POLS 209: Introduction to Political Science Research Methods Benjamin Tkach MWF 1:15-2:05 Allen 1005 Office: AgrilLife 408J Office Phone: 979.458.8591 Office Hours: TR 3:30-4:30 & by appointment Email: btkach@pols.tamu.edu Course Description This course introduces you to the scientific study of politics. Political science enables us to use rigorous methods and approaches to satisfy our curiosity of the natural world. For example, how do civil wars start and end? When are nation-states most likely to attack a neighbor? By the end the semester, you will start to think and approach political questions using the scientific method. This course covers the basics of research design, research question formation, conceptualization, hypothesis writing, and how to empirically test research questions. One goal of the course is to provide you skills to be a competent consumer of political science literature. This is a writing-intensive, or University-designated W course. I will comment on each written assignment except the discussion board postings in order to improve your writing ability. The major written assignments are designed to maximize feedback during the research process to assist in preparing your final draft. Because this is a W course, written quality is as important as substantive accuracy. Assignments that fail to meet written standards will be graded below a passing level, regardless of substantive content. The principal goal of the course is to teach you to write professionally about politics that will prepare you for upper-division courses and your professional career. This course will cover basic statistics using computer programs R or STATA. We will spend some time reviewing fundamental math concepts and calculating basic descriptive statistics by hand. We will also have multiple days in the computer lab using the quantitative tools learned in this course. Prerequisite: NONE Learning outcomes By the end of this course, students should be able to: 1. define, understand, and use concepts and terms relevant to the emperical study of contemporary political science. 2. to be a competent consumer of political science research. 3. be familiar with STATA or R and conduct emperical analysis. 4. conduct your own preliminary study using the research design elements in political science. Required Text and Other Readings There is one required textbook (citation below) for this course and is available at the Campus bookstore and internet outlets. You are responsible for the material presented in the 7 th edition, the use of previous 1
editions does not guarantee adequate coverage of current material. Additional course readings will be available through E-reserves at the Texas A&M Library website or the coure s ecampus website. Johnson, Janet Buttolph and H. T. Reynolds.Political Science Research Methods 7 th edition. Los Angeles, CA: CQ Press. For the rest of this syllabus I refere to this textbook as J&R. The reading that is assigned is not overly burdensome. However, some weeks are heavier than others. As a result, you should plan accordingly. I reserve the right to add readings from time to time during the semester. In most cases, such readings will represent areas that require addition instruction or help calirfy points arising from discussion. Class Communication I will be available during office hours or by appointment. I will also be available before class. I expect students to attempt these three options. Contacting me via email is the best method to reach me and I strive to answer each email within 24 hours (excluding Saturdays and Sundays). Grading Grading consists of 2 exams, 1 short paper, 7 short written discussion board posts, homework & in-class assignments, and a research paper. The relative weights are as follows: Homework and In-Class Assignments: Due throughout the semester %10 Short Discussion Group Response: Students must complete 7 responses, see below 14% Short Paper: Friday October 3 10% Exam 1: Monday October 20 15% Exam 2: Monday December 15 15% Research Paper (40% Total): Introduction Rough Draft Wednesday September 17 5% Literature Review Rough Draft Monday October 13 5% Research Design Rough Draft Monday November 17 10% Final Paper Due Monday December 8 16% Homework and In-Class Assignments This course teaches basic statistical concepts that will require hand-calculated exercises. Homework assignments may include diagraming causal connections, in-class quizzes, and mathematical computation. Assignments will range between 1 and 4 percent of the final grade. Quizzes and Iclicker assignments will NOT be announced. Homework and other in-class work will be announced during the prior class. All assignments are due at the beginning of class and must be typed in accordance with course requirements. Assignments that are turned in more than 5 minutes after class starts will be considered a day late. Students are required to purchase an iclicker+ or the mobile iclicker+ service. The iclicker will be used to answer questions that are posed in class. Posted responses can be used as a quiz grade or other in-class assignments. It is the students responsibility to guarantee their ability to respond to iclicker questions during each class period. Discussion Board Post Students are required to complete 7 short written discussion board posts. There will be 11 weeks with posted questions. Posts must be made before Friday s start of class to be counted during that week of class. The posts must contain at least 125 words. Entries that fail to meet this threshold will be considered incomplete and not counted. Written responses are required to respond to the posted question and, when possible, other students responses. (Except for the first student, all other students must respond to a 2
previous student s post.) Only one post per week is counted towards the 7 required posts. Students are encouraged to respond to multiple postings in a week. Substantive quality, grammar and written quality are considered part of the grade for each post. Short Paper You will have one short paper due October 3. It will be three pages (double spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins) in length over some topic covered in the first five weeks of class. A cover page with the students name, paper title, and UIN should be a separate page and does NOT count towards the page requirement. You can choose among the topics: theory building in political science, evaluating causal relationships, concepts, measurement, or you may write on something else (but it must be approved by me). You must use at least two other sources besides J&R. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate your knowledge and mastery of some element of the research process. Research Paper A handout outlining the research paper and its components will be distributed. Exam 1 & 2 The first exam is on Monday October 20 th. The second exam is on Monday December 15 th. Please bring a Blue Book. The first exam will cover the major topics discussed to that point in the semester. The exams are multiple choice and short answer. The second exam will largely be drawn from material after the first exam. I will provide a few prompts that may be used on the exam. Doing this, however, I expect well thought out and crafted answers on the test. If possible, the exams will be conducted in the computer lab. Location announcements will be made well in advance of the exams. Grading Issues You will be evaluated solely on your academic performance which includes participation. Academic performance includes clarity of thought and expression, general knowledge of the material, written composition, spelling and grammar. There is NO extra credit available in this course. Grades will be assigned based on the final averages as follows: A 89.5-100; B 89.4-79.5; C 79.4-69.5; D 69.5-59.5; F below 59.4. That said, if a student wishes to dispute a particular grade he or she may do so with the following process. Challenges must consist of a typed single page that clearly delineates the disputed element of the assignment. Students must wait 24 hours after the graded work is returned to file an appeal. All appeals must be filed within 3 days after the assignment has been returned. The 3 day period includes both business and non-business days. Students must return the original graded assignment and the written challenge to me or the Political Science Department offices. Challenges must be time stamped if not directly delivered to me. Each student has one mulligan in the semester. The mulligan allows students to turn in an assignment one class period after the due date stated in the syllabus without penalty. A mulligan can NOT be used for exams, the final paper, and the discussion board posts. (It can be used on the short paper, research paper segments, and homework.) Students are required to type a statement noting the assignment title, the original assignment due date, and the alternative due date. It must be typed, include the students UIN, and be signed by the student. All assignments are due at the beginning of class. 3
I observe student rule 7 concerning university acceptable excuses for late work (see http://studentrules.tamu.edu/rule7.htm). If you miss a test and you have a university acceptable excuse you must contact me or the department by the end of the next business day after the absence to ensure your full rights to take the makeup exam. It is in your best interest to contact me before the exam. The late policy for this course is the loss of one letter-grade per-day without a university excuse for written assignments. Weekends count when calculating late penalties. If you do not have a university excused absence for a missed discussion board post, in-class homework or takehome homework, you will receive a 0 on that assignment. Your single use mulligan is applicable with the outlines stated above. Despite the lack of participation formally influencing grades, class participation is essential to successful completion of this course. Completion of the reading and active participation in class debate enhances students ability to complete assignments and the exams. Students are responsible for material from both the readings and class discussions. It is in your best interest to collect notes for class days missed. I will not make lecture slides available without a university acceptable excuse. NOTE: if you are absent when a test/quiz is given, you will receive a ZERO on that test/quiz unless you have a university excused absence. Make-up exams must be completed by Monday December 8 th. It is the student s responsibility to schedule the make-up exam. All written assignments are subject to the following rules unless otherwise specified. They must be typed, doubled spaced, and numbered, with no larger than 12 point font size and 1 inch margin all around. All written work should be stapled at the upper left corner, without any colorful or plastic covers. The research paper should use headings and subheadings for structure. Failure to follow the format requirements will result in grade deductions. Statement about Students with Disabilities The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with disabilities. Among other things, this legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their disabilities. If you believe you have a disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room B118 of Cain Hall, or call 845-1637. For additional information visit http://disability.tamu.edu. Statement about Course Materials/Copyright and Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty Aggie Honor Code: An Aggie does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do. Definition of plagiarism: As commonly defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as one s own the ideas, words, writing, etc., which belong to another. In accordance with the definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of the person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic offenses, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated. If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the Aggie Honor System Office website (http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor) or the latest version of the Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section Scholastic Dishonesty. Academic Dishonesty: Students should be aware that academic dishonesty involves acts other than plagiarism. Please consult the Honor Council Rules and Procedures at http://www.tamu.edu/aggiehonor for more information. 4
The materials used in this course are copyrighted. By materials, I mean all products generated for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi, web pages, podcasts, multimedia files, presentations, quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials review sheets, and additional problem sets. Because these are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission. This syllabus is subject to change. Tentative Course Schedule **The schedule is subject to change as the semester progresses. Additional readings will be assigned. Alterations to the schedule will by announced in class. Week 1 (Sept. 1 5): Course Syllabus and Political Science Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 1 Hill, Kim Quaile. 2004. Myths About the Physical Sciences and Their Implications for Teaching Political Science Political Sciences & Politics 37(3): 467-471, available in course reserves or online. Week 2 (Sept. 8 12) Empirical Approach Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 2 Van Evera, Stephen. 1998. Guide to Methods for Students of Political Science Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, pp 7-17, available in course reserves. Week 3 (Sept. 15 17) Beginning the Research Process Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 3 Monday Sept 15: Introduction & Research Question Week 4 (Sept. 22 26) Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 4 Week 5 (Sept. 29 Oct. 3) Building Blocks: Measurement Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 5 Friday Oct. 3: Short Paper Week 6 (Oct. 6 Oct. 10) Research Design: Making Causal Inferences Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 6 Week 7 (Oct. 13 Oct. 17) Sampling Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 7 Monday Oct 13: Literature Review Rough Draft Week 8 (Oct. 20 Oct. 24) Making Empirical Observations 5
Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 8 Monday October 20: Exam 1 Week 9 (Oct. 27 Oct. 31) Document Analysis Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 9 Week 10 (Nov. 3 Nov. 7) Survey Research and Interviewing Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 10 Week 11 (Nov. 10 Nov. 14) Making Sense of Data Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 11 Week 11 (Nov. 17 Nov. 21) Statistical Inference Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 12 Monday Nov. 17: Research Design Rough Draft Week 12 (Nov. 24 Nov. 26) Investigating Relationships between Two Variables Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 13 Week 13 (Dec. 1 Dec. 5) Multivariate Analysis Reading Assignment: J&R Chapter 14 Week 14 (Dec. 8) Multivariate Analysis Continued Week 15 (Dec. 15) Exam 2 6