas Rozenas can be reached at arturas.rozenas@duke.edu

Required Books:

The text book for this course (listed below) is available for purchase at the Bryan Center bookstore. Buying the textbook will also give you access to a variety of online resources, such as study materials, chapter quizes, and so on. All readings other than the Johnson and Reynolds textbook are available online through Duke University Libraries. Students may also locate the readings through Google Scholar. Click on the "Get it @ Duke" icon to be directed to the relevant pdf file through Duke Libraries.

• Janet Buttolph Johnson, and H.T. Reynolds (with Jason D. Mycoff). 2008. Political Science Research Methods (6th ed.). (Washington D.C.: CQ Press).

Schedule of Readings and Lectures - All listed readings are required

Week 1 - August 25 & 27: What is Political Science?

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 1
• Lecture 1

Week 2 - September 1 & 3: Studying Politics Scientifically

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapters 2 & 3
• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, "Toward a Scientific Understanding of International Conflict: A Personal View,” in Symposium: Methodological Foundations of the Study of International Conflict, International Studies Quarterly, 29 (2): 121-136.
• David Collier and Daniel Levitsky. 1997. "Democracy with Adjectives: Conceptual Innovation in Comparative Research." World Politics 49(3):430-451
• Morris Fiorina. 1975. "Formal models in Political Science." American Journal of Political Science. 19(1):133-159
• Lecture 2
• Lecture 3
  

Week 3 - September 8 & 10: Measuring Political Concepts

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 4
• Richard G. Niemi, Stephen Craig, and Franco Mattei. 1991. "Measuring Political Efficacy in the 1988 National Election Study." American Political Science Review 85(4):1407-1413.
• Steven Poe and C. Neal Tate. 1994. "Repression of Human Rights to Personal Integrity in the 1980s: A Global Analysis." The American Political Science Review, Vol. 88, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 853-872
• William Keech. 2009. "A Scientifically Superior Conception of Democracy." Unpublished Manuscript.
• Lecture 4
• Lecture 5
  

Week 4 - September 15 &17: Designing Scientific Political Research

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 5
• Michael Tomz. 2007. "Domestic Audience Costs in International Relations: An Experimental Approach." International Organization (2007), 61:4:821-840. (Cambridge Journals Online).
• Donald Campbell and Laurence Ross. 1968. "The Connecticut Crackdown on Speeding: Time-Series Data in Quasi-Experimental Analysis." Law and Society Review 3:33-54
• George Downs, David Rocke, and Peter Barsoom, "Is the Good News about Compliance Good News about Cooperation?" International Organization 50 :379-406.
• Lecture 6
• Lecture 7
  

Week 5 - September 22 & 24: How to Choose What to Look At (a.k.a. Sampling)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 7
• Peverill Squire. 1988. "Why the 1936 Literary Digest Poll Failed." Public Opinion Quarterly 52:125-133.
• Barbara Geddes. 1990. "How the Cases You Choose Affect the Answers You Get: Selection Bias in Comparative Politics." Political Analysis. 2(1):131-150.
• Lecture 8
• Lecture 9
  

Week 6a - September 29: Reviewing the Literature

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 6
• Jack Levy, "Learning and Foreign Policy: Sweeping a Conceptual Minefield," International Organization 48 (Spring 1994): 279-312.
• Daniel Philpott. 2009. "Has the Study of Global Politics Found Religion?" Annual Review of Political Science 12:183–202
• Lecture 10

Week 6b - October 1: Review for Midterm Exam

October 6 - FALL BREAK - No Class

Week 7 October 8: MIDTERM EXAM

Week 8 - October 13 & 15: How to Look at Things Scientifically (a.k.a Empirical Observation)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 8
• Richard Fenno. 1977. " U.S. House Members in Their Constituencies: An Exploration." American Political Science Review 71(3):883-917
• Geertz, Clifford. 1973. "Notes on a Balinese Cockfight." in The Interpretation of Cultures. (New York: Basic Books). Chapter 1.
• Arend Lijphart. 1971. "Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method." American Political Science Review 65(3):682-693
• Lecture 11
• Lecture 12
  

Week 9 - October 20 & 22: Measuring the Written Record (a.k.a Document Analysis)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 9
• Gary King and Will Lowe. "An Automated Information Extraction Tool for International Conflict Data with Performance as Good as Human Coders: A Rare Events Evaluation Design." International Organization 57: 617–642.
• William Zimmerman and Robert Axelrod. 1981. "The "Lessons" of Vietnam and Soviet Foreign Policy." World Politics 34(1):1-24
• Amy Gershkoff and Shana Kushner. 2005. "Shaping Public Opinion: The 9/11-Iraq Connection in the Bush Administration’s Rhetoric." Perspectives on Politics 3:525-53
• Lecture 13
• Lecture 14
  

Week 10 - October 27 & 29 - Survey Research Methodology

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 10
• Keeter et. al. 2000. "Consequences of Reducing Non-Response in a Natioal Telephone Survey." Public Opinion Quarterly 64:125–148.
• Lee Sigelman. 1981. "Question Order Effects on Presidential Propularity." Public Opinion Quarterly 45:199-207.
• Tom Smith. 1987. "That Which We Call Wefare By Any Other Name Would Smell Sweeter." Public Opinion Quarterly 51:75-83
• Lecture 15
• Lecture 16
  

Week 11 - November 3 & 5: How to Count Things in Politics (a.k.a Statistics)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 11
• Carol J. Auster. 2000. "Probability Sampling and Inferential Statistics: An Interactive Exercise Using M&M's." Teaching Sociology 28(4):379-385.
• PSRM Exercises
• Lecture 17
• Lecture 18

Week 12 - November 10 &12: Measuring Political Relationships (a.k.a. Bivariate Statistics)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 12, pages 426-476.
• Michael Wallace. 1982. "Armaments and Escalation: Two Competing Hypotheses." International Studies Quarterly 26(1):37-56
• PSRM Exercises
• Lecture 19
• Lecture 20

Week 13 - November 17 & 19: The Regression Model for Describing Political Behavior

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 12, pages 477-500.
• Lee Sigelman. 1979. "Presidential Popularity and Presidential Elections." Public Opinion Quarterly 43:532-534.
• PSRM Exercises
• Lecture 21
• Lecture 22

Week 14 - November 24: Multivariate Regression

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 13, pages 503-525.
• Gallup et. al. 1999. "Geography and Economic Development." International Regional Science Review 1999 22:179
• Bernard Groffman. 1991. "Multivariate Methods and the Analysis of Racially Polarized Voting: Pitfalls in the Use of Social Science by the Courts." Social Science Quarterly 72(4):826-833

Week 15a - December 1: The Final Product (a.k.a. Writing the Research Report)

• Johnson and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods - Chapter 14

Week 15b - December 3: REVIEW SESSION FOR FINAL EXAM

December 7 - Final Paper Due at 5:00 PM.

• Please submit papers by email. Please use your last name at the beginning of the file that you email!

December 11 - FINAL EXAM in classroom 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM