Beginning lhe Research Process 75

or politics and governmem), observable, and politJcal. Political scientis1s auemp1

to answer questions about the political behavior of Individuals (voiers, citizens,
residents of a pan1cular area. Supreme Coun iusuces. members of Congress,
presiden1s). groups (pohllcal panies, inierest groups, labor unions, intemalional
BEGIMNIN& THE RESEARCH orgamzauons). msuiutions (stale legisla1ures, city councils, bureaucracies, dis·
PROCESS: trict couns). and pohucal 1unsd1cuons (c111es, states, nations).
Mos1 Sludems, when confronung a reSf.'arch project for the firsi lime, do not
1111111 111c I 1n11111 llm. Dn !llPllC have a well-formula1ed resean:h question as their starting poinl. Some will Slan
11mm • 1111111c, Ill 1111111n m t11111m1 by saying, · 1·m in1eres1ed m X, • where X may be the Supreme Coun, media cov
erage of lhe war in Iraq, campaign finance policy, the response to Hurricane
Katnna, or some olher political phenomenon. Others may nol have any specific
interest or 1opic in mind a1 all. Thus, the firsi ma1or task in a research effon of1en
1s 10 find a 1opic and 10 1ranslate an intereSI in a general topic inlo a manageable
PPROPRIATE RESEARCH 1op1c to be a resean:h question or Sf.'rles of questions or propositions. Framing an engaging
MANY STUDENTS FIND CHOOSING ANl~lhis chap1er, therelore, we discuss g~n­ and appropria1e research quesuon will gei a research project off 10 a good s1an by
challenging pan of the research process.. su es1 some methods for discovenng
defming. and limiting. lite scope of th e lnveSligat ion and determining what infor-
eral a11ribules ol promising research '.op1cs~nd ~ovlde guidelines for cond.ucung a ma1ion has 10 be collected 10 answer 1he question. A poorly specified question
interesting topics and resea'.ch quesu:~\ iopic and tips on writing a h1era1ure mevuably leads 10 waSled ume and energy. Any of 1he following questions would
sys1ema1ic review of the U1era1uref II academic anicles and resean:h repons. probably lead to a pohucally significant and informative research project:
review-an imponant componem o a
• Why is vo1er 1urnou1 for local elec110ns higher in some cities than in others!
smm1n m mum mmu • Why does 1he amoum spem per pupil by school districts vary (within a
I social sc1en1iuc research is to answer Slale or among s1a1es)I
One of Lhe most imponant purposes ':eseatcll pro,ects summar\7.ed in ~~pler 1, • Do small nauons sign more multila1eral 1rea11es than large nations!
social phenomena. The ·mponant pohucal am·
quesuons abou1 ns about some 1
for example. a11emp1 to answer,~u:::~bu1ed more equally among the ::~:
• Why did some members of Congress vote for the Restoring Financial Stabil·
uy Acl of 20!0, whereas others opposed 11!
iudes or behaviors: Why is wea ! Why do some people vote m e '
some coun1ttes than in others reach the deris10ns they do • Does th• leg1slauve output of legislatures change aOer term hmus have gone
'.;,°h~l:no1hers do not! Why do Supreme C~~:~u;~l~ons affect people's opinion~ into effect!
the cases before them! 00 Supreme e eoun! OoeS economic growl
• Why do some nauons have cap-and·t.rade programs for carbon dioxide em1s·
on . d """pie's suppon of the Suprem d f wer hurnan rights
on issues an r- - d pracuces an e sions while 01hers do not!
lead to more democra1ic insmuuons an le most hkely to support US i~volve-
' Under whal circumstances are peop ·can public rtspond 10 d1lleren1 • Do independenlS have more moderate views on major political issues than
ab u Ses · d s ihe Amen T ry those who idenuly 1hemSf.'lves as strong pan1sans?
menl in foreign alfairs! How oe I or in opposi11on to connnued mi II~
f framing arguments m favor o the ar umenll Does neganve
:;::a~ons in Iraq! Does II ma11er.wh~c~r:~e•;~: elec1!rate! How do .interes~ A research projecl will gel off on 1he wrong 1001 if the question 1ha1 shapes ii
falls 10 address a pohtical phenomenon, Is unduly concerned with discreie faclS,
campaign adverusing havf.' any •~P members of Congress engage m ~ver
groups inOuence ihe exten1 10 w~t~~se the researchers iden1Hied a pohu:~
or is focused on reaching normalive conclusions. Although 1he defini1ion of
/lOlitlca/ phe11omenon Is vagut, ii does no1 include the Sludy of all human char-
sight of agency decisions! In ~c nd 'uied to answer questions about I
ac1eris1tcs or behavior.
h nomenon that interested ' em a
p e nd are limtted ReSf.'arch questions, if they dwell on dJScrete or narrow fac1ual issues, may
phenomenon. l\lical scientists are diverse a ·n bmit the signifi cance of a resean:h project. Although imponam, lac1s alone a.re
The phenomena inves1lga1ed by po( h I would advance our understand• g
only by whether they are slgmficant I at s,
 Beginning lhe Research P1ocess 77

POllllCAL SCIENCE RESEARCH MElHODS

76 Some1ime5 1mponant research conmbutions come from descnpuve or factual
What is mossing Is a relationsh.ip- research ~use the factual information being sought is difficult 10 obtain or, as
.hto yield scientific explanations . ol th• values o! one vanable
not enou.,... . . d ndence. or covanance ed m how to we discuss in chapter 5, disagreement eiusts over which in!ormauon or !acts
that is. the assooat1on, ~ Researcher.I arc generally Interest ther In the should be used 10 musure a concept In llus situation, a research e!!on will
h h values of anower. henomenon to ano . entail showing how different ways of measunng a concept have 1mponant con
wot I e nd test generalizations relaung onel!i e of the type called !or by the
advance a rzations (actual know g '. sequences ror estabhshill8 the facts For example, how income inequality should
absence or such genera '. i1 be fundamentally hm1ted in scope be measured 1s cenainly an 1mponant aspect of research on 1ha1 1op1c.
rch questtons w1 Quesuons calling for normauve conclusions also are inconsistent wuh the
following resea ons in your state
. ost recent state leg1sla11ve e1eel• research methods discussed in this book. (Refer to chapter 2 !or the dostmcuon
• How many seats in the m ne contestant)! between normative and empirical siatements.) For example, questions such as
were uncontested (had only o that were more than 10 percent "Should the Unued States give preference m reconstruction contracts to those
How many states passed bud.gets last year nations that support ed going to war in Iraq!" or "Should a new federal agency be
• ious year sl .
lower than the prev ble env11011men1al voting placed within the Executive O!!ice of the President?'' or "Should states give IJX
bers of Congress had favora breaks 10 new businesses willing to locale within their borders/" are important
• How many mem .
1
c ngressl and suitable for 1he attention of political scientists (indeed, !or any citizen), but
records in the last session o o d to th e World Trade Organiza·
. utes have been rc!errc 1hey are inappropriate as framed here. As wrinen, they ask for a normalive
• How many trade d1sp . . ast (ive year.ll response, seeklng an lndlcalion of what is good or of what should be done.
tion (WTO) !or resoluuon m the P d in the roost recent US Senate
Although scientific knowledge may be help!ul in answering questions li ke these.
• What percentage ol registered voter.I vote it cannot proviM 1he answer.1 without regard for an individual's personal values
elections! laced in each o! the past three or preferences. The answers 10 these questions involve what someone ultimately
ber.I have been rep
• How many cabinet mem likes or dislikes, values or reiects.
presidential administrations! cements were issued by the Normauve questions. however, may lead you to develop an empirical research
peeches press releases. and announ I the 2010 BP orl spill in ques tion For example, a student or one of the authors felt that Pennsylvania's
• How many s . • . h fir.1t three months a ier method of selecung 1udges USll18 pan1san elections was not a good way to
Obama adminisuauon m t e a
choose 1udges Tu contnbulc to an informed discussion ol tlus issue. she col
the Gul! ol Mexico! For
archer to ask ·why" quesuons. lected data on the amount of money raised and spent by judicial candidates, the
however may lead a rese r ncontested seats amount of money spent per vote cast m 1udic1aJ races compared wnh that spent
factual mformauon. . bout th• number o u
example, ii a researdler : :~:::,:ntially from 51aie to state. ~:ma.::. m other state elecuons, and the voter turnout rate in judicial races as compared
with other races nus informauon spoke to some of the arguments raised against
and notes that this num mpe1111,..- m some states an ad
n • Why are legislauve elecuons co h roiect A11ema1wely, ii one h partisan judicial elecuons, but she discovered that ii was very dilf1cult to collect
quesuo • the basis o! an interesung researc p n ·Why do some districts empirical evidence to answer the mterestmg question of whether reliance on
er.1?" forms Id invesugate the questoo . . hara<-
data from just one state. one cou h !" This would involve idenufylng c campaign cont11bu11ons jeopardized the independence and impartiahry of judges
-· leetions and not ot ers d'1lf rence
have compeuuve e h ght explain the • · th
1eris11cs o! districts and election~ l •,;;•number o! trade disputes referred t~lec:. umu Df 1m1 m IEIEARCM T8PICS
Or someone might nouce t at lalns this Ouctuatlon! When co
wro has varied !rom year to year. What e::searcher might notice that the com- Po1en1Jal research topics about politics come from many sources. These sources
. g data on the number of disputes. the I s II would be interesting then t~ find
111 • ny different countr e · th · r resoluuon 1n may be classihed as personal. nonscholarly, or scholarly. Personal sources
plaints originate on rna I d Is there any pattern to eo I . the include your own li!e experiences and poli1ical activities and those of your family
out how the disputes are resonve ,· the principles and arguments under y1ng and friend s. as well as class readings. lectures, and discussions.
h. h countries bene II o
regard 10 w ic dilJer You can also look to nonscholarly sources for research topics. including print,
decisions! Why? . ords o! members o! Congress . broadcast, and Internet sources. Becoming aware of current or receno issues in
Similarly, the environmental voung rec' Is odeologyl Or is some other (actor
public affairs woll help you develop interesting research topics. You can start by
Why! ts political pany a likely explanauon
responsible!
 l j
Beginning lhe Research p1ocess 79
POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHOOS
78
ABC's This Wt'j>k, Fox's Nl'Ws

l~ng m:;~::::~iou~ahsm ~~·~h;,~:;;s

Hour w11h Jrm U!hrer and Sunday, PBS's Charlie Rose Sho
reading a daily newspaper or issues of popular maga1.1nes 1ha1 deal with govern·
ute; tend to feature programs lik:
menl policies and politics. The Web stte accompanying 1h1S bOOk (hup:lfpsrm I '-
cqpress.com/) offers many poss1b1hues and bs1s of other Web sties Th• besl nternet sources can incl d . po 111cal actors. .
found h u e the pnnt and b

so;~:: ;:;;me content 1ha1 0,<:.::,d~:~ ~eb. 1~

prinl sources include na1ional newspapers and magazines lea1unng in-deplh ofl t rough the pubilca1lons' and broad r?"dcast sources discussed above
pobucal coverage. rm;t, consider reading major urban dally newspapers Uk• lhe 15 pnnted on the In additton
New York Times and the W<ulungron R>sl Dally newspapers provide 1he most IVhue House ~=~us1ve Internet material An exam~l;'~n~ pnnt and broadcast
\II,....
up-10-date printed political news and discussions In addition. look at weekly on lhe pres1den , a daily blog focusi ng • Wash111&1on Am's -::;Q~
Sett-------------=~
magazines Uk• Arlanrtc. Harper's, the Eronom1sr, the Ammcan ProSJH'CI.
include governmcyen. tOthelr Internet sources
Nauonal Review. lhe New Republic, 1he New Yorker. and 1he Weekly SrandanL • un \'ersuy DlfTUL'TlATI!'WC:
Most or 1hes• weeklies have a decidedly partisan leaning (ei1her conservative or zauon Web sites. w b ' or organt· · NOSSCHOt.AJt
Ol.AlLY BOM
individuals· and ' I' e sl1es created by You can d1fferentiale schol t . LY l.rrr.aAruiu:
hberal, Republican or Democrauc), bu1-and lhts Is a key po1n1-1hey contain
ar~cles prore,.lon~
Daily KDs o.r JnsraPupo111di::a1 biogs. Biogs hke look.mg ror a few charact:.: works from nonschola.rly onff
serious discussions or domestic and foreign governmenl and pobllcs and are n II have bee fi and books published'.',:-' Most lmponant,
wonderful sources of ideas and claims 10 ltwesugaie. t Each of 1hese sources also tores tn the national political d b ome '."" phnes will of1en go through polltl~I. scienct" or o1her dlsc1·
mg lOplcs o1 uncoven . e ate, rats· common peer-review s1andarda l~r·rrv1ew process. The most
lea1ures online material, much of which is free . traditional news dnl8 evidence that the sends an arucle or book manusc a1 a journal or book editor
An underappreciated source of po1entlal research topics w11hin these printed me a have
much hk~ ialk radio or ma ~ot. Biogs, one or more scholars wnh exp;~' Sl;bmh1ed for publlca1ion 10
sources is the editorial and letters·to·the·edltor pages. Although lhese pieces
arucle. The review is performed . ise " . the topical area of rhc
express opinions, the writers of1en support them with what 1hey claim are fea ture political d " . gazmes, of1en
tscusslon and d b rev iewers are not told rhc au1ho . rn a bhnd fashion; tha1 Is the
empirical facts. Consider an editorial asserling thal th• "death penally deters from a particular ldeol
perspecuve
e aie
og1cal or partisan ass~ss only the quahty or tho w::k n~e to ensure tha1revie~ers
cnme· and is therefore justified. It may be tricky. bul you mlghl 1est 1his claim reviewers' comments to s , e fdicor relies on the

~~erature pubhu~1~~ ~~rr1aent ~!

by comparing the incidence of honuctde in slates with and without capital pun· whether or not the work u,:;sest rtv1S1011S. or tho work and asr:"r
ishment. "Utah has th• nation·s most permissive gun laws. according to the
sou~:o~!hg::to~al and nonscholarly to deserve con1nbu1ion to
research topics sp aces to !111d potenual sure that lhe work published peer-review process helps
of the besr possible qua.Jny a~" :holarly Journals and books is
Brady campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, but 1t has one ol the lowest murder
literature will h ' urveying the scholarly
mes m lhe country. cahfornia. wtth th• striClest laws, has a homicide raie r Che mos1 value to the d
evant to the d1•~1plyou identify a topic rel·
m.J~sc~
1 phne. h also assures Che d
higher than the national average "2 (Maybe Cahlornia has gun laws because it ~pmeThe hi mlSlakts or mvahd or u::1i.o:1 thot, •!though lhore sttll
ature includes boo'-- SC o arly Iller· been vf't.ted by one or e claims, ihe anide or book h
has a crime problem; it's not likely the presence ol such laws cause an increase/
excess of gun violenet' or that such laws are irrelevant Maybe they prevent even
.. and articles w
by pohucal scientists and oth ntten Ahematively. some= expon s on t~ topic as
only i.., th ~
or pol11ical pracuuoners s;~ a~dem1cs <h " 1 e ~11onal SlaU Although
arly JOUm•ls and books
" ' rtviewed
more murders.)
Broadcast news sources can also inspire topical resurch projects. The besl establishes which topJCS and tterature a
hh
:~0;! !~!'Thorthe work, n u~:ll~~ ~gorov1dts a
e type of rev
15
rous as
radio and television programs for thts purpose are those lhat mclud• long seg· important to pohllcal questions are
s er uses will rypically be pl ..w • )OUrn•I or book put>-
m•ntS dedica1ed 10 political news. discussion. and debate. Radio programs wilh perusing rhe hst ol ~1en1tsts Stmply JOU.mal or publisher"s Web sue: ained m the jOum.tl or on lhe
a civic or political focus !eatunng a variety or topics mclude Nattonal Public issues of a 1·ou I amc e t11les of several
ma ran giv In ackl111on to a pttr-rev
Radio's Mom•l18 f.dtr1on 3nd All Tlltl18S Con· topic. Here IS h • you td•as for a c.an dlfrHentiate scholarly ,~ proct>ss. some other Indicators
...
:1~:~•::0':;'~ :~:;uatt; :n~~~~':::r..:;:~,0~~~:1arly
. a s ort hst of so 0
sidered Your local pubhc radio station may tna)Or poh11cal science b . . me of the
descnpuon of the au1hor~:",'~al ~ract111one11, looi<Jng r:."~
have a program devoted to local and regional (1f not ail) of t . po hcauons, many
w ttch are available online: $0
public allalrs such as Radto Times. a daily are published by both un . e Pace to stan. Scholarly book
Cons\der scour\ng the popular press or mass media - the two hour program emanating from Phiiadel· J\mencan r
Journal o l'ol111cal Science- ive111
for ha pro1essional audience 1Y presses and
rather th commen:lat presses'
sons of newspape~ and magaz.ines read by average tin·
Broad
phla's public radio station. WHYY. Numerous
pu bl' covcragc or Po11t1cal
. science and s~c , the wo rk will include com I an a general audience. J As
:r.ens- £or srntcments that are widely believed and repeated politlcal 1alk shows, like the Rush Limbaugh wnh lhe assumption Ihat l he re d p ex analyses and be wri11 c11
tc nc1mlnls1ra1lon and rmethod a er is familiar with the 111eraturc
bu1 1hat you suspect might be misleading or downright Shotv, do not hesita1e 10 make asser1ions
wrong lf ail argumrnt penams to an important 1ssue, and H American
Olli . I Alllllcal
. Scfence Review-Th
aboul political matters that can be put to 1h• 1 you are still unsure about
you can discredit 11 with empmcal evidence, you mtght well eta journal of lhe ,., e Is scholarly. consult wuh a rere whetl:er or not a p.111icular work
makt a potent ial. even ti modest, contnbu1ion to the public's empirical 1eS1 Television shows such as Science Assoc· . merlcan Political rence lbratian or your msm1c1or.
1at1on
NBC's Meer rite Press. CBS's faCt' rhe Narion.
knowledge of curttnt evtnts
 Beginning l he Research Process 81
POLlllC.t.l SCIENCE RESEARCH MElHOOS
80 promising papers presenred a1 professional conferences have been located,
hasiz1ng a comparauve per·
Saenu-~~~~:~1e::!'ear<:h on American poli11cal
copies of the papers can usually be oblamed through online archives like APSA's
BnrLsh JoUJlUll of Po1111cal l'roCPtdmgs4 or by writing to the authors directly. Although these unpublished
specuve, this publicati.on contains I
anicles represent the most up·IO·da1e work m the discipline, care should be
msti1u1ions and behavior. looking for scholarly studies on all taken in relying on them as they have not yet been vetted by a peer-review
. . . -Begin here when
Comparouve Poltne> . . nd overnment. process and may be less reliable than published work.
aspects of cross·national poh11cs a g nan\ anicles on internauonal rela· To guide you funher in !rndmg topics and searching for appropriate sources.
aniza11on-Con1ams impo this book·s companion Web s 11e hsts add11ional professional journals as well as
lruernauonal Org . rnals In th• held.
uons. One of the leading 1ou . lted ournal with articles on. among indexes and b1bliograph1es, data banks, guides to political resources, and the
ia ReS<>luuon-A widely c I nd individual am1udes like. A reference hbranan will undoubtedly be able to provide addiuonal infor-
Journal of Con fl . 5 war and peace. a mation and guidance on pamcular library sources available.
ertopics. international rela11on • f thodS and research designs.
o lh vanety o me . Still another source of ideas for research papers 1s a textbook used m substan·
'-•havior. Authors use a d pubhc adm1rustrauon
and "" 1 htiul science an uve courses, such as American politics, comparative politics, or international
Journal of fblirie>-Broad coverage o. poles about legislative organization and relations. These works can be particularly valuable for pointing out controversies
. Q arterly-ArllC
Legislat ive SIUdies u within a field. For example, as the discussion of judicial behavior in chapter I of
functioning and electoral behavior. lous Interest in methods and statis· this texibook lllumated, political sclenrists argue about what und erlies judges'
. t dents with a ser decisions, political ideology, or adherence to legal precedent and principles. You
Polirical Analysrs-For s u . im rtant substantive results. .
tics. Articles frequent ly contain po I political science and pubhc mlgh1 do a case study of a particular justice to see which side this person's rul·
.. R rch Quarterly-Broad coverage o lngs seem to suppon.
R>hr1cal esea So far, we have talked about using a vanety of sources, including the scholarly
administration ative politics. international rela· literature, 10 help you idenufy a research topic of interest 10 you in a general
. I on American poliucs. compar
R>!uy-A!UC es . . sense. We haven't yet indicated how you might search the literature (both schol·
tions. and political philosophy d ange of topies m the social arly and nonscholarly) once you have at least a general interest in a 1op1c. Before
Soaal Saence Quarterly-Anicles on a w1 e r we show you how 10 conduct a search of the literature, however. we want 10 1alk
· 1 s and about why every serious research project conducts what is called a lltnature
sciences tical articles. review aruc e ,
World R>lirics-Analy11cal and t~core comparative pohucs, po1iucal 1heory. review and why scholarly ankles and books contain a section or a chapter in
research notes in mternauo~al relauons. which the literature rela1ed to the topic rs discussed.
foreign policy. and moderru:z.atlon
nted at professional conleren_ces
In addition, research is !requ:~:l;o p=~n!ormed up-10-tht·mmute ore~ :t
llY mom AllTEUTllE REVIEIT
before ll is published. If you w be wonhwh1le to lnvesugate papers glv Mos1 research 1opks are inrually much too broad to be manageable. It would be
researt:h topic is quite new, It may . ed
vmually impossible to write something new on "international terrorism· or even
f nces eed ngs indexes pubhsh
pro~~; 7,:1ex~:
1
:.al S<:1ences and H:~a1~; ~n:: m~tlngs
1
of the A~eri·~:S "the causes of terrorism in the Middle East" without fir>;t knowmg a great deal
about the subject. Good research. therefore, involves reviewing previous work
roceedings. However, the proceedmsand regional pohtical science assot1•U am
on the 1opic to motivate and sharpen a research question. Among the many rea·
~litical Science Association (APSA~ APSA's PS contain the preliminary P'.~~ of M>ns !or doing so are (I) to see what has and has not been investigated, (2) 10
lished. Summer issues o m lisls authors and ut e
are not pub ting The progra ams for develop general explana ti ons !or observed variations in a behavior or a phenom·
for the forthcoming ann,u;;u~:; N~sJeuer publishes prelimina%::~~r politi· enon, (3) lo iden1ify potential relationships between concepts and 10 Identify
papers. The rnremauon:sociation meetings. Copies of prop,ra":is In PS) may be researchable hypotheses, (4) to learn how others have defined and measured
International Studies Ad nferences (frequently announce fields-for key concepts, (S) to identify data sources that other researchers have used, (6) to
cal science and relate ':nng organizauons. Abs11ac1s !or so7e:ences. After develop alternative research designs, and (7) to discover how a research project
obtained !rom the spons . ludc papers presented at con
example. Sociologrrol Absrrolls-mc
 Beginning lhe Research Process 83
POLillCAl SCIENCE RESEARCH MElHOOS
82 a luerature review may reveal repons of Similar observations made by others and
f lhese reasons more
k I thers Lel us examine some o may also help you develop general explanauons for the relationship by idenuly·
is related 10 lhe wor o o I a mg lheones lhat explain the phenomenon of imeresl. Your research will be more
losely. . arch will s1an oul by expressing on Y_ valuable II you can provide a general explanation of lhe observed or hypolhe-
c Ollen someone new to emprncal ~ •m or lhe effects ol campaign advenis- srzed relalionsh1p rather lhan stmply a repon of lhe empirical verification of a
. uch as terror1> f arch ques-
general interesl m :~o:,~ :n1ernauonal relauons, but lhke sd~~;c.::le beCOm• relauonsh1p.
·ng on public op1m pie •Whal in , r- In adduion lo seelung lheones tha1 suppon lhe plausibnity and increase the sig
1 l to be formulated (for exam . , d semenls sway voms!" or
uon has ye ·sed campaign a veni I •1 mficance of a hypolhesis, you should be alen for competing or ahema1ive hypolh·
,. ·oo negative. lelev1
lerrorists. or . . m or internauona 's
I ml") A review o pre' .
. that eses. You may stan w1lh a hypo1hesis speofying a simple relationship between lwo
·ooes the public suppon 1sola11on~sa topic by iden1lfy1ng research quesuons variables. Since 11 1s uncommon for one political phenomenon lo be related lo or
rch can help you shatpe caused by JUSI one other factor or vanable, u is 1mponam lo look for 01her possible
ous resea h estion such as
others have asked. wilh an overly specific researc qu who are causes or correlales of lhe dependem vanable. Oala collection should include mea·
Allematively, you may st_an views on abor11on policy than thOse_ will suremem of these other relevant variables so lhat, in subsequenl data analysis, you
"Do married people have d1ffere111 ublic opinion on abortion likely . may rule ou1 compeling explana1ions or al leasl indicate more clearly lhe nature of
single!" Reading the 1itera1ure relaled r:v:al lhat your specific research q~es\I;~ lhe relallonship between lhe variables ln the original hypolhesis.
aimed al answenng
is one of many I s1ion: Whal are
more general researc' que I eople CDLLECTIMG SOURCES FOR A LITERATURE REVIEW
HOW TO Co\tE lJtt WITH A Rt;.SU.llCH TOP1C lhe charac1crls1lcs or aurlbuies o Pd" ffer
b nion and do they 1
Where possible, c:o11ect data. who oppose a o ' nersl This tauer Alter selecting a research loplc using lhe sources described above, you musl
• Pose a .. how many"' question. ear. election) or for more than I m lhose ol suppo . begin collecling sources for use m wriung a lilerature review. Allhough personal
ro ch question conslltutes a topic,
ror more th;in one t1me (e.g~/oty state nauon. pnmary resear k 1 1 be loo nar· and nonscholarly sources can be quite helpful in selecting a research lopic, and
one u~ (f g.. more than o ; Wh~t might explain these whereas the former is Ii e y o a l11era1ure review can encompass vlnually anything published on your lopic, we
elfCHOn) Do any panerns emerge. row lO suslalll a research paper. k . an srrongly encourage you lo become lamihar wuh lhe scholarly lueralUre Relying
pautmsl ;i110n 10 answer a quesuon? Wbyl Alter reading lhe published wor ::,,s on scholarly sources ralher lhan nonscholarly ones will improve lhe qualuy ol a
• ts u d1!ficuh 10 hnd io(onn "bution by colle<Uns decide that previous '-r-··
Could you make a meaningful conm area. you may the question l11era1wr review In add1Lion, as a pracucal concern, many insLructors may not
do not adequately answer h pro1ecl to acrep1 or give much credu for ci1auons from nonscholarly sources unless lheir
1ppropn>lt da••! hen h•vt
tn which other researc Thus. you may design a researc An conlent consmu1es p;in ol your lopic Aller all, a li1emure review IS supposed lo
Do you 1h1nk that the' ways ed are aciequate! Aft there an old ques1ion in a new way.
8 10 es1ablrsh lhe knowledge abou1 a lop1c thal has been auained and comrnunica1ed
~asuff'(i wh.tt you ;ire '";:5~ with the mea.sures1 answer
invesugauon may rephcale a
sludy to con·
paod
any vahd1ty or ~ha.b1hty nd reliabihty are dlSCUssed in accordmg to professional or scienufic pnncoples
(Mtasurtment vahdJty a l11m or challenge a hypo1hes1S or :;plica· S1uden1s commonly ask, "How many sourt:es
d g of a concept.
clldpl« S l the popular press or a our unders1an in I sdenli!ic must I find 10 wri1e my h1era1ure review?· The PH.AMID CnATIO~
• Find an assertion Of 11a1emen; ·~hat you believe to be uon Is one of lhe comerston~~1hesis in answer, unfonunalely. ts nol s1raigh1forward. How Each time )'OU fmd wha1 •ppe.111 10 bf • ustful source,
condus1on in a r~arch_ aimc: ~1dence So that you can assns work. By lesung the same n lhe resulls many books and an1cles lo include In a llleralure look al i1s hs1 or not"5 and referencM_One arttclt, for
incorrtct t.ook for empmcal d ce used by the author to differenl way• or confirm• .g same example, may ate 1wo more po1en11ally useful papers
review depends on lhe purpose and scope of lhe
the &tatement or examine t~ e~~a~"could have affected the from previous research using ~u: confi· Each of 1hese, 1n t urn. may pom1 10 1wo or more addi
see if JOYmistake! wtre ma e project as well as available resources. II your proj·
data and methods. we ll\crease Re lica- 1ional ones, and so on Even 1r you tn.ln wuh t1 small
ect is focused largely on reponing ohe work or oth·
conc1uslon . conmcung conclusions. Try t~ dence lhal lhe resulls are correcl. p s or list. you can qmckly assemble a huge lls1 of sources.
• Find lWO SlUdlcs ihat roach . . Tesi conmc1ing explanauon• •rs, you wrll probably need lo Include more sources More-over, you mcr('i!Se your ch~nce$ of covering .Jll 1he
l I or f('conc1le the conflict
11011 can therefore help build consensuk lhan If your pro)ecl Is focused moslly on your own relevan1 lilerature.
uire further wor ·
exp a '\ ill ihem to different cases or data. . ldenlifYloplcs 1Iiat req begin analysis. Funherrnore, a more complex topic, or a
by app y 8 lanation for certain political Al other limes. research may .
• 'T'ake a iheory or general exp w situation. 'lh a destre lO topic with a larger ll1crature, may requ ire a more
behavior and apply 1110 a oe with a hypo1hesl• or w1 a re\a1ionshiP m·depth lirerature review than will a more maightforward topic or one with a
rt\llffrltn.tol' st.tQOtstil'IQmatMintklOI develop an explana1lon for d Her• smaller literature. Finally, consider how much lime and effort you are willing to
NOit w.V1Mt110\l\lf'lk0ftlol our~ s.uoge:sllflOsOfJltoC1hcllPS"SltdtllfC lh•t ha• already been observe .
tlpllOfC_Ol>_l»Plfl°""'
 Beginning the Research Process 85
POllTICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS

bu1 if you find one article thal is ;;~es are act ually relevam 10 your 1op1c
4. You may find ihal no1 all of lhe a .
dedicate to collecting sources- Although we cannot provtd• a simple answer to more hke ii using lhe approach we d irecl relevance, you can use II 10 find
escnbe nexl.
the quesuon o( how many sources are necessary. we can opla1n hOW available
ume and e((on could be beSt directed and used most efficiently A second way to u 1he Web of Science
instead or searching forse1011ics. lS 1o begin wnh
. a single article

1'11titfl111•111111111 ' "'"tf l111ntffl

lt would be impossible !or anyone to idenufy. let alone read and or wnte about.
l . Suppose 1ha1 al lhe beginmn of
every boOk or ar11cle with reievance to any parucular research pro,ect With that articles rtla1ed 10 an anicl g your search, you decided to search fo
II b e you had atread r r
caveat m JTUnd. you can tlunl< ol the fust step In collecting sources-ldenufylng the sy • us, for example Imagine that w . y o_und-lrom your course
relevan1 hiera1ure-as limiting the search 10 only thOSe boOks and arucles with Alben 0 . Cover's " Ideological V I h1le reading Jeffrey A. Segal and
1he most din•<:! relevance 10th• research topic o( Interest You can begin 10 narrow Jus11ces· (a b rfef disc ussion ol 1he
a ues
artland
I .the Voles o f u .S. Supreme Coun
1he field of potential sources in many ways. The fil'Sl step is to search comprehen· 1ha1 lhe topic Interested you and 1houghi c e yIS found
. in chapler I) • you .ound
'
s1ve electronic databases. such as Web ol Science or Google Scholar. or databases e se was wnlten on ii Because ou h . ou might hke lo lmd out whal
your prolessor had iold you ol t~ I ad discussed th e anicle in class and
1
1ha1 include links to full teXI anides. such as JSTOR. These databases allow you to
quickly locate a large number of articles that investigate s1mllar topics. our current undersiandlng of 1"ud·e. mlrdxmance o( the article '" esiablishing
Web of Science is a particularly useful starting point for bulldlng a literature was an i mportani article 10 inc\udicia, cc1s1on maki ng, you decided lha1 it
Wilh lhl . e m your literature review
review because you can s single ar11clc, you could use th
oiher work in the li1era1ure lnves1ig,11in e .Web or Science 10 qui ckly find
• search the Social Sciences Citauon Index database of social scie nce journal
e~a~ple, by using an advanced search g s1m1tar research questions. For
articles generally, using a keyword search:
cC11auon , tndl!X and lhe d e I•uh o( "all yeaand •selecung lhe Social Sc.1ences
• search for articles wri1ten by a particular ooc1al scientist: or, overs article by searching f h rs, you could find Segal and
• perhaps most important lor sianing a literature review, you can search for 111le, assh own '" figurt 3· I. or t enorauthors'
(Do bo h na mes and pan ol the article's
all of the articles in the database that cite an article of Interest and lor art•· English language and 10 1us1 articles I er to restricl your search 10 the
Hems 10 be lrue m the case of ihe lt~;::en though you_ know bolh ol these
c\es that subseQuently cited those articles.
did this and lhe ~arch came up em I ~u are searching for. The au1hors
Two quick examples highlight the value of 1hese searches first, suppose you casung as wide a net as is rt•so blp Y o search engine is perfect and
reason Ia1·r lo find relevant hems.)n• e can avoid search es 1ha1 for some '
are interested in undersianding 1ud1oal behavior
Sy 1yping the phrase ju.diaal behat'or mto the •quick search" field, limiting 3. Chclung on lh~ underlined • 1• w II
on "view full tex1 · or "AE C i rrveal ihe results from the search er· k
1he period to 1970-2011 . and searching only the Social Sciences Citation an cl "f . et Amcle" bunons Ii . ic
I e I ll IS available lhrough 1he I b • 10 nd the lul\ lexl of the
Index. we found 447 articles This Is far too many an1cles to read 1
on the arucle lit rary s database su bscnpllons,
· e to find a weahh ol info · or chck
You migh• want 10 refine your search further by limiting subject areas 10 \aw 1 1
slh ows 1he lull cit auon. which will be needrmauon about th e aruc e. Figure 3-2
h
and political science and 10 lhe Uni1ed States (a Countries{Terrltones option e number ol anlcles the an1cle c"1ed ed for the works ci1ed or no1es
with a drop-down menu allows you 10 chaos• a country). Doing ibis reduced subsequenily cited Segal and Cov i . , a_n d the number ol anicles lhal '
1he number o{ items to 297. ThlS is still a \01 , but aher reading through article
4. Segal .lnd Cove . er s anicle.
abstracts in \his larger topic, you might narrow the search 10 • panicular kind "C r cued ihln y- four referen . .
iled References· 34 • ces m !heir anicle· by click·
o{ judicial behavior. For example, say 1hat, aher reading a {ew absiracts and el . , you will find all th. f ' mg on
ectronlc llnks to those ref . iny· our references with
anicles, you found you were lnteresied in the debate over judicial ac1ivism.
This
I featur erences mclud
e makes ii easy 10 review lh b ed in the We .
b or Science da1aba se
3. By entering the phrase 1udicial acrivism inlo th e "search within these Pace before Segal and Cover's anicle. e ase ol knowledge that was In .
resul1s· search field. we narrowed 1he search 10 only six articles. This is a
manageable number o{ anic\es 10 examine.
 Beginning lhe Resea1ch P1ocess 87
pQL\TIC/.l SCIENCE RESEARCH MEltlOOS

216 anicles in us database flGUN'3-2

. , 1 Science has idenulied . • Cited: 216." Results of Clicking on Article Trtle on Web ol Science Dalallase
5. II• of this wnung. wle:n~ cover's anicle By clicki~& o:'u~;':r~ tmponant
that have cued Segato each of these anicles. 'This is pa nd Cover's anicle- "' .. ' - ~ ~

you can find a hnl<lind an essenual reference hl<e Segal areference-you can
.. "' t1 ~_;.~-=--~~!~~....::::...::-:-:-i;,~~nh; · .......;.A··,·~·~,.......
r•.,. "'- ,....._ ••....,
tiecause once you k in this literature includes as a. e review. In • eo..p l · ·!I~ · .,... ~10po-. '\ ·
an anicle that most wor miler of anicles lor your own hterat~ anicles in a • ' - -~='W:=i...,...C:Lo-c_,,~;.!)~~ ...,'°"'"".- -
easily identify a large': 250 references to relevant boOks an h Segal and •.,..,~tJ.J) · •••s.-:. 9 • • . ...) - . .... . "'*""'"' ,... •· ..
this example. we 1ocat me of the anicles that cite l e
mauer of minutes. Notice that soht·hand side of figure 3·2. v~Es rn 1 r..io v E-DC.E
cover anicle are listed on the ng

flGUl\l 3-1 • hon Web ol Science Database Wtll c.il s( 11·nct

"Advanced Searc

IDEOLOGICAL VALUES ANO THE VOTES OF UNITE[).STATES SUPREME·

COURT JUSTICES

- -
~-- -........... -~.-..aMA.<OfCICP4",Q

... .....
MWM"Nllf#W;#l~«:llPalll(W.'W~U . . _ ,

T-..C...hl·---·
...... 21..»S Dal.M%117"9U40!I
__ .............,,,......
,,...c..-. 111

-·-
,.
.....
--
...................
,.. .....,
....................
.............
~

... ...
~..,...,_

...._

............. ~ . . . . . ..ai.tl~tfCM~mQ.Y'l:MllllQOl(...,,..,,J9lus.o,
.
---
.......a.........
.......... ~c:-- ....
talll9-.c..a, ...
==-~-~
. . . . . , ........... 0. , ... , ...

--... ----·-_..
The larger lesson from this example Is that once you find a relevam anicle,
You can sharpen 1he direc11on of your search for relevant literalure by exammmg

............,"- - --- ~
c .- C•

t.
..... ,.

r II
the literalure review and works clltd m tha1 anicle. Since the anicle 1s directly
relevam 10 1he research topic of mteres1, 1he sources used in the anicle will likely
ht rela1ed as well. By building a hsl or sources in this fashion , you can save a

- ·-
grea1 deal of 11me and effon as well as collec1 sources wilh a greaier cenainty
o.o f>°"
tha1 you will not overlook imponan1 work.
Remember. however, thal even 1hough bo1h or 1he above example strategies
will help you find relevam anicles quickly, arilcles wi1hou1 much relevance may
also come up m a search. 'Two anicles thal share a common search term do nor
•ecessarlly have much rela1ed con1en1. Furihermore, one anicle's ciling another
does nor necessarily mean that 1he 1wo ar11cles investigate 1he same 1opic or
 Beginning lhe Research Process 89
POLl11CAL SCIENCE RESEARCH MElHOOS
88
found in iournals speciahzin g
psychology 10 related d1sciphnes such as economics or
Th

e resullS of the search appear F

ll1; da1abase re1urned sixty·four .~~cf~u: 3-4. For the particular cn1erla u~
~~k~ ~h~h~u:~,~e;•
1 greaiero~:~;i~ ~~ ;;~c~::~;;1e~al~a~:::u~I:~r 1~::~1~:~ ~'::~~id;;
rlGiflH
"AdWni:8d" search on JSTOR of some amcles 10 lhe :en1ioned, JSlOR pro:
discuss 10 slles 1o
ion and lhe full citalions. /In advan1age

i::-
- -- 8
llbllll•t<I-...- - .......
f lGlftH
Results of JSTOR Search for •Judicial Behavior"

-
[?·mE

_
•~_......., ........ '*" ~
.......... ... .......... 0

.
nu1Tn't
--------
s-chRMu!U

'"'°""""')AKlob(-J)H.o(c.ty(l:ll#nel)N~
r: $NJdlo ......... , . . .

r~,
! lllll tir
..
A:._.
or ..
Mr=-1 ...............
..,l!!,J ldr-:J
11<-
r- j:""'-...uw.rea••n••
i"::-
·~k_. ~--------.-..-----..,_. ~·
~!-~ • ~ -

1 ..................
PUelJCAllDM nnr
.................................... -....;;............

even 1hat the more recent article menuons the older article in the text. Therefore.
you should search for relevant literature using multiple search parameters and

tools.
Vou could also search for ar11cles on 1ud1cial behavior using a da1abase like
JSTQR. a comprehensive electronic archive of academic 1ournals and publica-
uons. 111though not every campus has access to it. and It does not include
full ·text amcles from many important sources. JSTOR is widely available More-
over. a description of how 10 search 11 illustrates gmdehnes for searching other

database•- Figure 3-3 shows the preparation of a JSTOR

search for articles containing the phrase iudioal
bel1auior. Note the limitations on the search.
ftNDING "' T U.M ON A P A&£
Because a lot of work deals wilh judicial behavior.
Most lntcrne\ browsen ha\IC a "hot key" combination we hunled only for articles with 1he phrase in 1heir
that allows you to sl'arch for a part\cular word or phrase abs1rac1s. We also confined the search 10 the last
on a displayed Web page. W11h lnternet Exp\ortr and decade (2000- 2010) . Finally. we limited our search
Firefox. for eumple. use cn.i.·f. Take advantage of this
10 political science and law 1ournals (not shOwn in
shortcut when v1ew1n& a massave document that has
figure 3- 3). although many useful articles may be
sma\1 tut or tots of c:onttnl
 Beginning lhe Research p rocess 91

POllllCAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS

• If you have• clear rop1c m mm
one sponsored by • resea d . stan wnh a specific In1erne1
of hnding anic\es via a full-text Web s11e hke JSTOR Is 1hal you can save elec· the number of false h1ls rch orgamzalron or umvcrsity· 0o·mg so site,will
such as
reduce
uomc copies of anic\es for review w11hou1 lncurnn& printing expenses. And
s1m1lar 10 Web of Science, JSTOR has a feature 1hal allows you 10 locate all of !he • Open a simple won!- p roeessrng program such
hghl and
lio copy selected rext from a Web as Norepad or WordPad Hr
anic\ell 1n 1he JsTOR database 1hal c11e an article or all of 1ht references in the i
helpf~l Th~
n. Be sure ro document lh page lo facihtate colleclin . gh-
techmque is especially 7urce of this ma1erlal properly. rn orma-
Google Scholar database. • nglmernet
addresses (URLs) or copying complicated lo
ltlllllllll Uul1I PIJlllP smm
AS most students use the Internet on a regular basis. you may be fam1bar with • On a comphcated
• opuon lO Iocare thepaword
ge Wllh
or lots or text
phrase and im ages, use your browser's Find
of in1eres1
using 11 10 tool< lor anic\es and other sources of information on topics o! 1n1eresl.
One of the benefils of the revolution 10 global communications is !hat 11 places an
T.lke advantage or advanced se
aimosl hmitless supply of information \lterally al your hngenip5. Scounns !he specified periods, to cenaln arch opuons. II possible, limi1 our
Internet also allows you 10 find m any kinds of documents and data 1ha1 a uadi· ]eels, and lo data formal s. types of anicles, to p.rticular aullyl.Ors or
search
sub· lo
uonal library search will not turn up or that are simply not available on many
campuses. 11 is tempting 10 think thal you n..,d only 10 access a search engine. a • Check
topics. this book's Web sire (hr lp..//psrm.cqpress.com/ ) for 1.mks to specific
computer program that systematically visits and searches Web pages. and 1ype in
a few search terms, or keywords. l\owever powerful the !ac11itles may be. the
Most search engrnes and d
search process is not always simple your specific needs. Us atabases enable you to narro
Search engines such as Google or Yahoo\ may be a good place 10 s1an II you the words-or even uaUy you want to see only the doc w a search lo meet
specific phras uments 1ha1 c

~m-on
are trying 10 see what sources are available on a topic and you are not looking Advanced search features all es, such as intematronal terrori ontain all

~
lor a specific reference These search engines. however. can be quite indiscrimi· exactly what words ow you to use connectors an . a list.
nate in what they return and leave the user wilh pages ol unsuitable or redun· ones should be excluo;!hrases should be included rn rhe mod1f1ers to specify

w~1hou1
dant findings. As an example, WC used Goosle and Yahoo' 10 search !or !he ers, in all hkehhood t . If you enter the desired words . ocumem _and which
phrase jud1oal behavior. A Yahoo\ Advanced Web Search conduCled on January 7. listed words but not he search engine will look for page adding modifi-
Ahhough h necessarily all of them s l al contain any of the
2011. !or the exact phrase iudictal behavior for sites updated anytime and on any
t e Internet all f
crede~11:1'smerne1 any:~::tenal,
domain. and filtering out adult Web search results. yielded 21,700.000 hits. This tion found on h -ows or a wide search
1s an overwhelming number. A Google Scholar search on 1udrctol behmnor what its is reliable. Vinually not all informa-
resuicted to articles between the years of 1995 and 2010 yielded 86,600 refer· lbe rnformauon you. canl create a Web site. The only war an~group, no maner
sponsor In are ookrng at is dependable Y lo now for sure that
looking ull!:~e~~I, :~t:." tresemed by rnd1vidua1:: ::: :~:1lrar_ with the s11e·s
ences. That 1s, ol course. way too many 10 read

' rcauons, may not have the ed~- with impress1ve-

Search programs often order 1he results by the frequency ol appearance ol
standing rhat your r
confidence rn sourllerature review requires. In coniras~r ' 1h1y or scholarly
search words in the title and in the 1ex1 near the top of th• page or by !he regular·
1ty with which !he page is visited But these may not be the best criteria for your
purposes. Use of th• Internet clearly has drawbacks unless careful planning and authors or reput•bl ces c11ed rn professional pubhcar . you can usually have
opi nion can b d e organ1za1ions. Note too that ions or by established
ass~ciati~n
1h0ugh1 have preceded the search As with many of life's ac1iv1tiell. the more ume
ideological c . e1iendable . Many even sources in the form of
you spend searching for literature review materials, the easier It will become.
NevenMtess, following a few practical guidelines will expedite the process. If rn doubt~~ll1ons nevertheless offer useful i~f~hat
hold strong political or

lnform~lio~
adviser H out the reliability of a so rmatron that ts worth tiling
• When lirst visiting a site. panicularlY one with search features. chcl< !he olr she should be able to hel/yr::· check with your insrructor o;
s usable. assess whether or
"help"' button. which usually provides specific instructions for how to nternet source not accessed
1
s m the quality of these sourcesp~~i::~~ :~ly because so much variation
etist . s must be cited
search that site.
• ti possible, pyramid your search by going first to a political science page ' even more imponan1. because
and. from there, looking for more specific sites.
 Beginning lhe Research Process 93
POLHICAL SCIENCE RESE~RCH METHOOS
92 abs1rac1 on the first page of most articles and the preface a1 1he beginning of
vided for any work con·
per c11auons be pro . d eaders most books to serve as a short description of the organization and conclusions
audem1c standard:~:~~: .~a;u~; credited for the\! •:: d~'.; ~~~::~:;e
:eview.
contained therein. A good abstract will include a great deal of imponant lnforma·
llon about the contents or an article, including the research question, the theory
sulted. In this way cy of ihe informauon and the qu h y or creator of the page
and hypotheses, the data and methods used to test the hypotheses. and the
can check_I~• accur~e citation should include the aut or l address at which the
At a m1mmum, I rt1cle as well as th• complete Intern• Web site Is likely to
results and conclusions. Most arucle abstracts are only 200 to 300 words long. so
and the utlef ol t~e I~ the information you remeve is /:;o:dsourced encyclopt·
they offer an easy way 10 assess quickly whether an article is wonh reading fur·
ther. A good preface will include the same kind of information. but a book"s
art icle was oun . ou accessed it, as in the case o ta then you would add
have changed spamcg: ~hat continuously posts up·tO·hd::.d:ft~r the URI. Fo\lowi!lll
length makes thlS summary much more cursory or general. A preface will also
dia arucle or a rhaps in parent include more anenuon to orgamzauon of the chaplers Reading book reviews in
the date you accessed the site. : b age in a bibliography; . scholarly journals Is another way 10 learn quickly the value of a book 10 a given
neric format for cuing a p I (Date of publicauon. project For most books, you can find a review thar will relay the book·s 1heo-
Is a ge t name or full orgaruzat\on name .
re1ical 1mportance or help you understand how it fits In the context or the exist·
Author !last name-firs T"tle Full Web address.
If available). Web Page i . ing li1era1ure and what It adds to 1he base of knowledge-in addilion to assessing
Poht1cs: The Missing Un~ of
the quality of the research.
For example, & l.affY J. SabatO. (2~l- IS). ht1p://www.c1v1c US< or abs11ac1s, prefaces. and book r.views will belp narrow a list or refer·
Stroupe, Kenneth~ -· Jr.. . (CrRCl.f. working paper ences. This •mailer lisl can then be culled for those references that are essen1ial
11
Responsible C1v1c F.ducauo Papers/WPl8Stroupe.pdf.
to mo1iva1ing 1he currenl research project and those that add depth, range, or a
youth.org/PopUps/WOrking our information is from a report b.y
unique perspective 10 1he literature review. In addition. the first few pages of
indicates that y Jr. and l.affY J. Sabato and is
Kenneth S. Stroupe d 'nistered by the Center political science an.icles comain most or the description of the key components
available on a Web page a ;~n Civic Leamtng And or the research pro1ect-the research question, theory and hypotheses, and data
QaCW"ii1D~ ~nduct a comp.... ,..henSJVe hteraturt for Information & Researt accessed at ht1p:// and methods- and mclude a literature review. The condus1on or discussion of
Tht flf'Sl lime )"OU co 11auon.s you d1seover ~ay ovet· Engagement (CIRCLE) that ~us/WorkingPapers/ findings will summarize 1he results and explain how they add 10 the base or
search. the number of c them iystematically 1s often a www.civicyouth.org/POP p knowledge. Students with ltmited time for reading articles should read the first
whelm you Managing h rele'lant cnatton on a few pages and the conclusion and then, if more information is needed, proceed
cl\alleng• 11 moY help 10 pu• ·~ wd ti th• ci1a11on WPISStroupe pdf. . d on the standards set
separate thr~by·hvt·mc.h tn ptett b1bl1ograph1c mtor· Citation style will depen ctor but include at to the rest of the anicle. Finally, although many polttical science anicles include
prO''es to~ uselu\, the~a=~n the card '" the fonnat
· · n or insuu • complex methods and tables, the text describing the results usually includes a
by your insutuuo o let a reader retrieve the page
ma;uon c•n be entertd r tHbhograPhy. Th~ cards c~ least enough detail t more Jargon-free description or the results that does not require an advanced
you will bf usmg lor ~anous needs. This method pr.. and verily mforma11on understanding of s1a11stlcs. The same time-saving tips can be applied to books by
be sort~ according to search m a form that w11l concentrating on a book·s introduction and conclusion as well as selected rele·
servH the frU1tS or a me;,a:~es t.he s1ep orwnung the
111•111 1\1 llllPlllrt f possible vant chaplers. which you can idenufy In the table of contents.
be useful to you. 3nd l t and men uansfernng at
c1taoon \nfonnauon onto ., is "d fled references or Nonscholarly references like magazme or newspaper articles, or Web sue con·
once you have ' enn review the next step is to tent, generally are much shorter than references from the scholarly literaiure and
10 a card inclusion In a llteratureh (I) ~xplains the base of
h In a way t at ......, to requ1Je fewer shoncuts These sources can typically be read quickly and in most
the references fit toget er ious work, with resr-· casts do not provide an abs1rac1.
figure out how we lmow about a 1op1c from prev ro' ect is going to build
knowledge. or what nd (2) establishes how the current Pf ~nowledge is to read
the research quesuon ae best way to understand the base o nderstand how each l llTIMC ALITERATllE HVIEI
on thal knowledge. Th I esearch questions and u ~h ques·
rs the centra r portant resea.-
the work that answe h sive understanding of the 1m . so It Is wise to Afler you have Identified 1he relevanl literature and started reading the literature,
contributes to a compre en uld take far too much nme, fl iJ time to begin craf1lng the literature review. In 1h1s section, we explam how
. ns To read an entire hteratu'.e wo ting l'Otl can integrate a colleclion of related materials into an effeclive literature
~:iy ~n shortcuts w:~~::;:s~~~I~::: the preceding~~'::· ~o~ ~:~ ::1~: th• teview. Essen1lal to this process Is limiting the discussion of malerials to the
Fllst, lollowmg ferences are identified and co ec •
references. Once re
 Beginning lhe Res earc h process 95
POUllC"l SCIENCE RESE"RCH METHODS
l11era1ure has un d enaken in build

:::::.~o::::";:. ,;,:·:::."::.7:~·:::::.~:;:: .~::::::".:::::;

area Beginning the hte mg our understanding of th
mos1 relevanl previous work and focusing 1he h1eraiure review on concepts and
Ideas ra1her 1han around md1vidual bQo\<S, an1cles, or authors. Th•• 1s 1mponant
Next . o nowledge. an ellec11ve Stan to
beeause organizms the litera1ure review m this way will make it easier 10 estab·

used«~::h:t~~.~:~ ex:'..i~n.~~e adna~a

lish 1he base of knowledge and demonstrate how the currenl research project used ' you might regroup the amcles ba
of the ankles used or research designs
can extend or add 10 thal knowledge-wllh a new perspecuve, new data. or a
d ~archers
different research commonly discuss in the !seven of 1he anicles
ll~rature
d1lleren1 me1hod-bY resolvmg con01c1ing results in the literature or by rephca1·
d1llerent approach esrs used in the l11erature because a If reviews the
av~advantages d1sadvan1~g~
mg. and therebY validaung, previous research. When thmlong about a h1era1ure
review as motivating a research pro1ect in one of these wa~. you will see that worse for making :rt
In addition to d II am nds of conclusions
and expdamed in chap1er 6,
an will be beuer or
the hterature review is an m1egral pan of a research pro1ec1 and requires a grea1
1 erences m rese h
deal of atten1ion to establish the d1recuon of the pro1ect· seven case s1udies also arc design, each of the th
Th• key 10 organizing and wnting an ellect1ve literature review 1s to focus on have relied on pe hkely used different dala Some I three expenmems and
rsonal mterv · o e cas d
concep1s, ideas, and methods shared across 1he literature. Many s1uden1s are used methods. Ukew· iews; others may have used . . e stu ies may
1se, some or th . part1c1pant b
to writing about multiple references wllh a focus on the individual references. lege students, and o1hers e expenments may have collected d -o servallon
discussing each collected reference in turn. For example, 11nagme 1hat you have Much as do d'1ff . may have collected data fro h ata from col·
erences an re h m l e general
collected ien an icles for a literature review. You mighl decide that 1he easiest way different conclusions searc designs, differences in th d population.
10 organize a review 1hat incorporates all ten anicles would be to lake the first As a fi na l exam I . e aia n11gh1 lead to
article. perhaps selected because it was the most relevant, and summarize the P e, you might s h
slons. It is unlike! th ort I e ten references b t
results of at least Y at all ten anicles came to the Y he results or conclu·
comm:::~:; ,°on~lus1on.
mosl imponant pans of the anicle: 1he research question, theory, hypotheses.
da1a, methods. and results. Alter summanzing the first article, you then move on ldenlll)'ing the ien articles likely contradi;.a;; In fact,
researcher to Ide ·r . es and con1rad1ctlons in lhe r esu ts ol 1he o1hers.
.~u establish~erature
to 1he second article and write a similar summarv m the next paragraph. then the
accepted widel y ideas that have been review allows a
a~:e ht~rature d1sagreeme~~";;,ugh
third. and so on. unul ail ten articles have been summarized We call this approach
to a li1era1ure review the •tioxcar method" beCaUSC such a review hnks the inde- ther clanficatl:n and areas of rephca1ion as
pendent discussions of each article much hke a senes of boxcars on a train. motivaling factor Ior new
exp anauon. ~n provide
rese h Conflicting results "' at areanpe for
d fur·
Although 1his may be the easiest method for including mul11ple references in and relevance of the curr arc and establish for the reade h won erlul
a literature review, II is ineffective. It does not explain how the ten articles lit Compared em research project. r t e imponance
together 10 estabhsh the bas• of knowledge to which the current project will to the boxcar me1l od
sophisticated lilerature review t ' the lauer example describes a
~esearch
add, nor does it establish how the current pro1ect will add 10 that knowledge. By ceptual and method I . because II integrates previo much more
the researcher to ex ol og1cal hnes and provides a more err: along con·
PA~m th~··
tacking together independent d1scuss1ons of an1clcs, you will find it d111icult to

~e
discuss common themes across references. conOicting results or conclus1ons. or 11110 that literature. the base or knowledge and how organlZ.Juon ror
because II seems ea noted earher, the boxcar method currenl pro1ec1 fits
quesuons left unanswered 1n 1he litera1ure.
A more eUec11ve way 10 wnte a hterature review tS 10 focus on the concepts, current research sier, ut the integrated literature revi may be anracuve
better grade for s~~Ject and the reader- and. practical~w
will better inform the
e~ts
ideas. and methods in the relevant hterature. For example. imagine that you
have the same ten articles from the previous example, but instead of discussing A literature revfe y speaking, will earn a
each independently. you begin by 1den11lymg the common themes across ail in which . w " not all 1ha1 d1f(eren1 from
ten articles. The lirsl step might be 10 group the ar11cles according to their the discu:sol u wnte an essay about wha1 is know a cboonventional research paper
on needs to b . n a ut a to . I
the reviewer lo h e organized around key theme P'.C· n both cases,
.o~se
research questions. II ls likely that all ten amcles address a similar broad topic
review for an c the hnportant lhemes on w . s, and II is your iask as
pre~:~:ncal focu~'~oto
bul do not share exactly the same research questions. You can begin to estab·
lish 1h• base of knowledge by identifying. for example, three common research upec1s of '.esearch paper tends to locus. A literature
ques1ions among the ten arucles (four articles answering question one, three rtsearch. studies In addition to the s ub stanuve
. recontent
on me1hodological
of previous
articles answering question two. and three articles answering question three).
These three research questions represent th• three areas al study the previous
 POUllCAl SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS
96

mlDln Df a ummaEIEVIEI AWell-COOstrucled Literature Review

To demonstrate further bow you might wnie a highly e(!ective literature review,
"e include 1ll figure 3-5 a literature review (roman arucle discussed m chapter I:
·0oes /\nack Advertising 0emob1liz.e the Electorate!" by Stephen /\nsolabehere.
Shanlo Iyengar. /\darn Simon. and Nicholas Valentino. In 1h1s secuon, we dissect
this literature review to highlight the value ol integrating references by focusing
on concepts and ideas rather than individual arucles or bQOl<S. This literature
review begins with the first paragraph in the article and continues 10 page 2. /\S
we will see. the authors do an excellent 1ob ol explaining previous work on the
e({ecl ol campaign advertising on voters. explaining the received wisdom lrom
1h1s work, identifying 1he shOrtcomings ol previous work. and explaining how
1h1s article will correct 1hose shortcomings.
Nole first 1hal this is a schOlarly article from a highly respected political sci-
ence journal. The article is wrinen following the style and citation guidelines !or
1he American Poliural Science Review (AP5R). APSR and many other journals use
parenthetical notation 10 identify !or 1he reader. al a glance, the names of the
clled authors. 1he year ol 1he cited pubhca1lon, and a page number If relevanl.
The 1n1erested reader will find 1hat 1he names and da1es match a lull citation in
1he works cited al the end ol 1he literature review. 0 1her journals may use a dil·
lerent c11a11on siyle. such as endnotes or footnotes. but In all cases the au1hor
must provide c11alions acknowledging others· work and a lull citation within the
article. You should do the same, or your hterature review wtll !ail 10 give credit
where credit 1s due and leave you open 10 charges ol plagiarism.
In th• first para&raph. th• authors begin by 1dentllylng the conventional wis·
dom 1hal "ll IS generally taken {or granted that poliucal campaigns bOOSt citi·
zens' involvement-their interest 1n the election. awareness of and information
about cunenl issues. and sense thal Individual opinions matter •S This sentence
succinctly cap1ures the essence ol the received wisdom aboul the relationship
between campaigJlS and voters and 1s followed by citations o! 1h0se responsible
!or laying 1he early groundwork in developing 1h1s understanding. The second
and third sentences extend 1he discussion o! the conventional wisdom and ote
two more recent s1ud1es 1hat tesied 1hese ideas and found similar results.
The second paragraph explains that 1he au1h0rs question this conventional
wisdom and cites vanous changes 10 1he nature ol campaigns since 1he ! 940s-
primanly the role of 1e\evis1on. f\S 10 the first paragraph, aller muoducing a new
idea In the literature review, the authors include parenthelical notes citing th•
work responsible for the idea. In 1his section. the au1h0rs cite four references for
the role television has played and one reference that documents the increasing
importance o! paid poliucal adver1ising to campa1gi1 operative•
 Beginning lhe Research Process

The lhird p.iragraph discusses S1m1lar themes and cues work thar examines
rhe value of rhe1oncal skill and rhe ab1l11y to withstand media scrutiny dunng an
99 -
election Finally, rhe rhird paragr.iph explains rhat camp.iigns have bt'Come
"increasingly hosule and ugly" and Cll('S two references 10 esrablish the point As
you can S('(', rhe firsr th~ paragraphs of this li1era1ure review are orga nized
around concepts and 1de.s that are essenlial 10 understanding the base of knowl-
edge abou1 rhe relauonship between campaign advenJsing and voters.
An imponanr aspect of the founh and fifth paragraphs is that they tra11511ion
from estabhshmg thar the narure of campaigns has changed si nce early work on
rhe ropic to es1abllsh1ng 1ha1 some work has auempted 10 measure this new rela-
llonship. The authors cile "Neale 1991" when claiming thar "!here Is little evi-
dence concerning
6
lhe effecrs of auack advenismg on vorers and rhe elt'Ctoral
process. " They also cite rhrt'<! studies 1hat examined rhe same research quesrion
as Ansolabehere el al.: "Garramone and her colleagues (1990) "; "Basil, Schooler,
and Re<!Ves (1991)"; and "Thorson, Chrfs1, and Caywood (1991).• According 10
rhe authors, lhe previous work was inconclusive because ir found confl.icling
rtsuhs. Garramone e1 al. found 1ha1 nega1ive adverrising did not depress 1urnou1,
Basil, Schooler, and Reeves found thar negahve advenisements indirt'Ctly reduced
polillcal p.in1cipa1ion, and Thorson, Chris1, and Caywood reponed 1ha1 negauve
advenisemenrs had no efft'C1 on 1he intention of •ming. With each cilalion, the
aurhors also identify some of rhe problems in each research design thar m1gb1
lead 10 suspect results Given these connlctmg results. rhe au1hors propose 111 the
sixth p.iragraph thar they will auemp1 10 provide clarily by improving upon pro-
vious work by correcung research dt'Sign Oaws.
The first new paragraph on rhe second page, under lhe "Experimenral Design·
beading, provides fun her derail abour lhe Oaws of previous work using rwo dif-
ferent approaches: survey research and expenmenral research. The au1hors firs1
point rhe mi.rested reader 10 anorher reference 1ha1 has documented the luera-
ture on relevision adver11s111g and public opinion, "Kosrerrnan 1991. • They 1hen
lum their a11ent1on 10 survey research and ideniify the mam drawback of 1his
approach: a lack of measuremenr of direc1 exposuro to advenising, as docu
lllenred by rwo tiled references. Nexr, 1he authors discuss rhe Oaws of previous
experime111al work, primarily Issues of ex1ernal validity, and point 10 thrt'<! cired
references. The following paragraph begins the descrip1ion of lhis anlcle's
research design

With lhis example, you can see 1ha1 there is a logical order 10 rhe li1era1ure
review: esrablish convenUonal wisdom, esiablish 1ha1 the narure of politics has
changed-while tho convtnllonal undersiandlng has not, and lden1ify flaws in
Previous research that can be correcred. Discussing lhe lirerature in rhis manner
Blakes a convincing case 10 lhe reader thar •his research projec1 will be an 1mpor-
lao1 addition 10 rhe l11era1ure because h will improve our undemanding of a
lopic 1ha1 unril now has been mlsunderslood,
 Beginning lhe Research Process 101

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH METHODS

100 11111111• 11111111
Also. by organizing the literature review m this way. the authors have lound Fink, Arlene. Conducring Resrorch ulerotu11' Relll
Cal3rd ed . Los Angeles Sage. 2010 ews: From rhe lnrenu?l ro f\J
a clear molivauon !or designing their research project as they have Throughout
van. Jose L. Wn11ng LUerotu11' Rev! per
Ill• literature review. the author.> integrated twenty·nme references by focusing
on the concepts. ideas. and methods that were shared across 1he hterature.
and &/u111iorol Saenm
Pan, M . Lmg. Prtpan
ews. A Gurde for Slude
4th ed. Cl".'dale, Cali!.: Pyrczak, the Social r;:;;t
Finally, th• authors established that this 1s an 1mpottan1 area ol study (as 01h· Approaches. 3rd edng UttratU11' kvi.ell/$. QualllallW and .
ers have an 1nteres1 in wriling in 1btS area) and thal our understanding IS not David d Glendale, Calif.: Pyrczak 2008 Quanrrratn!I'
an Lorraine
Electronic Cheng• Ubrary, William Pauer.;on
lnforrnauon • .
comple1e (as there is disagreemenl through con01c11ng resul\J and concluS1ons). · hup://ww2 wpunj ed / LibUniversity. . •Guide
. for Citmg
· u rary/ aung.htm.
Ahhough dillerenl \i1erature reviews will vary in the orgamza11onal s1yle 1hey
use. we recommend thal s1udents working on their own htera1ure reviews trY to
lollow this topical style of in1egrating relerences: II will make even a bn•I discus· N1t11
slon. like 1he 1wo pages in the Ansolabehere et al. article. very powerful. 1 Th•
pointf'11111ca/ Scitr1t't Rnt<1rch M
ind Allow the rtadtr I trhod.s CO contains 5"eral text docu

tc;~,zn~
2. S1•'" Chapman, "Restrlct o mract •mp.ncal and ,...,bte claims,::" tha1 illustrate1h15
ZOil. t111p ://www.r.. Amendmenl Isn 't lh• Answor, - R<al verbal ;ugumtnlJ.
_lsnt.t hc. answer h1ml po ltlcs.com/articl•s/ 2011/ 0t / 13/restr=""'"" " Jonuary ll.
Larry P Good son. Urodford g_2nd. amrndment
No maner what the original purpose ol your literature review. It shOuld be thor-
1ls1s' •:va luatlona or
~~~i~;-rDlllinan,
.?"a lily,· PS: /bliticai Scie~~~n!::e,;esses: Poiltfcai Scicn
and Anll Hira "Ra1 .
ough. In your research report. you should discuss the sources thal provide expla·
nations !or the phenomenon you are studying and th3t support the plausibility ol 4. s.. th• Amrncan Polili~I
2S7-62 AVulable ,
1
.org/conftrtnc<paprni/.
=: srrvrrl.puge1Jound.edu/facultyP<1ges';;,'~il~2.
no. 2 (1999):
enct Association, · confrrrnce Papers - hn man/ ps pd f.
your hypatheses. You should also discuss how your research relates 10 other
research and use the existing literature to document the significance of your
research. You can look to the ei<ample m the previous section or to an example
of a literature review contained in the research report In chapter IS Ano1her way
to team about the process is to read a few articles m any ol the main poliucal
S. Steph•n Ansol•bth<rt, Sh•nto I
Advtnmng ~mobili
829 Av.it.bi•.,
6. Ibid
hllp~/~;:.'i;::'"I" Ammron ,bi~,::.,i=
Yt'fl&U· Adam Simon d
c edu/ ~1koussrr/Ansolabehere.pdf
="°·
, p.//www.apsa n<t

"Does A11ack
88. no 4 (1994):

science journals that we listed earlier m this chapter and take some time to study
th• literature reviews carefully, loolung for el!ec11ve styles that would suit your

own project.

~~·•-· ' ro'~"" o< '"'-"'"" to< '"' ""' •""' "" '"
electromagnetic medium that can be accessed and eumined by certain com·

puter programs.
Literature review. A systematic examination and interpre1auon of the literature
for the purpose of informing further worl< on a topic.
Relationship. The association. dependence. or covariance ol the values of one

variable with th•Avalues

Search engine. of another.
computer program that vislls Web pages on the Internet and
looks {or those containing particular directories or words.
search term. A word or phrase entered Into a computer program (a searcll
engine) that looks through Web pages on the Internet for those that contain th•

word or phrase.