Syllabus

American Studies Center

Warsaw University

Research Methods in Political Science

Instructor: Prof Clifford A. Bates, Jr. e-mail: c.a.bates@uw.edu.pl
Program: Weekday MA Academic Year: 2018
Semester: Winter Language: English
Time: Thursday 12:30-14:45 Place: ASC Rm 311

ASSESSMENT
1 topic essay (5-8pages), 20% of overall grade
1 draft Bibliography 10% of overall grade
1 literature review (8-10 pages long, double spaced), 20% of overall grade
A research paper (20-15 pages, double spaced), 40% of overall grade
1 Oral Executive Summary of your research Paper 10% of overall grade

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
The goal of this class is to introduce students to the scope and methods of research in political science.
Students will be introduced both to core principles of the philosophy of social science that underlay all
research methods and to methods that are currently being used by students of political science.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
On the completion of the course, the students will be able to:
1. Apply the various methods that are common in the study of political science.
2. Compare and contrast different methods and decide the most effective for the type of project that is
being desired.
3. Design a research project.
4. Come to realize the proper approaches to craft research and how to effectively present it to a
variety of audiences.

READING
1. Stephen van Evera, Guide to Methods for Science of Political Science. Cornell 0-8014-8457-X.
2. Jon Elster . Explaining Social Behavior. Paper. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-77744-5
3. Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams. The Craft of Research 2nd edition.
University of Chicago Press. 0-226-06568-5
4. Darrell Huff, How to Lie with Statistics. Norton 0-393-31072-8.
5. Kenneth Shepsle and Mark Bonehek, Analyzing Politics: Rationality, Behavior and Institutions.
Paper: Norton 0-393-97107-4
6. Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis, second edition CQ Press
7. Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources, second edition. Hackett Publishing Co.
Class Outline
1. What is political studies and how research is done in it
Political Science is a social science—the basic method of social science
Politics vs. Political Studies/ IR and the varieties of IR interests.
Elster pgs 1-162;

2. Basic Social Science modeling

Elster pgs 163-256

3. Basic Social Science modeling con’t

Elster pgs 257-468

4. Different Methods Used in Political Science Research

Pdf file entitled “PoliSciMethodsApproaches”
[Draft Bibliography is due]

5. Writing and How to Do it.

Pdf file : “Writing in Political Science” AND “A Guide to Developing and Writing Research Papers
in Political Science”
Review: Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams.The Craft of Research pgs 1-108

6. Writing con’t
Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams. The Craft of Research pgs 109-182

7. Writing con’t
Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams. The Craft of Research pgs 183-325
[Topic Essay Due]

8. Research Questions and Hypothesis and how they work

Van Evera pgs 1-48,

9. Case Study Methods.

Van Evera pgs, 49-88.

10. Statistics and their Limits

Huff, complete.
[Literature Review is due]

11. Research Methods in IR

12. Research Methods in IR

13. Presentations of Executive Reviews

14. Presentations of Executive Reviews