Introduction to Research Methods (PS 104A)

Winter 2007

Course Information

Syllabus
T TH 11:00-12:15
HSSB 1174

Instructor
Heather Stoll
hstoll(at)polsci
3715 Ellison Hall
Office Hours: Wednesdays 3:00-5:00 p.m. or by appointment

TAs
Candy Miller
Sections: T 4, W 4, F 10
c_miller(at)umail
3709 Ellison Hall
Office Hours: M 11:45-12:45, T 12:30-1:30, F 11:15-12:15

Thomas Hartman
Sections: W 10, W 5, W 6
thartman(at)umail
4706 Ellison Hall
Office Hours: W 4-6 in EH 4706; TH 12:30-1:30 HSSB 1203

Announcements

Announcements are listed in reverse chronological order from most to least recent.

A final exam study guide has been posted to the website. [17 Mar]
The final exam is on Thursday, 22 March from 12:00-3:00 p.m. in the regular classroom. Bluebooks are not necessary. Recall that you are allowed a "cheat sheet" that consists of one side of an 8.5x11 piece of paper. [17 Mar]
A reminder that research papers are due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, 16 March in your TA's mailbox. Late papers will only be accepted in the case of documented medical or personal emergencies. [15 Mar]
Heather will have an extra hour of office hours on Thursday, 15 March from 2-3 p.m. [14 Mar]
Please read the Epilogue from Diamond for discussion in lecture on Thursday, 15 March. [13 Mar]
Reminder: There will be no F section in the final week of the quarter (on 16 March), but Heather will be available for consultation in her office during the section's usual meeting time. [8 Mar]
Please read the article by Fox and Smith, "The Role of Candidate Sex and Voter Decision-Making" in the reader for discussion in the 9, 13, and 14 March sections. [8 Mar]
Please read two articles available from the class website for discussion in lecture on Tuesday, 6 March: the Gilliam and Iyengar "Prime Suspects" and the Campbell and Ross "Connecticut Crackdown on Speeding". [1 Mar]
Assignment 5 has been posted to the website and is due Thursday, 8 March. [27 Feb]
Heather will hold an extra hour of office hours from 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Monday, 26 February. [25 Feb]
Guidelines for the research papers have been posted to the website. [17 Feb]
For discussion sections on 16, 20, and 21 February, please read the short article "TV in Bedroom Linked to Lower Test Scores", which is available from the course website. Think about potential threats to the validity of the causal inference that the study would like to draw. [15 Feb]
Assignment 4 has been posted to the website and is due Tuesday, 27 February. [15 Feb]
An answer key for Assignment 3 has been posted to the website, as has a midterm study guide that contains some practice problems. [9 Feb]
For the midterm on 13 February, you only need to bring a pen or two. Blue books are not necessary, and calculators are not allowed. [9 Feb]
As per our discussion in class today, you may only use up to one late day on Assignment 3---not two, since a brief answer key will be posted to the website on the evening of Friday, 9 February, along with a study guide for the midterm. [6 Feb]
Candy's Friday section on 2 February will meet in the HSSB computer lab instead of the usual Ellison lab. This is a one time only change! [1 Feb]
The midterm has been pushed back one class period and is now scheduled for Tuesday, 13 February. [30 Jan]
Assignment 3 has been posted to the website and is due Thursday, 8 February.
Heather will hold an extra hour of office hours from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Monday, 29 January. [30 Jan]
For lecture on Tuesday, 23 January, please read both the BBC and Kreuger and Laitin articles about defining and measuring terrorism. [18 Jan]
Assignment 2 has been posted to the website and is due Tuesday, 30 January. [18 Jan]
For the first discussion section, read Crichton, Feynman, and Dean, and think about the following questions. (1) Why does Crichton criticize the global warming debate? (2) Does Crichton's definition of science agree with Feynman's, and with what we've discussed? (3) Do you agree with Crichton (and Colbert!) that the line betewen science and advocacy has broken down, in the global warming debate and/or others? If so, what (if anything) should be done? That is: is this a problem? (4) How can science participate in debates about public policy and enter the courtroom? [11 Jan]
Assignment 1 has been posted to the website and is due Thursday, 18 January. [11 Jan]
The Friday section will begin in the first week of the quarter. Tuesday and Wednesday sections will begin in the second week of the quarter. For their first meeting, sections will meet in their regularly scheduled rooms. These rooms are: T 4, GIRV 2110; W 10, ARTS 1247; W 4, HSSB 2201; W 5, HSSB 2201; W 6, HSSB 2201; F 10, ARTS 1247. All subsequent meetings of Wednesday and Friday sections will be in the Ellison Hall computer lab (EH 2626) instead of the regularly-scheduled rooms unless otherwise announced. All subsequent meetings of the Tuesday section will be in the HSSB computer lab (HSSB 1203) unless otherwise announced. [11 Dec]

Assignments

The data sets for the course (along with their codebooks) can be obtained by clicking on this link.

Assignment 5 (Due 8 Mar by 4:30 p.m.)
Assignment 4 (Due 27 Feb by 4:30 p.m.)
Assignment 3 (Due 8 Feb by 4:30 p.m.)
Assignment 2 (Due 30 Jan by 4:30 p.m.)
Assignment 1 (Due 18 Jan by 4:30 p.m.)

Assigned Readings

Most readings can only be accessed from a UCSB computer. If you want to download the readings from your home computer, you will need to set it up as a proxy server through the library. Instructions on how to do this are posted here.

Items available from the Reserve Book Service can be obtained here using the password supplied in class.

Slides

15 Mar: Research Design: Qualitative Studies (cont.) and Review (PDF)
13 Mar: Research Design: Observational Studies (cont.) and Qualitative Studies (PDF)
8 Mar: Research Design: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies (cont.) and Observational Studies (Surveys) (PDF)
6 Mar: Research Design: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Studies (PDF)
1 Mar: Statistical Inference and More Research Design Overview (PDF)
27 Feb: Statistical Inference (PDF)
22 Feb: Statistical Inference (PDF)
20 Feb: Overview of Research Design and Causal Explanation (cont.) and Statistical Inference (PDF)
15 Feb: Overview of Research Design and Causal Explanation (PDF)
08 Feb: Describing Data V (PDF)
06 Feb: Describing Data IV (PDF)
01 Feb: Describing Data III (PDF)
30 Jan: Describing Data II (PDF)
25 Jan: Measurement II (cont.) and Describing Data I (PDF)
23 Jan: Measurement II (PDF)
18 Jan: Measurement I (PDF)
16 Jan: Overview of the Social Scientific Enterprise II (PDF)
11 Jan: Overview of the Social Scientific Enterprise I (PDF)
09 Jan: Introduction (PDF)

Handouts and Links

Final Study Guide
Research Paper Guidelines
Assignment 3 Answer Key
Midterm Study Guide
Hours and other information about the Ellison and HSSB computer labs can be found here.
Free (14 day) Trial Version of SPSS for Download