| Tuesday, August 26 | Course Introduction: No readings |
| Thursday, August 28 | What is “scientific” about political science?
Bhattacherjee, A. (n.d.). Science and scientific research. In Social science research: Principles, methods and practices (Revised ed.). University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, September 2 | Thinking like a researcher
Bhattacherjee, A. (n.d.). Thinking like a researcher (Chapter 2). In Social science research: Principles, methods and practices (Rev. ed.). University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, September 4 | Research paradigms in social sciences
Sheppard, V. A. (n.d.). Research paradigms in social science (Chapter 1.5). In Research methods for the social sciences: An introduction (pp. [chapter pages]). BCcampus. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, September 9 | The research process
Bhattacherjee, A. (n.d.). The research process (Chapter 3). In Social science research: Principles, methods and practices (Rev. ed.). University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, September 11 | Theories in scientific research
Bhattacherjee, A. (2019). Theories in scientific research (Chapter 4). In Social science research: Principles, methods and practices (Rev. ed.). University of Southern Queensland. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, September 16 | What are the principles of sound research?
Sheppard, V. A. (2020). Reliability (Chapter 4.1). In Research methods for the social sciences: An introduction (Rev. ed.). BCcampus. Retrieved June 9, 2025
Sheppard, V. A. (2020). Validity (Chapter 4.2). In Research methods for the social sciences: An introduction (Rev. ed.). BCcampus. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, September 18 | Defining a clear research question
Lowry, C. (2016). Research questions (Chapter 1). In Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research. Ohio State University Libraries. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, September 23 | Literature review
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Reviewing the literature (Chapter 9). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025
Lowry, C. (2016). Thinking critically about sources (Chapter 3). In Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research. Ohio State University Libraries. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, September 25 | Hypothesis, concepts, and variables
Price, P. C., & Saylor, S. (2015). Developing a hypothesis (Chapter 3). In Research methods in psychology (Rev. ed.). eCampusOntario. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, September 30 | Qualitative research – Sampling & Overview of data collection techniques
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Sampling (Chapter 5). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Introduction to data collection techniques (Chapter 10). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, October 2 | No classes – Scheduled break |
| Tuesday, October 7 | Research ethics
Blackstone, A. (n.d.). Research ethics (Chapter 3). In Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods (rev. ed.). Saylor Academy. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, October 9 | Interviews
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Interviewing (Chapter 11). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, October 14 | No regular class – Classes follow Monday schedule |
| Thursday, October 16 | Observation
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Participant observation (Chapter 13). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025
Midterm due on Brightspace. |
| Tuesday, October 21 | Comparative analysis: Case study – Focusing on a single case: Process tracing
Legein, T., & van Haute, E. (2022). Fame and factions: A process‑tracing analysis of the 2019 leadership selection process in the Belgian French‑speaking liberal party (MR). Frontiers in Political Science, 4, Article 1057051 |
| Thursday, October 23 | Comparative analysis: Case study – Focusing on a single case: Deviant cases
Cammett, M. (2022). Positive deviance cases: Their value for development research, policy, and practice (Chapter 10). In J. Widner, M. Woolcock, & D. Ortega Nieto (Eds.), The case for case studies: Methods and applications in international development (pp. 219–238). Cambridge University Press. |
| Tuesday, October 28 | Comparative analysis: Case study – Focusing on a few cases: Comparative Historical Analysis
Watch the Comparative Analysis lecture given by James Mahoney (minutes 3:00 to 48:00). |
| Thursday, October 30 | Content analysis
Hurst, A. L. (2023). Content analysis (Chapter 17). In Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods: A Helpful Guide for Undergraduates and Graduate Students in the Social Sciences. Oregon State University. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, November 4 | Discourse analysis
McLeod, S. (2024, June 19). Discourse analysis. Simply Psychology. Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, November 6 | Quantitative research – Sampling
Saylor Academy. (n.d.). Sampling (Chapter 7). In Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods (rev. ed.). Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Tuesday, November 11 | Survey
Saylor Academy. (n.d.). Survey research: A quantitative technique (Ch. 8, Sections 8.1–8.4). In Principles of sociological inquiry: Qualitative and quantitative methods (rev. ed.). Retrieved June 9, 2025 |
| Thursday, November 13 | Exploring the data: Measures of central tendency and data visualization
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). Exploring and visualizing data (Chapter 3). In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Tuesday, November 18 | The normal distribution, z-scores, and t-tests
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). Sections 5.2 to 5.4. In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Thursday, November 20 | Covariance and Correlation
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). Association of Variables (Chapter 6). In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Tuesday, November 25 | OLS Estimation
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). The logic of ordinary least squares estimation (Chapter 7). In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Thursday, November 27 | No classes – Thanksgiving |
| Tuesday, December 2 | Bi-Variate Hypothesis Testing and Model Fit
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). Bi-Variate Hypothesis Testing and Model Fit (Chapter 9). In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Thursday, December 4 | OLS Assumptions and Simple Regression Diagnostics
Jenkins-Smith, H. C., Ripberger, J. T., Copeland, G., Nowlin, M. C., Hughes, T., Fister, A. L., & Wehde, W. (2017). OLS Assumptions and Simple Regression Diagnostics (Chapter 10). In Quantitative research methods for political science, public policy and public administration: 3rd edition with applications in R. |
| Tuesday, December 9 | No class scheduled. |
| Thursday, December 11 | Final papers and presentations due on Brightspace. |
