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This text introduces students to the discipline of political science and the research process in a meaningful and understandable way-by teaching them how to conduct basic political research without overwhelming them with statistical theorizing and calculation.
List of contents
I. AN INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SCIENCE AND POLITICAL RESEARCH.
1. Conducting Systematic Political Research: An Overview.
2. The Problem: Essence of the Research Project.
3. The Literature Review: Becoming Familiar With Your Topic.
II. THE SCOPE OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.
4. The Political World.
5. The American Political Process.
6. Public Administration and Public Policy.
7. Comparative Politics.
8. International Relations.
III. THE METHODS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE.
9. Elements of Research: Determining Causal Explanations.
10. Understanding Measurement.
11. Research Design.
12. Data Collection and Input.
13. Data Analysis: Univariate Statistics.
14. Data Analysis: Bivariate Statistics.
15. Data Analysis: Multivariate Statistics.
16. Putting It All Together.
Appendix I: A Sample Research Proposal and Research Paper.
Appendix II: Sample Data Sets and Selected Variables.
Appendix III: Statistical Tables.
Summary
This text introduces students to the discipline of political science and the research process in a meaningful and understandable way-by teaching them how to conduct basic political research without overwhelming them with statistical theorizing and calculation.
