Data Analysis for Political Scientists

Purpose: This course is designed to introduce students to the research process in political science and to tools and techniques for data analysis used by political scientists.  We begin by exploring what we mean by empirical political science or the science of political science.  Topics include research design, methods of observing and measuring political phenomena, sources of data, sampling, and testing hypotheses.  Students will learn to use the basic statistical techniques used by political scientists to analyze and present their data.  A significant component of the course consists of computer applications including SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

Books and supplies:  The following books are required:

Marcus E. Ethridge, The Political Research Experience, 3rd edition, Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2002.  Referred to in the syllabus as TPRE.

Earl Babbie, Fred Halley, and Jeanne Zaino, Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using SPSS for Windows 95/98, Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 2000.  Referred to in the syllabus as BH&Z.

In addition you will need a blank diskette and a calculator with the square root function.

Grading:  Grades will be based on homework assignments (25%), a midterm exam (25%), a final exam (25%), and a research project (25%).  In general, homework assignments will be given out on a Wednesday and will be due at the start of class the following Monday unless otherwise indicated on the assignment.  You will achieve greater success in this class if you attend class regularly, speak up when you do not understand something, work neatly, and are well-organized.

Course schedule and Assignments:

Please note that we have two classrooms.  Smith 221 which is a regular classroom and Smith  040 which is a computer lab.  We will meet in the computer lab on most, but not all, Wednesdays.

Week      Topic                       Assignment          Lab Work

1             Introduction to          TPRE, chp. 1
               Political Research     BH&Z, chp. 1

2              Research Design     TPRE, chp. 2         Homework #1 – The Dead
                                                                           Grandmother/Exam Syndrome

3              Theoretical              TPRE, chp. 9         Online literature reviews
                Perspectives            class hand out

4              Measurement I        TPRE, chp. 3           Exploring Census Data
                                              BH&Z, chps. 2, 3     Homework #2

5              Measurement II       TPRE, chp., 4          Sources of survey data
                                                                            Homework #3

6              Survey Research     TPRE, chp. 5            Intro to SPSS
                                                                              BH&Z, chp. 5

7              Midterm exam                                         Research Project
                                                                              Consultation

8              Content Analysis     TPRE, chp. 7            Research Project Activity
                Research Project                                    Coding Open Ended
                Questionnaires                                         Questions

9              Descriptive Statistics TPRE, chp. 10           BH&Z, chps. 6, 7, 10
                                                                                Homework #4

10          Bivariate Analysis        TPRE, chps. 11, 6     BH&Z, chps. 8, 9
              Composite Measures

11          Measures of                  BH&Z, chp. 14       Homework #5
              Association

12          Regression                  TPRE, chp. 11          BH&Z, chp. 14

13          Sampling                     TPRE, chp. 11
              Tests of Statistical       BH&Z, chp. 15
              Significance

14          Control Variables         TPRE, chp. 15, 16

15          Interpretting                 TPRE, chp. 16          Review
              Multiple Regression