Goals:
This course aims to explore the strengths and
limitations of quantitative empirical analysis. At the same time it serves as a
starting point for advanced topics in quantitative research methods. The course
will help students to learn the basic skills for becoming not only a consumer
but also a competent producer of basic statistical research. In the
first part of this course we will use academic texts in order to reveal the
hard and weak points of quantitative empirical analysis. In the second part of
the course we will cover basic quantitative methods needed for producing
high-quality analysis both for political scientists and policy analysts.
As well, in the second part we will employ statistical
programs, such as SPSS and AMOS, in order have a better understanding of the
methods, to be able to replicate analyses and to conduct your own studies.
For those interested in more in-depth insight, further
readings are available for from my personal collections.
Requirements:
The students are required to produce a final paper using the covered empirical quantitative methods (A), to actively contribute to the discussions about the mandatory readings (B) and to pass one mid-term quiz, on short-answer format (C). 50% of the final grade will depend on (A), 20 % on (B) and 30% on (C).
Topics
and Readings:
1. The logic of quantitative and qualitative studies
Mandatory reading:
King, Gary, Robert Keohane and Sidney
Verba. 2000. Fundamentele Cercetarii Sociale [Designing Social Inquiry:
Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research (Princeton: Princeton UP,
1994] Chapters. 1-3. Bucharest: Polirom.
Further readings:
Discussion in ASPR vol. 89, no. 2.
2. Hypotheses, concepts, variables
Mandatory readings:
Rotariu, Traian, Gabriel Badescu et all. 1999. Metode
Statistice Aplicate in Stiintele Sociale. Iasi: Polirom. Chapter 2.
Reread King, Gary, Robert Keohane and Sidney Verba.
2000. Fundamentele Cercetarii Sociale [Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific
Inference in Qualitative Research (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1994] Chapters.
1-3. Iasi: Polirom.
Further reading:
Hoover, Kenneth R. 1992. The Elements of Social
Scientific Thinking. Fifth Edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. Chapter
4. 63-87.
3. Levels of measurement, experiment, quasiexperiment
Mandatory readings:
Rotariu, Traian, Gabriel Badescu et all. 1999. Metode
Statistice Aplicate in Stiintele Sociale. Iasi: Polirom. 23-29.
Rotariu, Traian and Petru Ilut. 1997. Ancheta
Sociologica si Sondajul de Opinie. Iasi: Polirom. 20-33.
4. Univariate analysis (SPSS)
Mandatory readings:
Rotariu, Traian, Gabriel Badescu et all. 1999. Metode
Statistice Aplicate in Stiintele Sociale. Iasi: Polirom. Chapter 3.
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 1995. Data Analysis. An
Introduction. Quantitative applications in the social sciences 103.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 1-18.
5. Bivariate analysis (SPSS)
Mandatory readings:
Hamilton, Lawrence C. 1992. Regression with
Graphics. Belmont, CA: Duxbury Press. 29-59.
Rotariu, Traian, Gabriel Badescu et all. 1999. Metode
Statistice Aplicate in Stiintele Sociale. Iasi: Polirom. 119-185.
Further reading:
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 1995. Data Analysis. An
Introduction. Quantitative applications in the social sciences 103.
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 19-53.
6. Multivariate analysis. Logistic Regresion (SPSS)
Mandatory reading:
Pampel, Fred C. 2000. Logistic Regression. A
Primer. Quantitative applications in the social sciences 103. Thousand
Oaks: Sage Publications. 1-39.
Further reading:
Tabachnick, Barbara G and Linda S. Fidell. 1996. Using
Multivariate Statistics. Third Edition. New York: HarperCollins. 575-609.
7. Graphical representation in political science for
univariate and bivariate data (SPSS and AMOS)
Mandatory reading:
Jacoby, William. 1997. Statistical Graphics for Univariate and Bivariate Data. Quantitative applications in the social sciences 117. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. 1-90.
8. The goals of political research
Mandatory reading:
Ragin, Charles C. 1994. Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 31-53.
9.
Exploration
of cross-national variance and correlation
Mandatory readings:
Horowitz, Donald L. 1994.
"Democracy in Divided Societies." in Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict,
and Democracy, ed. by Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner. Baltimore, MD:
The Johns Hopkins University Press. 35-55.
Safran, William 1997.
"Citizenship and Nationality in Democratic Systems: Approaches to Defining
and Acquiring Membership in the Political Community." International
Political Science Review 18: 313-35.
10. Case studies with comparative referents
Mandatory readings:
Lijphart, Arend 1989.
"From the Politics of Accommodation to Adversarial Politics in the
Netherlands: A Re-Assessment." West European Politics 12 (1):
139-53.
Deschouwer, Kris 1999. "From
Consociation to Federation: How the Belgian Parties Won." in Party Elites
in Divided Societies: Political Parties in Consociational Democracy, ed. by
K. R. Luther and Kris Deschouwer. London: Routledge, 74-107.
11. The logic of quantitative analyses and the degree of
freedom problem
Mandatory reading:
Putnam, Robert D., with Roberto Leonardi and Raffaella Y. Nanetti 1993. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 63-120.
12. The importance of specifying the micro-logic behind
the relationship between macro-variables
Mandatory readings:
Blais, André, and Louis Massicote
1996. "Electoral Systems." in Comparing Democracies: Elections and
Voting in a Global Perspective, ed. by Lawrence LeDuc, Richard Niemi, and
Pippa Norris. London: Sage, 49-81.
Mainwaring, Scott 1998. "Party
Systems in the Third Wave." Journal of Democracy 9 (3): 67-81.