Research Methodology

Topics

• Course syllabus and introduction
•  Aristotle on methods in political science
•  Robert Keohane, “Political Science as a Vocation.” PS:PoliticalScienceandPolitics
• Crafting Research
•  Jonathan Kirshner, “Alfred Hitchcock and the Art of Research.” PS:PoliticalScienceandPolitics
•  Michael Nelson, “The Research Question.” Political Science Guide.com
•  Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb, et al. Selections from TheCraftofResearch:AskingQuestions
• FindingAnswers
• Approaching Political Questions Scientifically
•  Karl Popper, Selections from “Science: Conjectures and Refutations.” In ConjecturesandRefutations
• TheGrowthofScientificKnowledge
• Successful Protest,” TheAmericanPoliticalScienceReview
•  Robert Keohane, Gary King, and Sidnery Verba, “1.1.2 Defining Scientific Research in the Social
• Sciences.” In DesigningSocialInquiry:ScientificInferenceinQualitativeResearch
• Conceptualizing, Describing and Making Inferences in Political Science
•  John Gerring, Selections from “What Makes a Concept Good.” Polity
•  John Gerring, Selection from “What is a Case Study and What Is It Good For?” AmericanPolitical
• ScienceReview
•  Robert Keohane, Gary King, and Sidnery Verba, Selections from “: Descriptive Inference.”
• In DesigningSocialInquiry:ScientificInferenceinQualitativeResearch
• Causal Inferences and the Role of Statistics in Political Science
•  Hank Jenkins-Smith, Joseph Ripberger, et al. Selections from “Theories and Social
• Science.” In QuantitativeResearchMethodsforPoliticalScience,PublicPolicyandPublic
• Administration