POLITICAL DATA SCIENCE
Covers the basics of data science as applied to politics. This involves two broad skill sets: (1) learning the computing and programming tools to both manage and analyze political science data; and (2) understanding the conceptual foundations of why we might manage or analyze political data in one way versus another. Programming tools and statistical concepts will be discussed using examples from various parts of political science such as elections, surveys, and experiments.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: Satisfied Quantitative Reasoning (QR) A Course Designation: Core GenEd - Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning Comm QR - Quantitative Reasoning B Breadth - Social Science Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Spring 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Summarize and visualize data from political science Audience: Undergraduate 2. Wrangle messy political science data into tidy forms Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate claims about causality in political science research Audience: Undergraduate 4. Be able to use linear regression to analyze relationships in political science Audience: Undergraduate 5. Understand uncertainty in analysis of political data and how to quantify it Audience: Undergraduate 6. Understand election polling and forecasting Audience: Undergraduate 7. Analyze political data using professional tools such as R Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Summarize and visualize data from political science Audience: Undergraduate 2. Wrangle messy political science data into tidy forms Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate claims about causality in political science research Audience: Undergraduate 4. Be able to use linear regression to analyze relationships in political science Audience: Undergraduate 5. Understand uncertainty in analysis of political data and how to quantify it Audience: Undergraduate 6. Understand election polling and forecasting Audience: Undergraduate 7. Analyze political data using professional tools such as R Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027