POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND STATISTICS POLITICAL SCIENCE 211 LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY

POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND STATISTICS
POLITICAL SCIENCE 211
LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY
SPRING, 2004
Instructor:
Telephone:
Dr. Gary Johnson
Office:
635-2763
Home:
635-9415
E-mail:
[email protected]
Office:
Hours:
Class:
Time:
Library 221
MTWR 1-2, W 9-10, & by appt
Crawford 109
MTWR, 11-11:50
Course Objectives
Political Science 211 is an introduction to the research methods and statistical techniques used in modern
Political Science and Public Administration. The course will examine the underlying logic of scientific
inquiry, the various methods used in empirical political research, and elementary techniques of data
analysis. Through this course you will learn how to conduct, on your own, the most basic forms of social
and political research. You will also learn the fundamentals of some statistical software that can aid you in
carrying out such research. However, preparing you to conduct your own research is not the course’s
only—or even its primary—goal. This course should help prepare you to read, understand, and evaluate
contemporary social scientific literature. It should also prepare you to think more critically and
scientifically about all knowledge claims regarding human behavior.
Readings
There are two required texts for the course. The first is Janet Buttolph Johnson,
Richard A. Joslyn, and H. T. Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods, Fourth
Edition (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2001). This is the primary textbook. It will be
referred to in the schedule below as JJR (the authors’ initials).
The second text is Michael Corbett and Michael K. LeRoy,
Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using
Microcase, Fifth Edition (Thomson-Wadsworth, 2003). We will
use this book to learn how to apply statistical analysis to realworld data using a statistical software package called MicroCase. This text will be
referred to below simply as Corbett.
It is important that you have the fifth edition of the Corbett and LeRoy book and that
the accompanying CD-ROM and 3.5” disk be included (you should find them in a
plastic pocket on the inside back cover of the book). If you have your own computer, it will probably be
most convenient for you to install MicroCase on your computer’s hard drive (you will need Windows 95 or
higher, 16 MB of RAM, a CD-ROM drive, a 3.5” disk drive, and 20 MB of space on your hard drive). If
you don’t have your own computer, or your computer doesn’t meet the system requirements, you should be
able run the software directly from the CD-ROM of any computer with the minimum system requirements.
Other required readings for the course, to be announced, will be on reserve in the library, handed out in
class, or from web sites.
Examinations
There will be three exams for the course. These exams—the dates of which will be announced—will
consist of a mix of multiple choice, short answer, problem-solving, and essay questions. The final exam
will not be comprehensive, but since the material in this course is cumulative, you will need to understand
earlier material in order to do well on the final exam.
Exercises
Your other written work in this class will consist of homework exercises from the Corbett book. You will
be expected to have these prepared for class when they are assigned and be ready to answer questions about
them when we go over them in class. You will also need to do these in preparation for the exams. They
will not be submitted for grades, however.
Participation
You are expected to be well prepared for class every day and to participate as called upon. You may be
called upon to share material you have been assigned to bring to class, to explain parts of the readings, to
apply material from the readings or lecture in some appropriate way, to generate examples that relate to the
reading, to explain the exercises you completed for that day, or to make a brief presentation that is part of
the day’s assignment.
You will receive a participation grade for each class. Your lowest three daily participation grades will be
dropped before the average is calculated. Unexcused absences from class will earn a “0” for daily
participation (I will assume your absence is unexcused unless you speak to me before or immediately after
the class or classes you miss). On days when you are present, but I am unable to assign a participation grade
(e.g., on the day of a lecture), your presence will be recorded, but no numerical grade will be assigned.
Only the numerical grades will be used in calculating your overall participation grade. Please note that the
most important criterion in assigning participation grades will be quality, not quantity.
Grades
The three exams and participation will each count as 25% of your final grade. The grading scale for all five
of the class components and for the course as a whole will be as follows:
A+ = 98-100
A = 92-97
A- = 90-91
B+ = 88-89
B = 82-87
B- = 80-81
C+ = 78-79
C = 72-77
C- = 70-71
D+ = 68-69
D = 62-67
D- = 60-61
F
= 0-59
Cheating
Cheating undermines the integrity of the academic process. Any toleration of cheating is therefore unfair to
the great majority of students who do not cheat. To discourage any temptation to cheat, my policy on
cheating is firm and simple: any student caught cheating—or engaging in any other act of academic
dishonesty—will automatically fail the course. In severe cases, or for repeat offenders, the Scholastic
Standards Committee can expel a student from school.
Schedule of Topics, Assignments, and Important Events
Assignments will be announced in class. Below is a class schedule you may use to record these assignments
as they are made.
JJR
= Johnson, Joslyn, and Reynolds, Political Science Research Methods, Fourth Edition
Corbett = Corbett and LeRoy, Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using Microcase,
Fifth Edition
Cls
1
Day
M
Date
01/12
2
T
01/13
Major Topics
Introduction
Organization
Assignments
 First class. No assignments.


2
3
W
01/14


4
R
01/15


5
M
01/19


6
T
01/20


7
W
01/21


8
R
01/22


9
M
01/26


10
T
01/27


11
W
01/28


12
R
01/29


3
13
M
02/02


14
T
02/03


15
W
02/04


16
R
02/05


17
M
02/09


18
T
02/10


19
W
02/11


20
R
02/12


21
M
02/16


4
22
T

02/17

23
W

02/18

24
R

02/19

25
M

02/23

26
T

02/24

27
W

02/25

28
R

02/26

02/28
03/07
29
M
03/08
Spring Break

No class. Be careful getting home (or wherever you are
going), and have a nice break!


5
30
T
03/09


31
W
03/10


32
R
03/11


33
M
03/15


34
T
03/16


35
W
03/17


36
R
03/18


37
M
03/22


38
T
03/23


6
39
W
03/24


40
R
03/25


41
M
03/29


42
T
03/30


43
W
03/31


44
R
04/01


45
M
04/05


46
T
04/06


47
W
04/07


7
48
R

04/08

49
M

04/12

50
T

04/13

51
W

04/14

52
R

04/15

53
M

04/19

54
T

04/20

55
W

04/21

56
R

04/22

Fnl
M
04/26
Final Exam

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
8
9