empirical research topics in political science

Research Topics & Ideas: Politics

100+ Politics-Related Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Political science research topics and ideas

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation or thesis. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a politics-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of politically-related research ideas across a range of disciplines, including political theory and philosophy, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also, be sure to sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Politics-Related Topics

Political theory and philosophy
Comparative politics
International relations
Public administration
Public policy
Examples of politics-related dissertations

Topics & Ideas: Political Theory

An analysis of the impact of feminism on political theory and the concept of citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030
A comparative study of the political philosophies of Marxism and liberalism and their influence on modern politics
An examination of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility in political philosophy
A study of the impact of race and ethnicity on French political philosophy and the concept of justice
An exploration of the role of religion in political theory and its impact on secular democracy in the Middle East
A Review of Social contract theory, comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
A study of the concept of the common good in political philosophy and its relevance to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe
An examination of the relationship between political power and the rule of law in developing African countries
A study of the impact of postmodernism on political theory and the concept of truth, a case study of the US
An exploration of the role of virtue in political philosophy and its impact on the assessment of moral character in political leaders

Topics & Ideas: Comparative Politics

A comparative study of different models of federalism and their impact on democratic governance: A case Study of South American federalist states
The impact of ethnic and religious diversity on political stability and democracy in developing countries, a review of literature from Africa
An analysis of the role of civil society in promoting democratic change in autocratic regimes: A case study in Sweden
A comparative examination of the impact of globalization on political institutions and processes in South America and Africa.
A study of the factors that contribute to successful democratization in authoritarian regimes, a review of the role of Elite-driven democratization
A comparison of the political and economic systems of China and India and their impact on social development
The impact of corruption on political institutions and democracy in South East Asia, a critical review
A comparative examination of the impact of majoritarian representation (winner-take-all) vs proportional representation on political representation and governance
An exploration of Multi-party systems in democratic countries and their impact on minority representation and policy-making.
A study of the factors that contribute to successful decentralization and regional autonomy, a case study of Spain

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Topics & Ideas: International Relations

A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of diplomacy and military force in resolving international conflicts in Central Africa.
The impact of globalization on the sovereignty of nation-states and the changing nature of international politics, a review of the role of Multinational Corporations
An examination of the role of international aid organizations in promoting peace, security, and development in the Middle East.
A study of the impact of economic interdependence on the likelihood of conflict in international relations: A critical review of weaponized interdependence
A comparative analysis of the foreign policies of the EU and the US and their impact on international stability in Africa
An exploration of the relationship between international human rights and national sovereignty during the Covid 19 pandemic
A study of the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)s in international politics and their impact on state behaviour
A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of international regimes in addressing global challenges such as climate change, arms control, and terrorism in Brazil
An examination of the impact of the rise of BRICS on the international system and global governance
A study of the role of ideology in shaping the foreign policies of states and the dynamics of international relations in the US

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Tops & Ideas: Public Administration

An analysis of the impact of digital technology on public administration and the delivery of public services in Estonia
A review of models of public-private partnerships and their impact on the delivery of public services in Ghana
An examination of the role of civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability of public administration in Papua New Guinea
A study of the impact of environmentalism as a political ideology on public administration and policy implementation in Germany
An exploration of the relationship between public administration and citizen engagement in the policy-making process, an exploration of gender identity concerns in schools
A comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, decentralisation and pay and employment reform in developing countries
A study of the role of collaborative leadership in public administration and its impact on organizational performance
A systematic review of the challenges and opportunities related to diversity and inclusion in police services
A study of the impact of corrupt public administration on economic development and regional growth in Eastern Europe
An exploration of the relationship between public administration and civil rights and liberties, including issues related to privacy and surveillance, a case study in South Korea

Topics & Ideas: Public Policy

An analysis of the impacts of public policy on income inequality and poverty reduction in South Sudan
A comparative study of the effectiveness of legal and regulatory, economic and financial, and social and cultural instruments for addressing climate change in South Korea
An examination of the role of interest groups in shaping public policy and the policy-making process regarding land-use claims
A study of the impact of globalization on the development of public policies and programs for mitigating climate change in Singapore
An exploration of the relationship between public policy and social justice in tertiary education in the UAE
A comparative analysis of the impact of health policies for the management of diabetes on access to healthcare and health outcomes in developing countries
Exploring the role of evidence-based policymaking in the design and implementation of public policies for the management of invasive invertebrates in Australia
An examination of the challenges and opportunities of implementing educational dietary public policies in developing multicultural countries
A study of the impact of public policies on urbanization and urban development in rural Indonesia
An exploration of the role of media and public opinion in shaping public policy and the policy-making process in the transport industry of Malaysia

Examples: Politics Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a politics-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various politics-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

We, the Righteous Few: Immoral Actions of Fellow Partisans are Judged as Less Possible (Varnam, 2020)
Civilizing the State: Civil Society and the Politics of Primary Public Health Care Provision in Urban Brazil (Gibson, 2012)
Political regimes and minority language policies: evidence from Taiwan and southeast Asia (Wu, 2021)
The Feminist Third Wave: Social Reproduction, Feminism as Class Struggle, and Contemporary Women’s Movements (Angulo, 2019)
The Politics of Immigration under Authoritarianism (Joo, 2019)
The politics of digital platforms: Sour Dictionary, activist subjectivities, and contemporary cultures of resistance (Okten, 2019)
Vote choice and support for diverse candidates on the Boston City Council At-Large (Dolcimascolo, 2022)
The city agenda: local governance and national influence in the policy agenda, 1900-2020 (Shannon, 2022)
Turf wars: who supported measures to criminalize homelessness in Austin, Texas? (Bompiedi, 2021)
Do BITs Cause Opposition Between Investor Rights and Environmental Protection? (Xiong, 2022)
Revealed corruption and electoral accountability in Brazil: How politicians anticipate voting behavior (Diaz, 2021)
Intersectional Solidarity: The Political Consequences of a Consciousness of Race, Gender and Sexuality (Crowder, 2020)
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives (Munoz, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. In other words, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

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1.5 Empirical Political Science

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Distinguish empirical political science from normative political science.
Explain what facts are and why they may be disputed.
Define generalization and discuss when generalizations can be helpful.

Unlike normative political science, empirical political science is based not on what should be, but on what is. It seeks to describe the real world of politics, distinguishing between what is predictable and what is idiosyncratic. Empirical political science attempts to explain and predict. 32

Empirical political science assumes that facts exist: actual, genuine, verifiable facts. Empirical questions are ones that can be answered by factual evidence. The number of votes a candidate receives is an empirical matter: votes can be counted. Counting votes accurately so that each candidate receives the actual number of votes that were cast for them can be difficult. Different ways of counting can lead to slightly different counts, but a correct number actually exists.

Connecting Courses

Empirical political science, as described here, is not different from other applications of the scientific method , whether one is examining rocks in geology, birds in botany, or the human mind in psychology. In every science-based course you take, you will observe systematic efforts to develop knowledge by using data to test hypotheses.

OpenStax Biology, a text generally assigned in introductory college biology courses, begins with a description of science and the scientific method, noting that “one of the most important aspects of this method is the testing of hypotheses . . . by means of repeatable experiments” 33 Until recently, few political science theories could be tested through repeated experiments, so instead political scientists had to rely on repeated observations. Congressional elections in the United States are held every two years, for example, and they generate substantial data that can be used to test hypotheses. In recent years, however, political scientists have conducted more and more true experiments. 34 Political science is connected to biology, and all other courses in science, through the use of the scientific method.

A fact may be disputed. There may be genuine uncertainty as to what the facts really are—what the evidence really shows. Sometimes it is extremely difficult to gather the facts. Do space aliens exist? That is an empirical question. Either space aliens exist, or they do not. Some researchers claim to have evidence that space aliens are real, but their evidence is not universally, or even broadly, accepted. One side of this argument is correct, however, and the other is not. Evidence has not yet conclusively determined which is correct. 35

Does the Russian government seek to interfere with American elections, and if so, does its interference affect the outcome? The first part of the question is difficult (but not impossible) to answer because when a country interferes in another country’s domestic affairs it tries to do so in secret. It is difficult to uncover secrets. 36 But the second part of the question, does the interference affect the outcome, is almost impossible to answer. Because so many factors influence election outcomes, it is extremely challenging to determine which individual factors made any consequential difference. 37

There are thus empirical debates in which people of good faith disagree about what the facts are. In many cases, however, people do not want to acknowledge what the evidence shows, and because they do not want to believe what the facts demonstrate, they insist the evidence cannot be true. Humans often use motivated reasoning , first deciding what is true—for example, “Gun control makes us safer” or “Gun control makes us less safe”—and then finding evidence that supports this belief while rejecting data that contradicts it. 38

Motivated Reasoning in Politics: Are Your Political Opinions as Rational as You Think?

Social psychologist Peter Ditto contrasts motivated reasoning with science, where scientists build conclusions based on evidence, and those employing motivated reasoning seek evidence that will support their pre-determined conclusions.

In other cases, individuals and interests may actually know what the facts are, but they are motivated by reasons of self-interest to deny them. The evidence is clear, for example, that nicotine is addictive and harmful to human health. The evidence is also clear that Big Tobacco, the largest cigarette companies, denied these facts for years because to admit them would have put their profits at risk. 39

Former President Donald Trump , along with many of his supporters, claims that he won the 2020 presidential election and that President Joe Biden was declared the victor only because of massive voter fraud. All attempts to prove that fraud led to Biden’s victory have failed: no evidence has been found to support Trump’s claims. 40 That these claims continue can be attributed to the fact that some individuals are simply unwilling to accept the evidence, while others benefit from denying the validity of it. 41

Empirical political science might find—based on the available evidence—that individuals with more education or more income are more likely to vote. Empirical political science would not consider whether this is good or bad; that would be a normative judgement. Empirical political scientists might explain the link between education, income, and voting by positing that better educated, more prosperous individuals are more likely to believe that their views matter and that because of that belief they are more likely to express those views at the ballot box. These political scientists might also use their findings to make a prediction: an individual with more education or higher income is more likely to vote than an individual with less education or lower income. 42

Based on this finding, empirical political scientists make no claims as to who should participate in politics. Questions about “should” are the domain of normative political science . Moral judgments cannot be made strictly on the basis of empirical statements. That members of one group vote at higher rates than another group, for example, tells us nothing about whether they deserve to vote at higher rates or whether government policies should be based more on their views as compared to those who vote at lower rates.

From this finding, however, empirical political scientists may infer a generalization. Generalizations are based on typical cases, average results, and general findings. Younger adults, for instance, typically vote less often than older adults. This does not mean that any specific young adult does not vote or that any specific older adult does, but that these statements are generally true. 43

Generalizations can be helpful in describing, explaining, or predicting, but there is a downside to generalizations: stereotyping . If the evidence shows that political conservatives in the United States are opposed to higher levels of immigration, this means neither that every conservative holds this belief nor that one must hold this belief to be conservative. If data suggests supporters of abortion rights tend to be women, it is not possible to infer from the evidence that all women seek more permissive abortion laws or that no men do. In using generalizations, it is important to remember that they are descriptive of groups, not individuals. These are empirical statements, not normative ones: they cannot by themselves be used to assign blame or credit.

Empirical political science can be used to make predictions, but predictions are prone to error. Can political science knowledge be useful for predicting the outcome of elections, for example? Yes. Given a set of rules about who is eligible to vote, how votes can be cast, and what different categories of voters believe about the candidates or policy options on the ballot, political science knowledge can be useful in predicting the outcome of the election. Our predictions might be wrong. Maybe people did not tell the truth about who they were planning to vote for. Maybe the people who said they were going to vote did not.

In 2016, most political polls predicted that Hillary Clinton would be elected president of the United States. 44 Clinton did indeed win the popular vote, as the pollsters anticipated, but Donald Trump won the electoral vote, against the pollsters’ expectations. Political science is imperfect, but it seeks to learn from and correct its mistakes. You will learn more about public opinion polling in Chapter 5: Political Participation and Public Opinion .

Many of the terms in this book, like incumbent , are relevant mainly for the study of politics. Other terms, like ceteris paribus , are useful across a broad range of studies that use the scientific method. Ceteris paribus can be translated as “all other things being equal.” If the ethnicity of a political candidate does not influence their probability of getting elected to office, ceteris paribus , if there are only two candidates and if they are alike in every relevant aspect (e.g., age, experience, ability to raise campaign funding) except their ethnicity, then the candidate’s ethnicity by itself does not affect the outcome of the election.

In real life, however, “all other things” are almost never equal. To the extent that our societies have inequalities of wealth, health, education, and other resources, the inequalities tend to be correlated—that is, mutually related—to each other. For example, wealth and health are correlated with each other in that wealthier people tend to have better health and poorer individuals tend to have poorer health. In the United States, Whites tend on average to have more wealth, health, education, and other social resources than do persons of color. 45 This does not mean that every White person is wealthier and healthier, but that on average, in general, they tend to be.

Empirical political science and political philosophy (or normative political science ) are distinct modes of inquiry. But this is not to say that they are conflicting, that one is better than the other, or that political scientists do not use both in their research. If empirical research discovers that certain groups are systematically disadvantaged in the political process, the researchers may also argue that these disadvantages are harmful or wrong and make a moral argument that the disadvantages should be reduced or eliminated. Empirical research is often inspired by normative concerns. Those who believe that human rights should be better protected may undertake research to understand the political factors that limit the protection of rights.

THE CHANGING POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

A slim majority.

The 2020 election in the United States resulted in a 50-50 split in the US Senate. 46 Until the election, the Republicans, whose 53 seats gave them a 6-seat advantage over the Democrats, were able to call the shots. With the Senate split 50-50, the US Constitution gives the vice president the power to break tie votes. Vice President Kamala Harris is a Democrat, so the Senate makeup became effectively 51-50. That one vote enormously increased the powers of the Senate Democrats. When you are in the minority, it can be difficult to move the political system in the direction you want. Once you gain the majority, getting what you want tends to be easier, at least in a democracy.

The 2020 election not only changed the balance of power in the US Senate, but it did so in an unprecedented way. The tie-breaking vote was held, for the first time in US history, by a woman and a person of color. Harris’s mother immigrated to the United States from India, and her father from Jamaica.

Political power is not a constant; the political landscape is constantly changing.

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Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/1-introduction

Authors: Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker
Publisher/website: OpenStax
Book title: Introduction to Political Science
Publication date: May 18, 2022
Location: Houston, Texas
Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/1-introduction
Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/introduction-political-science/pages/1-5-empirical-political-science

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Empirical Methods in Political Science: An Introduction

1 introduction, 1.1 what is political science.

This textbook focuses upon empirical methods used in political science. Before turning to the methods, it can be helpful to understand what political science is and what political science research can look like. Broadly, the discipline focuses on power and events throughout history. Some scholars focus on modern issues (e.g. Brexit) while others focus on historical ones (e.g. the New Deal in the U.S.). There are a variety of methods used and scholars are typically organized around the area/region they study. 1

1.1.1 Subfields in Political Science

There are four primary subfields in political science (although we can consider many subdivisions, additional groupings, and so on): comparative politics, American politics, international relations/world politics, and theory. For this text, we will focus on quantitative political science and so we will consider the first three subfields.

Comparative politics as a subfield focuses upon comparisons of countries or regions to one another. Typically, ‘comparativists’ have expertise that enables them to dig deeply into their region. However, the questions they ask are broadly relevant beyond the researcher’s region of expertise.

American politics focuses upon.…American politics. Here, scholars typically focus on behavior (e.g. voting), institutions (e.g. Congress), or history (American Political Development, a.k.a. ‘APD’). In other countries (e.g. Australia, Americanists are considered ‘comparativists’ ... so it’s all relative). Here, scholars typically focus on one of the approaches (e.g. institutions), but increasingly more scholars focus on both behavior and institutions, for example.

International relations , also known as IR or world politics, focuses on large-scale global questions. Questions here are often about trade, economic development, and/or political economy. There are different branches of IR. Focusing on the quantitative side, many IR scholars work with large datasets, perhaps only slightly more so than in other fields. Qualitative work, specifically, case studies, represents approximately 45% of the field as measured by ( Bennett, Barth, and Rutherford 2003 ) .

Methods Quantitative Methods is sometimes considered a subfield of political science and it is devoted to the development of quantitative methods, such as statistics, computational social science, and game theory. Methods scholars focus on tasks such as developing new methods for answering questions where previous ones had failed. For example, if you wanted to study something that either happens or doesn’t, then a regression wouldn’t be appropriate. You would need a new/different research method. Similarly, if you’re looking at something that unfolds over different stages, you might need to develop a strategic model to understand how the actors are incentivized to act.

1.2 Questions in Political Science

Questions in political science span the globe and often consider power: who has power, how that power is used and/or abused, and how power is specified. Here are a few questions that are or have been frequently studied: 2

Why are some countries democratic and others aren’t?

Does democratic rule make people better off? How?

What sort of political institutions lead to best outcomes?

What policies and institutions help diverse groups to live in peace?

What are causes of war? How can we prevent war?

What leads to cooperation between countries?

What are best ways to promote prosperity and avoid poverty?

Why do people vote and participate in politics as they do?

Is there a ‘resource curse’?

These are big questions. While progress has been made toward answering many of them, they are often so large and broad that a different interpretation can lead to a different finding: for example, what would be a best outcome for a political institution, Stability (and thus low turnover) or a responsive government?

As we go through the text, we’ll introduce different research questions and topics that span subfields and methods to demonstrate the range of political science research.

1.3 What are Empirical Political Science Methods?

In this textbook, we will focus on empirical research methods – meaning how political scientists use and think about quantitative data. These methods are how political scientists go from their initial question to being able to find an answer. They can be a regression/statistics, but they can also involve interviews, or mapping out social networks.

Political scientists use a range of methods to answer their research questions, with the key focus being whether the tool is appropriate for the job. Often, political scientists will specialize in one primary method, and receive training in a few others. This will shape how the researcher sees questions (for example, my own training is quantitatively-focused and so I tend to think about things from a quantitative mindset while a friend of mine has a qualitative background, so to her, she thinks about things like process as a key driver) and how that researcher is able to answer those questions.

1.3.1 Types of Methods

There are many types of methods used in political science. In the realm of quantitative political science, common methods include the following approaches listed below. There is one chapter that focuses upon techniques like interviews and participant observation, but the broad focus of the book is on quantitative data. Discussion about quantitative and qualitative methods is an important distinction within the discipline.

Surveys: Perhaps the most accessible or well-known approach. Surveys are questions asked of respondents. We will focus on how surveys are designed and how respondents are selected.

Experiments: Experiments are often described as the ‘gold standard’ for research and are common in many areas outside political science. In an experiment, there are frequently two groups that are identical to one another except that one group gets the ‘treatment’ and the other group does not. For example, one group might be exposed to a political ad of a certain type while the remaining group is not, to understand the connection between politics and emotions as in ( Karl 2019 ) .

Large N: In cases where there are a wealth of data, scholars may opt for statistical research. What this looks like can depend upon the size of the data.

Small N: Studies that have fewer observations or use approaches like interviews often focus on the mechanisms behind a process. For example, under what circumstances do institutions evolve and change? See: ( Mahoney and Thelen 2009 ; Ostrom 2015 ) .

Game Theory: In game theoretic approaches we represent the strategic choices actors make as a series of interdependent choices. There are frequently two key actors who must make decisions (such as cooperation or defection or the imposition of sanctions ( Pond 2017 ) ). These actions weigh the utility of certain choices dependent upon what and how their opponent(s) behave.

Social Networks: In social network research, it is the connections between individuals that become the items of interest. How do different actors relate to one another? How might information move around/through a community? These communities can be real (high school social networks, families) or virtual (who follows whom on twitter, whose work is cited by others).

Machine Learning: In this approach, very large datasets are used. Frequently, the aim is to discover patterns and connections in the data or to otherwise harness the power of many observations to discern the hidden order in the data.

1.3.2 Qualitative and Quantitative Political Science

Empirical research methods typically use quantitative data. These data are frequently numerical and can often show broad trends that are happening within the question of interest. Other scholars use qualitative methods. In a qualitative framework, the ‘data’ can be anything from noticing how spaces are shared by individuals at the Paris Climate Summit ( Marion Suiseeya and Zanotti 2019 ) to interviews ( Helmke 2005 ) . Often (but not always; see: Pearlman ( 2017 ) ) qualitative researchers work with fewer cases (small-n data) and quantitative researchers look at larger datasets (large-n data).

1.3.2.1 Multiple or Mixed Methods

Mixed or multiple methods refers to how many different approaches a scholar or scholars use in their analysis. Although they often specialize in one method, researchers may still combine methods – either through their own training and/or background – or through collaborating with others. For example, the use of experiments and surveys ( Teele, Kalla, and Rosenbluth 2018 ; Bonilla and Mo 2018 ) or interviews and observation ( Vargas 2016 ) ).

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches offer valuable insight into any given research question and there has been a bit of a divide that’s arisen within the discipline as technology evolves. With the increasing availability of quantitative data and low barriers to data gathering, it can be tempting to emphasize quantitative methods. Given the additional training often needed to hone and refine one’s skillset, individuals frequently rely on a primarily quantitative or qualitative approach. However, there is some movement toward what is termed a ‘mixed method’ or ‘multi-method’ approach in which both quantitative and qualitative data are used in a research project ( Seawright 2016 ) . As it will become clear at the end of the text, each method has advantages and disadvantages: combining methods can help leverage the strengths of each chosen method while minimizing the disadvantages when including a complementary method. Of course, this approach is not without a high cost – individuals must then be trained and proficient in multiple methods, something that can be challenging and time consuming.

Because of our (Clipperton et al) own background and training, we emphasize empirical approaches, but there are still many different ways to approach a question. A common trope regards advanced methodological training as equating to obtaining a hammer so that everything looks like a nail. Our hope is that you’ll develop an understanding of the different tools available in the political scientist’s tool kit so that you will be able to appreciate and interpret existing work while thinking critically about how to approach your own research questions. The research question itself can help you choose an appropriate method–rather than the reverse.

1.4 Scientific Method

Regardless of the question and the method, political scientists need a way to work through the evaluation of their question. For that, we will thank Karl Popper and his push not only for falsification but for urging that scholars have a method for their inquiry.

In this text, we rely on an adaptation of the scientific method. This is something we will use for each research article and every research proposal, so it’s important to understand each component fully. Below, we lay out the different elements of the scientific method. 3

Puzzle: This is the research question. It must be something that needs answered – often in the format, ‘research leads us to expect x, but we observe y’ or ‘here are two contradictory arguments, which is right?’ In any case, a puzzle is something that is not only unanswered, but interesting. It can somehow tell us about the world in a broader way, even if the question itself is quite narrow.

Theory: This is the explanation or answer to the question. Typically, you will have an outcome that you wish to explain with some important factor. In the following chapter, we’ll introduce theory more fully.

Hypotheses & Implications: while a theory is more broad and about the relationship of factors, hypotheses are often testable implications that stem directly from the theory.

Evidence/Test: evidence is how the authors support their theory and conclusions. It might be longitudinal data with a regression; it might be survey data with differences of means; it might be interview data. Here, you’ll explain how they are evaluating their argument.

Falsifiablity: Is it possible to disprove the theory? Sometimes articles might focus on a new paradigm for approaching a research area. These would not be falsifiable as they’re an approach or suggestion. Falsifiable questions can be proven wrong – for example, if I argue that voters prefer candicates who made a promise and kept it over those how made no promises or did not follow through, I could easily evaluate this with empirical evidence. Did voters elect someone who made promises over someone who did not? ( Bonilla 2022 ) .

Conclusions: This is what the study concludes – what are the major findings? Be specific about the findings and whether/how they generalize. For example, if the article is focusing on the 1980 Ugandan elections, what are the findings and what does that tell us overall?

Do I buy it?: This is where you’ll enter your critique of the article. You might wonder about the method they chose, how it was executed, or their particular case study. This is the point where you’ll describe your concerns and then evaluate whether the evidence presented is sufficient enough to overcome those objections.

Note that the scientific method is a helpful means to organize an article (minus the last element), but it’s an even more helpful way to organize your notes about an article. Using the scientific method can help provide a consistent, clear, organized structure that focuses on the essential elements of an article or book. In all but the last stage, you will want to be as objective as possible–laying out only the relevant elements/details. In the final portion, ‘do I buy it’, you will put down your critique. But to criticize something, you must first understand what is being argued.

1.5 What Can Research Tell Us?

When reading or conducting research, there are twin goals at play: the first is what relationships can be established in the research project/dataset itself; the second is how the question answered by the research project can speak about a broader population than just the data in the research project.

1.5.1 Support for hypotheses

This first component has to do with what can be established within the framework of the question and data. For example, suppose your research question has to do with political attitudes of young Americans. To answer this, you collect data from a random sample of Americans ( ch04 , ch05 ) your findings would pertain to your research question within your data. If you had a statistically significant relationship, you would find support for your hypotheses. If you failed to have a statistically significant relationship, you would not find support for your hypotheses. You would make conclusions about the individual data points within your dataset.

1.5.2 Generalizability

The second component has to do with how your research fits into a broader picture: what can your research tell us about young Americans and how does that fit into a larger context? Supposing you conducted your sample appropriately ( ch04 ), you would be able to speak to not only the individuals in your sample, but the population they are intended to represent. This is the important component of research and why we will spend a large amount of time discussing sampling approaches and appropriate methodology. While your sample of, say, 1600 data points may be interesting, it’s really only interesting in that it can tell us about the 327 million other data points we don’t know anything about.

1.6 Overview of the Textbook

The textbook proceeds with an introduction to theory and concept building, moves to an explanation of causal inference (how do we ‘know’ whether something is causal?), and then provides a quick introduction to data and hypothesis testing. Following that, each chapter is devoted to a particular research method used within political science: surveys, experiments, large N, small n, game theory, social network analysis, and machine learning. Each chapter follows a similar format and layout to help introduce the method, its advantages, disadvantages, and different applications.

A note about this textbook: in its creation, we have worked to balance our references across subfields (see next subsection) and the race and gender of cited scholars. Our aim is to provide a diverse look at political science, incorporating as many different perspectives as possible. We use a tool developed by Jane Sumner ( Sumner 2018 ) that came out of a project with ( Dion, Sumner, and Mitchell 2018 ) to evaluate the balance in each chapter in the textbook. ↩︎

thank you to Andrew Roberts whose original list has been adapted here ↩︎

These questions adapted from ( Clark, Golder, and Golder 2017 ) ↩︎

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Topical Reviews

Oxford Bibliographies: Political Science This link opens in a new window Hundreds of annotated guides to recent scholarship in topics across all subfields of political science and international relations.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Politics Provides up-to-date, peer-reviewed surveys of major topics, theories, and research questions across all areas of political science.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia: International Studies These peer-reviewed articles cover major topics, theories, and research questions across many subfields of international studies/international relations, like conflict, security, human rights, diplomacy, etc. This is the follow-up to the International Studies Association's International Studies Encyclopedia Online .
Oxford Handbooks Online These handbooks provide a great source for authoritative reviews of research across political science, political theory, and related disciplines. Most of these we also have in print.
Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window These handbooks provide overviews current research and future trends in the social sciences and humanities, with a strong collection in politics, particularly international relations and area studies.
Annual Review of Political Science This link opens in a new window Comprehensive review of the literature in political science. Can help students identify major tends in the field as well as find general overviews of research in specific subject areas of politics.
Elgar Research Handbooks Online Large collection of handbooks on topics across political science and public policy.

Political Theory Sources

Cambridge Collections Online This link opens in a new window Searchable full text access to the complete Cambridge Companions to literature, philosophy, religion, and classics.
Philosophy Compass This link opens in a new window Peer-reviewed survey articles on contemporary work in philosophy.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Authoritative source of full-text articles with current bibliographies on many topics of philosophy.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Provides full-text articles with current bibliographies on virtually every aspect of philosophy.
Encyclopedia of Political Theory - Mark Bevir, ed. Thorough discussions of a diverse range of political theories and concepts.
Past Masters This link opens in a new window Searchable full-text works in several languages from major philosophers and theologians.

Major Encyclopedias Covering the Whole Discipline

SAGE Handbook of Political Science Published in 2020, this handbook provides a thorough overview of the discipline. Each of the 92 chapters gives a comprehensive overview of major topics within each subfield. Thematic sections include, Political Theory, Methods, Political Sociology, Comparative Politics, Public Policies and Administration, International Relations, and Major Challenges for Politics and Political Science in the 21st Century.
International Encyclopedia of Political Science (2011) Covers all aspects of politics, from political theory and methodology to political sociology, comparative politics, public policies, and international relations.
The Encyclopedia of Political Science Covers all areas of political science and provides medium-length entries with short bibliographies for further reading. Created under the direction of the American Political Science Association. Also in print at JA61 .E513 2011 (Trustee Reading Room Reference).
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) This link opens in a new window Covering 26 volumes in print, this major encyclopedia aims to capture the "state of the art" of the social and behavioral sciences, expanding its focus to include related biological fields, such as evolutionary science, genetics, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, and health. Topics include anthropology, archaeology, demography, economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, philosophy, political science, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Offers reports and analysis on a variety of current policy issues. Includes background information, pro/con debates, and a chronology, plus resources for additional research.
Facts On File Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window Explore current issues and events with in-depth articles made to inspire thought-provoking debates. Topic pages feature the latest related news coverage from Reuters® as well as a variety of helpful background information, from the key pro/con arguments to chronologies of related events to primary documents. Updated weekly. 1995–present.
World News Digest (Facts on File) This link opens in a new window Digest of major news stories around the world. 1940+

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Firestone Library's Data & Statistical Services section has 2 full-time consultants and a group of advanced graduate students who can help you! See the DSS website to make an appointment with one of the consultants or find the schedule for their virtual drop-in hours.

If you're in the social sciences, the Politics Department's Program for Quantitative and Analytical Political Science also provides a Consulting Service to advise on research design, statistics, formal theory, and computational questions arising from your research.

The library also provides numerous training workshops on R, Stata, visualization tools, and GIS software.

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Introduction to Political Science Research Methods - 1st Edition

(4 reviews)

Josh Franco, Rancho San Diego, CA

Charlotte Lee, Berkeley, CA

Kau Vue, Fresno, CA

Publisher: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Eliot Dickinson, Professor, Western Oregon University on 4/5/24

I can compare it to a major research methods textbook that I used for years. That book has 15 chapters, while this one has ten, which is actually more conducive to the 11-week quarter system still found on the West Coast. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book is factually accurate, free of significant errors, and objective in its analysis.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This text can be used for years, as the examples and cases are relevant for our times.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written in a way that the average college freshman will be able to understand.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent from chapter to chapter, from beginning to end, with a glossary of key terms at the end of each chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is broken up into very readable chapters that are not overwhelming. Students will appreciate this aspect of the text, since it is succinct and offers units of reasonable length.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

It is organized like most other research methods textbooks. It includes opening chapters on the history and development of political science, so that it can also be used in a "Scope and Methods of PS" course.

Interface rating: 5

The text is easy to navigate with both a brief table of contents and a detailed table of contents, and the images and charts are clear throughout.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

It reads well although there there is a typo in the first paragraph of the first page and another typo on the third page. It would be helpful to correct these in future editions.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text is culturally and politically correct. It's perfectly accessible to everyone.

This is a valuable contribution to higher education and, being an open resource, is helpful to students.

Reviewed by Hakseon Lee, Professor, James Madison University on 3/23/24

Most materials that are supposed to be taught at an introductory political science research methods are covered. Quantitative analysis section is relatively short, but considering it is an "intro" textbook, it's understandable. BTW Including Ch. 9... read more

Overall, explanations of abstract and complex concepts are well presented. The concepts and definitions provided in the glossary are accurate as well.

The textbook is written for undergraduate political science major students, and the level of complexity is quite relevant to them. Research methods materials are not fast changing subject and the textbook’s contents have longevity.

The textbook is written very clearly and easy to understand. After each chapter, summary of each subsection in chapters are provided in a very succinct and clear way, and I believe the summary sections are beneficial to students

Even though the textbook is written by several authors, they followed the same format of each chapter: providing clear learning objectives, summary, review questions, critical thinking questions, suggestions for further study, and references. Students will not be confused at all reading chapter by chapter.

Having total of 10 chapters, the textbook can be easily used module by module structure. Each chapter has subsections which have clear learning objectives, and this will be helpful for instructors who plan to use the textbook sequentially.

Overall organization and structure follow conventional existing textbooks’ organization/structure. Majority of undergraduate research methods class are taught from history and development of research methods to quantitative analysis step by step, and the textbook follows the usual organization/structure.

The book is very much reader friendly. Table of contents are very well organized and readers can have an easy overlook of the textbook.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I have not found significant or consistent grammatical errors at all.

Introducing diverse coauthors with cartoon images at the beginning of the textbook is helpful for students to learn about diverse authors. Also, examples used have diverse backgrounds.

Reviewed by Huei-Jyun Ye, Assistant Professor, Wabash College on 10/23/23

This textbook covers the scientific method of studying politics, theory and hypothesis building, conceptualization and operationalization, elements of research design, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and research ethics. For the very intro level (for freshmen or sophomores), this textbook will serve well. For advanced undergraduate courses, this textbook lacks an introduction to specific research methods like surveys, experiments, case comparisons, etc. This textbook touches a little bit on qualitative and quantitative approaches but does not explain the methods political scientists use. I feel this is a tradeoff for an introduction textbook. Instructors who are seeking materials explaining methods will need to find other supplements. Other than that, I would recommend using this book to explain the process of doing political science research.

The explanations of political science research methods are spot-on and comprehensible. I do not find big mistakes in the chapters.

I believe we can use this textbook for a long time as most of the concepts are standards of the field. Some examples address timely concerns that political scientists have been working on. The studies referred to in the textbook are also not obsolete.

The textbook is overall clear and easy to read. The authors make good efforts to explain the jargon in plain language. For example, when introducing conceptualization and operationalization, the author asks questions as if they were students and provides answers to explain the ideas. Different from throwing all the jargon and definitions to readers’ faces, students may find this conversation style more accessible.

The authors do a good job of setting a tone for this textbook, even though it is written by multiple authors. Each chapter starts with an outline, followed by content, glossary, summary, review questions, and suggestions for further study. Readers can expect all these elements in every chapter.

The chapters can be easily turned into sequential modules. What is even better is that the authors provide learning objectives for each section, not just for chapters. This design makes it easier for instructors to break down each chapter into smaller tasks. Students can know what to expect or take away from the subsections in each module. The summary and review questions at the end of each chapter also serve as a good wrap-up for individual modules.

The organization of the chapters is logical and straightforward. The subsections within each chapter are well-connected. Students would not have any problem building up their understanding of the research inquiry process when they read over the textbook.

The Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is reader-friendly. I have no difficulty in following the sections, and the formatting, including figures and tables, does not go off the place. Also, the PDF keeps the bookmarks so that readers can clearly see the structure on the sidebar and jump to different sections easily.

I do not notice major grammatical errors.

This book uses studies on various topics and has broad cultural implications. I appreciate that the examples and studies that the authors choose to demonstrate how to do political science research cover diversity and equity in society. The authors also present different schools of view without imposing a specific paradigm on the readers.

I recommend this book.

Reviewed by Lindsay Benstead, Professor of Politics & Global Affairs, Portland State University on 8/12/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This textbook covers topics in a comprehensive overview of methodology used in Political Science. It is suitable for an introductory course (e.g., 100-200 level), in that it covers the 'History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics," which includes basic facts about the history of the field of Politics. It then covers topics in quantitative and qualitative analysis. Importantly, it includes a section on ethics.

In my review of the textbook and use in designing a new course, I found the information presented in the textbook to be accurate.

Since this textbook covers foundational topics in research methods, it is likely to remain relevant for a decade or more.

This textbook is written in a clear way that will be understood by students in introductory political science methods courses (e.g., 100-200 level). This is not to say that more advanced students would not benefit from reading this textbook, but only if they are undergraduate or graduate students just beginning their study of research methods in the field.

This book is internally consistent. In addition to content in each chapter, it includes m/c questions, open-ended questions, and resources for further study. These are presented at the end of each chapter in such a way that they can consistently be assigned to students on a weekly basis and used in the preparation of exams and quizzes.

Each chapter is broken up into multiple sections, making it easy for instructors to present the material in modular and easily digestible ways.

The book is well organized, proceeding in a logical way from introductory material through quantitative topics, followed by qualitative methods and research ethics.

The pdf interface is easily navigated.

There are not grammatical errors in the book that I noted.

The textbook has several authors. The authors provide cartoon images of themselves. The group of authors come from diverse backgrounds, making the book more likely to help students from diverse backgrounds know that Political Science is their field of study.

About the Authors
History of this OER
Table of Tables
Table of Figures
Chapter 1- Introduction
Chapter 2- History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics
Chapter 3- The Scientific Method
Chapter 4- Theories, Hypotheses, Variables, and Units
Chapter 5- Conceptualization, Operationalization, Measurement
Chapter 6- Elements of Research Design
Chapter 7- Qualitative Methods
Chapter 8- Quantitative Research Methods and Means of Analysis
Chapter 9- Research Ethics
Chapter 10- Conclusion

Ancillary Material

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

About the Book

Welcome to the official website for Introduction to Political Science Research Methods and Polimetrics: A Stata Companion to Introduction to Political Science Research Methods workbook!

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, authored by Dr. Josh Franco, Dr. Charlotte Lee, Kau Vue, Dr. Dino Bozonelos, Dr. Masahiro Omae, and Dr. Steven Cauchon, is an Open Education Resource textbook licensed CC BY-NC that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

Polimetrics: A Stata Companion, authored by Dr. Josh Franco, is an Open Education Resource workbook licensed CC BY-NC and designed as a Stata companion to Introduction to Political Science Research Methods . This workbook provides a tour of the Stata software, an introduction to cross-sectional, time series, and panel data, and an introduction to a variety of models. I review models where the outcome is linear, binary, ordinal, categorical, and count. Additionally, I have an interpretation chapter on survival models.

About the Contributors

Dr. Josh Franco, Cuyamaca College, Political Science: Josh Franco is a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor at Cuyamaca College in east San Diego County, California. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science, B.A. in public policy, and A.A. in economics and political science. Dr. Franco has five years of experience working in the California State Government and U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, he was recently published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Political Science Education.

Dr. Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College, Political Science: Charlotte Lee is full-time faculty at Berkeley City College. She teaches courses in political science and global studies. She has conducted fieldwork in Eastern Europe and China, culminating in several peer-reviewed publications in comparative politics, and will draw on that research in writing OER materials on qualitative research methods. Dr. Lee has participated in several Peralta district wide OER workshops. In February 2019, she co-facilitated an ASCCC OER Task Force webinar on resources in political science. Her Ph.D. is in political science from Stanford University.

Kau Vue, M.A. M.P.A., Fresno City College, Political Science: Kau Vue is an instructor of political science at Fresno City College in Fresno, California. She holds an M.A. in political science, a Master’s in Public Administration (M.P.A.) and a B.A. in political science and economics.

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Empirical Methods in Political Science

Introduction.

Jean Clipperton

What is Political Science?

Subfields in Political Science

Questions in Political Science

Why are some countries democratic and others aren’t?

Does democratic rule make people better off? How?

What sort of political institutions lead to best outcomes?

What policies and institutions help diverse groups to live in peace?

What are causes of war? How can we prevent war?

What leads to cooperation between countries?

What are best ways to promote prosperity and avoid poverty?

Why do people vote and participate in politics as they do?

Is there a ‘resource curse’?

As we go through the text, we’ll introduce different research questions and topics that span subfields and methods to demonstrate the range of political science research.

What are Empirical Political Science Methods?

Types of Methods

Surveys: Perhaps the most accessible or well-known approach. Surveys are questions asked of respondents. We will focus on how surveys are designed and how respondents are selected.

Large N: In cases where there are a wealth of data, scholars may opt for statistical research. What this looks like can depend upon the size of the data.

Qualitative and Quantitative Political Science

Multiple or Mixed Methods

Scientific Method

Hypotheses & Implications: while a theory is more broad and about the relationship of factors, hypotheses are often testable implications that stem directly from the theory.

What Can Research Tell Us?

Support for hypotheses

This first component has to do with what can be established within the framework of the question and data. For example, suppose your research question has to do with political attitudes of young Americans. To answer this, you collect data from a random sample of Americans (See: chapters on Data and Hypothesis Testing ) your findings would pertain to your research question within your data. If you had a statistically significant relationship, you would find support for your hypotheses. If you failed to have a statistically significant relationship, you would not find support for your hypotheses. You would make conclusions about the individual data points within your dataset.

Generalizability

The second component has to do with how your research fits into a broader picture: what can your research tell us about young Americans and how does that fit into a larger context? Supposing you conducted your sample appropriately (See: chapter on Data ), you would be able to speak to not only the individuals in your sample, but the population they are intended to represent. This is the important component of research and why we will spend a large amount of time discussing sampling approaches and appropriate methodology. While your sample of, say, 1600 data points may be interesting, it’s really only interesting in that it can tell us about the 327 million other data points we don’t know anything about.

Overview of the Textbook

thank you to Andrew Roberts whose original list has been adapted here ↩︎

These questions adapted from ( Clark, Golder, and Golder 2017 ) ↩︎

INTRODUCTION TO EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS AND QUANTITATIVE METHODS

This course is an introduction to the methods employed in empirical political science research. We will cover basic topics in research design, statistics, and formal modeling, considering many examples along the way. The two primary goals of the course are: (1) to provide students with analytic tools that will help them to understand how political scientists do empirical research, and (2) to improve students' ability to pose and answer research questions on their own. There are no prerequisites.

Note: Course description is from Fall 2013

Synchronous Lectures will be offered remote. - Students must attend the lecture during the scheduled class time, as the lecture will involve interactive activities

Synchronous Discussion sections 101 and 106 will be offered remote.

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empirical research topics in political science

206 Most Popular Political Science Research Topics

If you major in political science, you already know it’s a profound evaluation of politics and power from the domestic, international, and comparative outlook. It includes interpreting the existing political ideas, processes, institutions, behavior, policies, and how governments examine law, diplomacy, social groups, and many others. Political science is fundamentally a theory and practice of the government as it relates to both public and private lives. It encompasses political theory, comparative politics, international relations, the politics of the American government, and the preexisting political methodology. As students of a high school, college or university, it may be challenging to choose the best and interesting topics in political science. This is because you’re expected to produce high quality content on an advanced topic, and your grade depends on it. We’ve provided over 200 advanced topics to help you with that. But before you dive into these topics, how do you outline your political science research paper?

Outline Of Good Political Science Research Paper

Getting political research topics is easy; there are a lot. You must know how to convert any topic into a high quality paper, even if you order research paper, and this outline can help you. The outline of a good political science research paper must include an introduction, the literature review, the case study, the conclusion, and the reference page.

Introduction. This is where you identify the research questions and tell your readers the question’s significance. You must also provide a brief answer and overview of what your paper or essay will be about.
Literature Review or Theoretical Framework. Your political science research must discuss existing scholarly work related to your study. This lets your readers know that you conducted your research based on what you know about. This point is also where you provide explanations that justify the questions you asked earlier. Also, you can input your research methodology.
Case Study or Main Points. This is where you provide evidence to capture your argument. You must have basic ideas which will run through chapters. Organizing your thoughts in chapters helps you structure them into smaller pieces that make sense in the end.
Conclusion. This is the point where you summarize your research findings and restate the basic arguments or answers offered. You can also discuss the prospects of what you’ve discussed.

Now that you have an outline, these are the advanced and custom political science topics for your research or essays:

Political Science Research Questions

You must provide and answer some questions when you embark on research. These are good political science research questions to be answered in any political science research paper. Depending on your research, these questions are legitimate and should convince you about your knowledge on your chosen topic:

What authority does a state have in the federal government?
What can be identified as a totalitarian government today?
Would it be justified if it’s said that Vladimir Putin is a dictator?
What is the nature of comparative politics?
How does communism affect today’s geopolitical structure?
Does monarchy relate to communism too?
How do social changes influence the politics of the country under consideration?
How did politics influence the social class of the country under consideration?
How does a dictator gain legitimacy?
What exactly are political disputes?
How is political dispute settled amongst countries?
How are political disputes settled within a country?
How does free speech sound much like hate speech
What does controversy in politics imply?
How does propaganda help during electioneering periods?

Political Science Topics

As earlier established, political science encompasses the relationship between domestic, national, international, and comparative politics. If you need good political science research topics, you can examine different sections of the States and other countries to develop your argument. You can consider the following comprehensive topics:

How does existentialism apply to eastern constitutional law?
What is the philosophy of Karl Schmidt and German?
Examine civil republicanism and liberalism.
Examine the post-socialist transition methods through the western culture lens.
Evaluate the concept of Neoplatonism and how it poses a risk to society.
What mutual tolerance in politics means.
Evaluate the importance of ethics in the modern political culture.
Justification of liberal democracy through the neo-Marxist lens.
What are the ethics of election?
Evaluate the core arguments of the Human Rights Act of 1998.
Examine the basics of common morality and criminal law.
Role of popular legislators in US history.
Role of popular legislators in European history.
Examine the role of popular presidents in US history.
Outline the fundamental achievement of the first five US presidents.
Outline the basics of justice inequality.
Examine the importance of socio-economic preferences during political interrogation.
Why is a person’s social life and history significant in the US penal system?
What do post-conflict justice and inequality mean?
Examine the efforts of the government at coordination.
Give a thorough overview of the US electoral college.
Give a comprehensive overview of the UK electoral college.
Examine the importance of privacy law.
Examine how privacy law seems to exploit commercial relationships.
Evaluate the judicial interpretation of public safety statutes.
What is the role of the transport security administrators?
How are domestic laws formulated?
Examine the role of public opinion on the abolition of slavery centuries ago.
What is the role of public opinion in the US public health?
What is the role of public opinion in the UK economic policies?

Comparative Politics Research Topics

This part of political science deals with an empirical approach to different political systems. It includes analysis of institutions, conflict resolutions, domestic policy formulation, international issues, and others. All these can be examined through a comparative evaluation, and you can consider:

The domestic policies of the US and the UK on public health.
The foreign policies of the UK and Russia.
The comparison and contrasts between the communist structure of the USSR and China.
Examine the Soviet Union ideology.
The impacts of the cultural revolution on China.
Evaluate the significance of the cultural revolution in the USSR.
Examine the essential components of the UK and US foreign policies.
Examine the cultural gap between China and Japan.
Evaluate the behavioral approach to political parties in the UK and the US.
Critically analyze the presidential and parliamentary systems of government.
What is the apartheid phenomenon?
How do apartheid and the black lives matter movement similar?
What would you say is the difference between armed and political conflicts!
What are your thoughts about twentieth and twenty-first-century politics?
Religion is a social power: discuss.
Culture is a formidable social power: discuss.
Corruption is a must for any Government: discuss.
Politics is business: discuss.
Compare and Contrast the American and European federal crimes.
Examine the activities of the FBI and KGB for ten years of your choice.

Political Science Research Paper Topics

As students of a college or university, political science borders on a state’s relationship amongst itself and outside it. This means its domestic and international political affairs. These extend to political theories, their practicality and feasibility, how they influence or affect the world, and many others. You can consider political science paper topics like:

Vision of John Rohr on constitutions.
Examine the significance of Plato’s The Republic.
Evaluate the importance of Machiavelli’s The Prince
Choose and talk about any three political philosophers of your choice.
Give a detailed overview of the politics of Ancient Greece.
Examine the politics of the Mongols.
Examine the significance of the reign of the Vikings.
Evaluate the unequal relationship between the government and the people
Justify the lack of public opinion on foreign policies.
Examine the effect of media voting on US elections.
Evaluate the impact of card readers in protest of election credibility in the US.
Evaluate the importance of foreign observers during elections from any country of your choice.
Evaluate the basis of election thuggery based on the January invasion of the Capitol.
Examine the effect of civilian and military government in the case of American provisional governments in the middle east.
Assess the significance of the US on NATO.
Give an overview of the influence of western nations on the UN.
Examine the consolidation of democracy in any country of your choice.
Problems of the American judiciary system.
Challenges of the UK judiciary system.
Evaluate the prospects of everyday politics in the European Union.
Examine the role of Scandinavian countries in the race for gender equality.
Examine the challenges and possibilities of gender equality in the UK.
Evaluate the challenges and opportunities of equal pay in the US.
Appraise the 2020 presidential election of the US.
Examine the role of civic education in reducing educating the public.

Interesting Political Topics

Political science paper topics can also be interesting. This is because politics itself is exciting and can be intriguing when studied carefully. As students of politics, you must be knowledgeable on fundamental parts of the international system. You can base your research on these best political research paper topics.

Examine the causes of the American Revolution
Examine the concept of neoliberalism
Evaluate the idea of political correctness
Give an in-depth analysis of populism
Attempt an evaluation of populism in the African context
Evaluate the concept of politics in open Societies
What principle is divided government based on
What is the Influence of media on politics
How does rational choice affect politics
Is it okay to consider terrorism an instrument of politics?
What does positivism imply?
Examine the concepts of societal decadence in Animal Farm by George Orwell
What does social movement on politics imply?
Evaluate the basis of cultural pluralism
Examine the role of the mass media in any UK election of your choice
Examine the discussions on LGBTQ in sport
Evaluate the domestic laws of Texas
Why are some states more important than other states during US elections?
What is the crisis of identity politics all about?
Select any three states of your choice and discuss their domestic policies
Choose any company of your choice and examine how its activities affect the public
Make a case for vote-buying in any country’s election
Examine the circumstance of political apathy in any country of your choice
What are the challenges of marginalization in America?
Evaluate the significance of corruption in the US politics

American Politics Research Paper Topics

America is a country that dominates global politics. It leads in technology, the military, even politics, and other fundamental sectors. However, this doesn’t excuse the US from a political crisis both internally and externally. You can discuss the basis of American policies with these current Research topics for political science:

Examine the effects of the 2020 election on American democracy
Examine the evolution of American politics from the 1960s
What does American nationalism mean in the face of globalization
What does social constructivism mean in the American context
Examine public relations actors in the American politics
What are the politics prevalent during the civil war
What was the political crisis that led to the American civil war?
Examine how the Republican culture evolved in the US
Give an evaluation of election fraud on any US election
Motivators of African American politicians
Motivation for African American politics
Examine the place of Hispanic American politics presently
Examine the representative level of all minority classes in the US
What does American crime law mean
Examine the essential traits of the typical American politician
How knowledgeable are you on the story of Jimmy Carter
Examine the life of Saddam Hussein and his impact on America
How did the Vietnam War become the American war?
Attempt an analysis of the Barack Obama and Trump administration
Discuss the significance of news coverage of US elections
Analyze the relationship between the US and North Korea

It’s not a simple task to write a paper for a high grade. Sometimes every student need a professional help with research paper writing. Therefore, don’t be afraid to hire a writer to complete your assignment. So, are you ready to get best grades with little effort? Just write a message “Please, write a custom research paper for me” and get time to relax. Contact us today and get a 100% original paper.

Easy Political Science Research Topics

If you’re in high school or pursuing your diploma, you need custom and more superficial political science topics. These may be advanced topics, but they are relatable political science topics for your level:

Discuss the Importance of political violence in any country of your choice
Examine the election processes and issues in any state of your choice
Why does each state have different constitutions?
Examine what tax law means in the US
How should public bodies in the US act?
What are the central laws to both federal and state governments?
Examine the significance of public and private law in the US
Examine the differences between democracy in the US and France
The turbulent political history of France
Evaluate the Importance of the US electoral college
Examine the presence of godfatherism in any country of your choice
Is Afghanistan better than it was before?
Evaluate the political activities of the US in any country through its established provisional governments.
Evaluate the role of domestic policies in rural areas
What does legislation oversight mean?
Give a detailed overview of the impeachment process of Trump
Examine the structure of revenue allocation in the US
Examine the art of political campaigns in the US
How does social media bullying affect free speech
Examine the line between free speech and hate speech
How do elections achieve national peace and security
Do you think the French President has too much power than he should?
Do you think the US President should share his power with Congress?
Examine the Executive power or the US vice president
Examine the strengths of the UK Head of State

Current Research Topics For Political Science

These are topics that discuss the present happenings within countries and in the international political space. These could be topics on conflict resolutions or conflict in the international area itself. They also extend to domestic policies and their effects. Examine these good political science research questions:

Examine the system of prosecuting top tier government officers
Examine the legal clashes of any transnational corporations in recent years
What does hostage care in the US penal code mean?
Give a critical overview of American whistleblowers
Examine the role of women in today’s global politics
Is the terrorism war so far against the west or the western activities in the Middle East?
What is the current political relationship of western countries with the Taliban government?
What does political correctness mean in today’s gender multiplicity?
Examine how social media emerges as the court cancel celebrities
Examine the challenge of national planning under Joe Biden
Evaluate the similarities between the foreign policies of Canada and the US
What does the US alliance with Australia imply for its allies
Examine the present threat between China and Taiwan
Would you say the European Union can achieve standard fiscal policies
What is the role of controversies and propaganda in any election, and how does it determine the winner or loser: give a case study

International Politics Research Paper Topics

International politics is the balance of power in the international space. This extends to the balance of threats. Other issues covered include human rights, peaceful resolution of global conflicts, environmental crisis, globalization, global ethics, global poverty, and more. The best political science research topics on international politics are:

Examine the case for human rights violation in Malawi
Make a case for human rights violation in China
Make a car for the human rights violation in communist countries
Examine the trends in global poverty and its eradication in the world today
Investigate the controversies raised by Amnesty International
Would you say international media houses are the watchdog of the society or an accomplice of security threats
What are the ethics guiding the activities of NGOs
Role of the international monetary fund in world politics
Trends and evolution of the Belt and Road Initiative
Examine the environmental crisis case against Germany
Examine the issues of human rights in Uganda
Investigate the political agenda of any three US politicians of your choice
What are the present political powers at play in Ukrainian politics
Examine the causes of the Central African Republic rebellion
Examine the Afghanistan conflict through the lens of a Westerner
Trace the origin of the Afghanistan conflict
Analyze the immigrant crisis facing Europe
Evaluate the immigrant problem facing the US
Go in depth on the drug war by the US government
Examine the disparity between the white and black justice systems in the US
Evaluate the leadership conflict post 9/11
Examine the race for economic dominance
Examine the significance of capitalism in the expansion of democracy
Examine the role of any three media houses of your choice in their propagation of bias in Europe and the US
How does the Personal ambition of a leader affect country politics?
Examine the post-war legacy of any war of your choice
Examine the wartime negotiating strategy
Evaluate the social role of volunteerism
What is the Influence of the US government on the growth of Coca-cola outside America?
How has the UN contributed to education in any country of your choice

Don’t Want To Write Your Political Science Paper?

With these political science research topics, you can choose the most interesting topic for your research paper. However, if you say, “I need someone to write my paper for cheap,” we are an online academic writing company. We have reliable writers who are professionals with years of experience in paper writing. They are not just writers; they are research experts who can write fast. This means that you can get high quality content and boost your grades for a cheap price. Our writers get on your project as soon as you hire us, and you can expect the advanced content to make the best submission in your class. Check out our college paper writing srvices and order a paper today.

Empirical Research and Writing: A Political Science Student’s Practical Guide

Student resources, welcome to the companion website.

Students can easily misstep when they first begin to do research. Leanne C. Powner’s new title Empirical Research and Writing: A Student's Practical Guide provides valuable advice and guidance on conducting and writing about empirical research. Chapter by chapter, students are guided through the key steps in the research process. Written in a lively and engaging manner and with a dose of humor, this practical text shows students exactly how to choose a research topic, conduct a literature review, make research design decisions, collect and analyze data, and then write up and present the results. The book's approachable style and just-in-time information delivery make it a text students will want to read, and its wide-ranging and surprisingly sophisticated coverage will make it an important resource for their later coursework.

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Leanne Powner for writing an excellent text and for developing the ancillaries on this site.

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Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al.)

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Page ID 76154

Josue Franco
Cuyamaca College

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

ProgramPage
Table of Contents

1.1: Welcome
1.2: The Social Network of Political Science
1.3: Organization of the Book
1.4: Analyzing Journal Articles
1.5: Research Paper Project Management
1.6: Key Terms/Glossary
1.7: Summary
1.8: Review Questions
1.9: Suggestions for Further Study

2.1: Brief History of Empirical Study of Politics
2.2: The Institutional Wave
2.3: The Behavioral Wave
2.4: Currents- Qualitative versus Quantitative
2.5: Currents- Politics- Normative and Positive Views
2.6: Emerging Wave- Experimental Political Science
2.7: Emerging Wave- Big Data and Machine Learning
2.8: Key Terms/Glossary
2.9: Summary
2.10: Review Questions
2.11: Critical Thinking Questions
2.12: Suggestions for Further Study

3.1: Philosophy of Science
3.2: Whats is the Scientific Method?
3.3: Applying the Scientific Method to Political Phenomena
3.4: Key Terms/Glossary
3.5: Summary
3.6: Review Questions
3.7: Critical Thinking Questions
3.8: Suggestions for Further Reading/Study

4.1: Correlation and Causation
4.2: Theory Constrution
4.3: Generating Hypotheses from Theories
4.4: Exploring Variables
4.5: Units of Observation and Units of Analysis
4.6: Casual Modeling
4.7: Key Terms/Glossary
4.8: Critical Thinking Problems
4.9: Review Questions
4.10: Critical Thinking Questions
4.11: Critical Thinking Questions

5.1: Conceptualization in Political Science
5.2: Operationalization
5.3: Measurement
5.4: Key Terms/Glossary
5.5: Summary
5.6: Review Questions
5.7: Critical Thinking Questions
5.8: Suggestions for Further Study

6.1: Introduction- Building with a Blueprint
6.2: Types of Design- Experimental and Nonexperimental Designs
6.3: Components of Design- Sampling
6.4: Components of Design- Observations
6.5: Key Terms/Glossary
6.6: Summary
6.7: Review Questions
6.8: Critical Thinking Questions
6.9: Suggestions for Further Study

7.1: What are Qualitative Methods?
7.2: Interviews
7.3: Exploring Documentary Sources
7.4: Ethnographic Research
7.5: Case Studies
7.6: Key Terms/Glossary
7.7: Summary
7.8: Review Questions
7.9: Critical Thinking Questions
7.10: Suggestions for Further Study

8.1: What are Quantitative Methods
8.2: Making Sense of Data
8.3: Introduction to Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
8.4: Interpreting Statistical Tables in Political Science Articles
8.6: Summary
8.7: Review Questions
8.8: Critical Thinking Questions
8.9: Suggestions for Further Study
8.5: Key Terms

9.1: Ethics in Political Research
9.2: Research Ethics
9.3: Navigating Qualitative Data Collection
9.4: Research Ethics in Quantitative Research
9.5: Ethically Analyzing and Sharing Co-generated Knowledge
9.6: Key Terms/Glossary
9.7: Summary
9.8: Review Questions
9.9: Critical Thinking Questions
9.10: Suggestions for Further Study

10.1: Congratulations!
10.2: The Path Forward
10.3: Frontiers of Political Science Research Methods
10.4: How to Contribute to this OER

Detailed Licensing

Thumbnail: Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress in the Thomas Jefferson Building. (Public Domain; Carol M. Highsmith via Wikipedia )

POLSC101: Introduction to Political Science

Research in political science.

This handout is designed to teach you how to conduct original political science research. While you won't be asked to write a research paper, this handout provides important information on the "scientific" approach used by political scientists. Pay particularly close attention to the section that answers the question "what is scientific about political science?"

If you were going to conduct research in biology or chemistry, what would you do? You would probably create a hypothesis, and then design an experiment to test your hypothesis. Based on the results of your experiment, you would draw conclusions. Political scientists follow similar procedures. Like a scientist who researches biology or chemistry, political scientists rely on objectivity, data, and procedure to draw conclusions. This article explains the process of operationalizing variables. Why is that an important step in social science research?

Defining politics and political science

Political scientist Harold Laswell said it best: at its most basic level, politics is the struggle of "who gets what, when, how". This struggle may be as modest as competing interest groups fighting over control of a small municipal budget or as overwhelming as a military stand-off between international superpowers. Political scientists study such struggles, both small and large, in an effort to develop general principles or theories about the way the world of politics works. Think about the title of your course or re-read the course description in your syllabus. You'll find that your course covers a particular sector of the large world of "politics" and brings with it a set of topics, issues, and approaches to information that may be helpful to consider as you begin a writing assignment. The diverse structure of political science reflects the diverse kinds of problems the discipline attempts to analyze and explain. In fact, political science includes at least eight major sub-fields:

American politics examines political behavior and institutions in the United States.
Comparative politics analyzes and compares political systems within and across different geographic regions.
International relations investigates relations among nation-states and the activities of international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and NATO, as well as international actors such as terrorists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multi-national corporations (MNCs).
Political theory analyzes fundamental political concepts such as power and democracy and foundational questions, like "How should the individual and the state relate?"
Political methodology deals with the ways that political scientists ask and investigate questions.
Public policy examines the process by which governments make public decisions.
Public administration studies the ways that government policies are implemented.
Public law focuses on the role of law and courts in the political process.

What is scientific about political science?

Investigating relationships

Although political scientists are prone to debate and disagreement, the majority view the discipline as a genuine science. As a result, political scientists generally strive to emulate the objectivity as well as the conceptual and methodological rigor typically associated with the so-called "hard" sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, and physics). They see themselves as engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions. Based on these revelations, they attempt to state general principles about the way the world of politics works. Given these aims, it is important for political scientists' writing to be conceptually precise, free from bias, and well-substantiated by empirical evidence. Knowing that political scientists value objectivity may help you in making decisions about how to write your paper and what to put in it.

Political theory is an important exception to this empirical approach. You can learn more about writing for political theory classes in the section "Writing in Political Theory" below.

Building theories

Since theory-building serves as the cornerstone of the discipline, it may be useful to see how it works. You may be wrestling with theories or proposing your own as you write your paper. Consider how political scientists have arrived at the theories you are reading and discussing in your course. Most political scientists adhere to a simple model of scientific inquiry when building theories. The key to building precise and persuasive theories is to develop and test hypotheses. Hypotheses are statements that researchers construct for the purpose of testing whether or not a certain relationship exists between two phenomena. To see how political scientists use hypotheses, and to imagine how you might use a hypothesis to develop a thesis for your paper, consider the following example. Suppose that we want to know whether presidential elections are affected by economic conditions. We could formulate this question into the following hypothesis: "When the national unemployment rate is greater than 7 percent at the time of the election, presidential incumbents are not reelected".

Collecting data

In the research model designed to test this hypothesis, the dependent variable (the phenomenon that is affected by other variables) would be the reelection of incumbent presidents; the independent variable (the phenomenon that may have some effect on the dependent variable) would be the national unemployment rate. You could test the relationship between the independent and dependent variables by collecting data on unemployment rates and the reelection of incumbent presidents and comparing the two sets of information. If you found that in every instance that the national unemployment rate was greater than 7 percent at the time of a presidential election the incumbent lost, you would have significant support for our hypothesis.

However, research in political science seldom yields immediately conclusive results. In this case, for example, although in most recent presidential elections our hypothesis holds true, President Franklin Roosevelt was reelected in 1936 despite the fact that the national unemployment rate was 17%. To explain this important exception and to make certain that other factors besides high unemployment rates were not primarily responsible for the defeat of incumbent presidents in other election years, you would need to do further research. So you can see how political scientists use the scientific method to build ever more precise and persuasive theories and how you might begin to think about the topics that interest you as you write your paper.

Clear, consistent, objective writing

Since political scientists construct and assess theories in accordance with the principles of the scientific method, writing in the field conveys the rigor, objectivity, and logical consistency that characterize this method. Thus political scientists avoid the use of impressionistic or metaphorical language, or language which appeals primarily to our senses, emotions, or moral beliefs. In other words, rather than persuade you with the elegance of their prose or the moral virtue of their beliefs, political scientists persuade through their command of the facts and their ability to relate those facts to theories that can withstand the test of empirical investigation. In writing of this sort, clarity and concision are at a premium. To achieve such clarity and concision, political scientists precisely define any terms or concepts that are important to the arguments that they make. This precision often requires that they "operationalize" key terms or concepts. "Operationalizing" simply means that important – but possibly vague or abstract – concepts like "justice" are defined in ways that allow them to be measured or tested through scientific investigation.

Fortunately, you will generally not be expected to devise or operationalize key concepts entirely on your own. In most cases, your professor or the authors of assigned readings will already have defined and/or operationalized concepts that are important to your research. And in the event that someone hasn't already come up with precisely the definition you need, other political scientists will in all likelihood have written enough on the topic that you're investigating to give you some clear guidance on how to proceed. For this reason, it is always a good idea to explore what research has already been done on your topic before you begin to construct your own argument. (See our handout on making an academic argument.)

Example of an operationalized term

To give you an example of the kind of "rigor" and "objectivity" political scientists aim for in their writing, let's examine how someone might operationalize a term. Reading through this example should clarify the level of analysis and precision that you will be expected to employ in your writing. Here's how you might define key concepts in a way that allows us to measure them.

We are all familiar with the term "democracy". If you were asked to define this term, you might make a statement like the following: "Democracy is government by the people". You would, of course, be correct – democracy is government by the people. But, in order to evaluate whether or not a particular government is fully democratic or is more or less democratic when compared with other governments, we would need to have more precise criteria with which to measure or assess democracy. Most political scientists agree that these criteria should include the following rights and freedoms for citizens:

Freedom to form and join organizations
Freedom of expression
Right to vote
Eligibility for public office
Right of political leaders to compete for support
Right of political leaders to compete for votes
Alternative sources of information
Free and fair elections
Institutions for making government policies depend on votes and other expressions of preference

By adopting these nine criteria, we now have a definition that will allow us to measure democracy. Thus, if you want to determine whether Brazil is more democratic than Sweden, you can evaluate each country in terms of the degree to which it fulfills the above criteria.

What counts as good writing in political science?

While rigor, clarity, and concision will be valued in any piece of writing in political science, knowing the kind of writing task you've been assigned will help you to write a good paper. Two of the most common kinds of writing assignments in political science are the research paper and the theory paper.

Writing political science research papers

Your instructors use research paper assignments as a means of assessing your ability to understand a complex problem in the field, to develop a perspective on this problem, and to make a persuasive argument in favor of your perspective. In order for you to successfully meet this challenge, your research paper should include the following components: (1) an introduction, (2) a problem statement, (3) a discussion of methodology, (4) a literature review, (5) a description and evaluation of your research findings, and (6) a summary of your findings. Here's a brief description of each component.

In the introduction of your research paper, you need to give the reader some basic background information on your topic that suggests why the question you are investigating is interesting and important. You will also need to provide the reader with a statement of the research problem you are attempting to address and a basic outline of your paper as a whole. The problem statement presents not only the general research problem you will address but also the hypotheses that you will consider. In the methodology section, you will explain to the reader the research methods you used to investigate your research topic and to test the hypotheses that you have formulated. For example, did you conduct interviews, use statistical analysis, rely upon previous research studies, or some combination of all of these methodological approaches?

Before you can develop each of the above components of your research paper, you will need to conduct a literature review. A literature review involves reading and analyzing what other researchers have written on your topic before going on to do research of your own. There are some very pragmatic reasons for doing this work. First, as insightful as your ideas may be, someone else may have had similar ideas and have already done research to test them. By reading what they have written on your topic, you can ensure that you don't repeat, but rather learn from, work that has already been done. Second, to demonstrate the soundness of your hypotheses and methodology, you will need to indicate how you have borrowed from and/or improved upon the ideas of others.

By referring to what other researchers have found on your topic, you will have established a frame of reference that enables the reader to understand the full significance of your research results. Thus, once you have conducted your literature review, you will be in a position to present your research findings. In presenting these findings, you will need to refer back to your original hypotheses and explain the manner and degree to which your results fit with what you anticipated you would find. If you see strong support for your argument or perhaps some unexpected results that your original hypotheses cannot account for, this section is the place to convey such important information to your reader. This is also the place to suggest further lines of research that will help refine, clarify inconsistencies with, or provide additional support for your hypotheses. Finally, in the summary section of your paper, reiterate the significance of your research and your research findings and speculate upon the path that future research efforts should take.

Writing in political theory

Political theory differs from other subfields in political science in that it deals primarily with historical and normative, rather than empirical, analysis. In other words, political theorists are less concerned with the scientific measurement of political phenomena than with understanding how important political ideas develop over time. And they are less concerned with evaluating how things are than in debating how they should be. A return to our democracy example will make these distinctions clearer and give you some clues about how to write well in political theory.

Earlier, we talked about how to define democracy empirically so that it can be measured and tested in accordance with scientific principles. Political theorists also define democracy, but they use a different standard of measurement. Their definitions of democracy reflect their interest in political ideals – for example, liberty, equality, and citizenship – rather than scientific measurement. So, when writing about democracy from the perspective of a political theorist, you may be asked to make an argument about the proper way to define citizenship in a democratic society. Should citizens of a democratic society be expected to engage in decision-making and administration of government, or should they be satisfied with casting votes every couple of years?

In order to substantiate your position on such questions, you will need to pay special attention to two interrelated components of your writing: (1) the logical consistency of your ideas and (2) the manner in which you use the arguments of other theorists to support your own. First, you need to make sure that your conclusion and all points leading up to it follow from your original premises or assumptions. If, for example, you argue that democracy is a system of government through which citizens develop their full capacities as human beings, then your notion of citizenship will somehow need to support this broad definition of democracy. A narrow view of citizenship based exclusively or primarily on voting probably will not do. Whatever you argue, however, you will need to be sure to demonstrate in your analysis that you have considered the arguments of other theorists who have written about these issues. In some cases, their arguments will provide support for your own; in others, they will raise criticisms and concerns that you will need to address if you are going to make a convincing case for your point of view.

Drafting your paper

If you have used material from outside sources in your paper, be sure to cite them appropriately in your paper. In political science, writers most often use the APA or Turabian (a version of the Chicago Manual of Style) style guides when formatting references. Check with your instructor if he or she has not specified a citation style in the assignment. For more information on constructing citations, see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Although all assignments are different, the preceding outlines provide a clear and simple guide that should help you in writing papers in any sub-field of political science. If you find that you need more assistance than this short guide provides, refer to the list of additional resources below or make an appointment to see a tutor at the Writing Center.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing the original version of this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout's topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.

Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Cuba, Lee. 2002. A Short Guide to Writing about Social Science , Fourth Edition. New York: Longman.

Lasswell, Harold Dwight. 1936. Politics: Who Gets What, When, How . New York, London: Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, inc.

Scott, Gregory M. and Stephen M. Garrison. 1998. The Political Science Student Writer's Manual , Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Turabian, Kate L. 1996. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers , Theses, and Dissertations, Sixth Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Political Methodology Lab

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The core faculty of PML run the Models and Methods (M&M) field for the political science Ph.D. program at MIT. We teach various courses in the field, both for students who choose M&M as their first or second major field and for students who simply want to acquire advanced quantitative skills for their substantive empirical research. We also offer courses at the undergraduate level.

Our graduate course offerings are centered around the four-course Quantitative Research Methods sequence, which is normally taken while a student is in their first and second years of their graduate study. The Quant Sequence is supplemented by the two Math Camps which occur towards the end of summer. The sequence is designed to get students up to speed with the cutting-edge quantitative empirical research in political science and also to prepare them to become first-rate political methodologists.

Other graduate courses include the Formal Theory class, as well as seminar classes focused on the intersections of quantitative methodology and major substative areas of political science, such as political economy and international relations.

Graduate Courses

17.8XX Math Camp I

The Math Prefesher is designed to introduce and review core mathematics and probability prerequisites that you will need to be successful in the quantitative methods courses in the Political Science department and elsewhere at MIT. In an intense one-week course, we will cover key concepts from calculus, linear algebra, probability theory, and an introduction to statistical computing. The learning will proceed through lectures, hands-on exercises, and homework. The aim of the course is to give you an opportunity to practice some of the mathematics you may have previously learned and to introduce you to areas that may be new to you so that you will be ready to enter classes that presume prior familiarity with these concepts, such as 17.800 Quantitative Research Methods I. Syllabus

17.800 Quantitative Research Methods I: Regression

Graduate level introduction to statistical methods for political science and public policy research, with a focus on linear regression. Teaches students how to apply multiple regression models as used in much of political science and public policy research. Also covers fundamentals of probability and sampling theory. Syllabus.

17.802 Quantitative Research Methods II: Causal Inference

Survey of advanced empirical tools for political science and public policy research with a focus on statistical methods for causal inference, i.e. methods designed to address research questions that concern the impact of some potential cause (e.g., an intervention, a change in institutions, economic conditions, or policies) on some outcome (e.g., vote choice, income, election results, levels of violence). Covers a variety of causal inference designs, including experiments, matching, regression, panel methods, difference-in-differences, synthetic control methods, instrumental variable estimation, regression discontinuity designs, quantile regressions, and bounds. Syllabus .

17.8XX Math Camp II

The math camp will prepare students to take Quant III and Quant IV as well as other advance classes in political methodology. The goal of the class will be to remind students of basic and intermediate mathematical concepts that are useful for Quant III and Quant IV and increase both mathematical fluency and problem solving ability. I will also try to give some programming tools that you may find useful when solving problem sets of Quant III. The prerequisites include Quant I and Quant II. Syllabus .

17.804: Quantitative Research Methods III: Generalized Linear Models and Extensions

This course is the third course in the quantitative research methods sequence at the MIT political science department. Building on the first two courses of the sequence (17.800 and 17.802), this class covers advanced statistical tools for empirical analysis in modern political science. Our focus in this course will be on techniques for model-based inference , including various regression models for cross-section data (e.g., binary outcome models, discrete choice models, sample selection models, event count models, survival outcome models, etc.) as well as grouped data (e.g., mixed effects models and hierarchical models). This complements the methods for design-based inference primarily covered in the previous course of the sequence. This course also covers basics of the fundamental statistical principles underlying these models (e.g., maximum likelihood theory, theory of generalized linear models, Bayesian statistics) as well as a variety of estimation techniques (e.g., numerical optimization, bootstrap, Markov chain Monte Carlo). The ultimate goal of this course is to provide students with adequate methodological skills for conducting cutting-edge empirical research in their own fields of substantive interest. Syllabus.

17.806: Quantitative Research Methods IV: Advanced Topics

This course is the fourth and final course in the quantitative methods sequence at the MIT political science department. The course covers various advanced topics in applied statistics, including those that have only recently been developed in the methodological literature and are yet to be widely applied in political science. The topics for this year are organized into three broad areas: (1) research computing, where we introduce various techniques for automated data collection, visualization, and analysis of massive datasets; (2) statistical learning, where we provide an overview of machine learning algorithms for predictive and descriptive inference; and (3) finite mixture models (e.g., Latent Dirichlet allocation for text analysis), as well as a variety of estimation techniques such as EM Algorithm and Variational Inference. Syllabus .

17.810: Game Theory and Political Theory

This course provides an introduction to formal theoretical analysis in political science. This course is designed as a rigorous introduction to the concepts and models used to analyze political behavior in strategic contexts. The course focuses on non-cooperative game theory covering normal and extensive form games, games of incomplete information, repeated games, and bargaining. Qualified undergraduates can also take the course. Syllabus .

17.830: Empirical Methods in Political Economy

This course surveys recent methodological approaches to the study of political economy. Unlike a typical graduate-level course in political science, we will focus on a limited number of readings each week, with the goal of understanding and evaluating in detail the analytical decisions made by the authors of each study. In addition to learning about advanced methods being used in the social sciences today, the goal of the class is for students to develop an appreciation for how publishable quantitative papers are constructed, from the questions they ask to how they defend and justify the methodological choices they make. Syllabus .

17.426: Empirical Models in International Relations

This course explores statistical methods as applied to international relations, with reference to similar applications in comparative politics and other fields . We will discuss statistical approaches to analyzing various types of data used by IR scholars. We will read both methodological and applied work, familiarizing students with an array of models and critically analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. It is not intended as a substitute for Quantitative Methods I, II, and III , but as a complementary course. The goal of the course is to expose students to the range of quantitative models applied in international relations scholarship, assess the strengths and weaknesses of particular modeling choices, and to develop the ability to design empirical research projects of their own. It is strongly recommended that students have taken Quantitative Methods I prior to this course. Syllabus

17.212: Formal Approaches to American Political Institutions

This is the second in a two-course graduate sequence on American political institutions, emphasizing the concepts and methods in formal theory used to analyze domestic politics. It is organized thematically, according to strategic interactions and social problems that institutions may both solve and exacerbate, such as delegation, collective action, commitment, and preference aggregation. For each of these themes, we will learn some basic game theoretic modeling techniques; closely read a few formative papers; and apply our tools to the analysis of a wide range of specific problems in American politics, including questions about elections, political participation, polarization, representation, the internal organization of Congress and the bureaucracy, separation of powers, campaign finance, redistribution, public goods provision, and the legislative process. Syllabus

17.850: Political Science Scope and Methods (Graduate)

The world is full of compelling stories, fascinating events, and baffling puzzles. But how do these ideas translate into research? The purpose of this course is to help you move from topics of interest to research questions, and to give you the skills necessary to answer those questions with solid, well- designed empirical research. The course draws on current research in political science to introduce you to the enterprise of scientific research in politics. Specifically, the course reviews the basic principles of research design and eval uates the strengths and weaknesses of various empirical approaches. Mastering these skills —indeed internalizing them so that they become second nature —is one of the most important things that you will learn in graduate school. You will emerge from this course not only a more sophisticated consumer of the literature, but in a position to design and conduct your own independent scholarly research. Syllabus

17.878: Qualitative Methods and Fieldwork

This course is intended for political science PhD students, though we will also be drawing on sociology and anthropology. By the end of the course, students should be well-equipped to undertake their own fieldwork. Students will also be familiar with the major debates surrounding qualitative research in the discipline, and they will be able to confidently assess the design, execution, and interpretation of qualitative field research. Syllabus .

17.S953: New Methods for Causal Inference

This is a graduate-level seminar class on recent advancements in the field of statistical methods for causal inference. The purpose of this class is to provide students with experience and skills that are necessary to conduct research on methodological topics professionally. Although the class focuses on methods for causal inference, many of the research skills students will learn in the class will be transportable to methodological research in other subfields. After taking this class, students will be able to read typical articles from journals like the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Political Analysis quite comfortably. They will also be ready to embark on a methodological research project independently, particularly in the field of causal inference. Finally, they will also have built familiarity with cutting-edge causal inference methods potentially useful for their applied work. Syllabus .

17.S950: Bayesian Measurement Models

This course covers quantitative measurement from a Bayesian perspective. It focuses on the specification of measurement models linking observed data (i.e., manifest indicators) to unobserved constructs (i.e., latent variables) of interest. For estimation of these models, we will rely on the probabilistic programming language Stan, as called from R, though we will occasionally touch on other R-based methods. The goal is to get students comfortable specifying and estimating “bespoke” measurement models tailored for particular applications. The course applies this basic framework to a large range of problems and topics, including hierarchical models, factor analysis, item response theory, latent class analysis, ecological inference, network data, and text analysis. Each is covered only in enough depth to provide a sense of what a Bayesian approach to the problem might look like. The course assumes a solid grasp of generalized linear models and the theory of likelihood and Bayesian inference, so successful completion of 17.804 (Quantitative Research Methods III) or its equivalent is a prerequisite for enrollment. Syllabus .

Undergraduate Courses

17.801: Political Science Scope and Methods (Undergraduate)

This course introduces principles of empirical and theoretical analysis in political science through research projects currently conducted in the department. Introduces students to major research questions in political science - and to different ways of examining those questions. Emphasizes how this research in progress relates to larger themes, and how researchers confront obstacles to inference in political science. Includes substantial instruction and practice in writing (with revision) and oral presentations. Syllabus.

17.803: Political Science Laboratory

This class introduces undergraduate political scientists to the basic quantitative tools of political science research. The central theme that runs throughout the course will be causal inference, or how we can distinguish causation from mere association when studying complex political and social phenomena. This class emphasizes practical skills, and involves hands-on exercises, lab sessions, group work, discussion and presentation sessions along with more traditional problem sets. Throughout the semester, students will work on an original research project that involves data collection, analysis with a statistical computing language (R), and a final write-up of their findings. Syllabus.

17.811: Game Theory and Political Theory

17.831: Data and Politics

In this course, students will both learn how statistics are changing elections and how to use statis- tics to analyze political data. While the substantive focus will be on elections, the principles and methods learned in this course have broad applicability to the decision-making in a broad variety of fields. The course will be roughly divided into 4 sections organized around a different methodolog- ical topic, with an application to an electoral phenomenon. For each section, students will work with the professor on analyzing a unique dataset related to electoral politics. The first section will focus on data description and dimension reduction. The second section will involve the analysis of survey data on electoral behavior. The third section will use statistical models to predict electoral behavior using large datasets. The fourth section will focus on the design and implementation of original experiments in order to study political attitudes and behaviors. Syllabus.

17.835 Machine Learning and Data Science in Politics

Empirical studies in political science is entering a new era of “Big Data” where a diverse range of data sources have become available to researchers. Examples include network data from political campaigns, data from social media generated by individuals, campaign contribution and lobbying expenditure made by firms and individuals, and massive amount of international trade flows data. How can we take advantage of these new data sources and improve our understanding of politics? This course introduces various machine learning methods and their applications in political science research. Syllabus .

Ethics in Political Science Research

Regulatory Practices and Practical Suggestions

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Daniela R. Piccio 2 &
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Ethical dilemmas are much more common in political science than it is commonly envisaged. In this chapter we use the tripartite division between politics, polity, and policies and discuss the specific ethical concerns of these three core areas of research in political science. Additionally, we discuss some of the current and future challenges of research ethics in the field addressing ethics issues related to the use experiments, digital media, and the adoption of research designs that rest on action research. Overall, ethics considerations have become – and will become – increasingly important also in political science.

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Piccio, D.R., Mattoni, A. (2020). Ethics in Political Science Research. In: Iphofen, R. (eds) Handbook of Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76040-7_65-1

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Specialty grand challenge article, methodology challenge in political science research.

Department of Public Policy, International Relations and Security Studies, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

Introduction

After a century of dominance in political analysis and political methodology, the empirical approach to political science research employing survey-based research and field collected empirical data have been decisively challenged by the research methodologies developed by means of the new technologies of the artificial: internet and web, big data and web semantics, artificial intelligence and artificial life, machine learning and data mining, artificial societies, polities, and cultures.

Fundamental areas in political science consequently require advanced methodologies able to provide support for finding the answers to basic questions concerning the human world as a hybrid world made up of multiple environments and realities, requiring specific kind of knowledge and cognition, and empowering humans for political participation.

The areas where this challenge appears with high relevance concern political organization, governance , and policy .

Empirical approach to political science

Undoubtedly at the heart of political science, methods and measurements shape a prominent place meant to provide for the relevance and validity of data, reliability of results, quality of performances, and ability to approach the causality of political phenomena on empirical grounds ( Curini and Franzese, 2020 ).

Traditionally, political science research has been intensively based on experimental methodologies ( Druckman et al., 2011 ) covering classic methods as well as measurements which basically employ survey research and statistical analysis with a solid background in empirical data ( Buttolph Johnson et al., 2020 ). As such, they provide for specific structural-functional representations, analysis, causality-based explanations making possible predictions, and control of the political system defined in the cybernetic terms of the classic system theory ( Easton, 1953 , 1965 ).

Deeply marked by the diffusion of technological innovation of computers, networks, and internet, the second half of the 20 th century has emphasized the beginning of a substantial transformation of the human world into a hybrid world made up of both physical and virtual environments, as well as human and artificial agents able to simultaneously live in multiple worlds and learn from multiple immersive and augmented realities. Starting with the 1980s, the technologies of the web, wi-fi communications, GPS, and satellite data have provided support for the development of methodologies for accessing, and processing huge amounts of data, create and manage immense data flows, and globally available databases, allow easy individual as well as collective access to data on the internet and enhancing communication on the socializing networks. Moreover, the theories on complex systems at all levels—social, economic, financial, political, communicational, and cultural—have emphasized the need for methodologies which could cover and eventually combine empirical data analysis and the advanced technologies of complex data and interactions in an equally complex mix of physical and artificial environments which constitute the human world of our time.

At least for the political research methodologies, this was the time of revealing new ways to understand and approach political phenomena. All this has been assimilated with a complex cultural change still undergoing at all societal and political levels on several fundamental dimensions:

First and foremost , besides its natural (physical) dimensions, the human world acquired virtual dimensions, provided by means of computers and networks. Their integration into a hybrid world was not just the sum of their attributes, but a deep re-configuration and change in the ways this hybrid world can be known. This has inspired research in the artificial cognition systems ( Poli, 2001 , 2006 ) such that ontology and epistemology studies have faced one of the greatest challenges in the areas of political, cultural, and social research ( Voinea, 2020 ).

Secondly , the technologies of the artificial as well as the capacity to approach the complexity of social and political interaction in the social networks have stimulated the introduction of new concepts concerning the multiple realities, identities and capabilities humans get in immersive and augmented realities.

The types of agents and environments interacting in this hybrid world have revealed it as a complex system thus emphasizing the necessity of a paradigmatic change in the research methodologies which could cover the gap between the empirical-based and complexity-based approaches to political science research.

Complexity approach to political science

Electoral studies, and political behavior represent areas with most extensive development of methodological research going from agent-based to big data and internet-based types. Advanced technologies of the artificial, like artificial intelligence, artificial life, machine learning and artificial autonomous agents have provided support for the development of research methodologies ( Voinea, 2020 ; Voinea et al., 2022 ) addressing the complexity of political and social systems by means of the agent-based modeling and simulation methodologies ( Axelrod, 1995 ; Cederman, 1997 ; Vallier, 2017 ), artificial society ( Epstein and Axtell, 1996 ), artificial polity ( Cioffi-Revilla and Rouleau, 2010 ), and artificial culture ( Axelrod, 1995 ). The high impact of new disciplinary areas like Social Simulation ( Gilbert and Troitzsch, 2005 ), computational modeling ( Taber and Steenbergen, 1995 ; Taber and Timpone, 1996 ) have been emphasized by the increasing relevance of such methodology for the study of political information processing, political reasoning and judgement, electoral, and voting behavior ( Kim et al., 2009 ; Lodge and Taber, 2013 ).

The agent-based methodologies allowed for a paradigmatic shift from the empirical approach with positivist theoretical background toward constructivist approaches in culture and political culture research ( Lane, 1992 ; Wilson and Hodges, 1992 ; Axelrod, 1995 ).

Relevant as well as extensive in terms of classes of methodologies, text, content, and political discourse analysis has proved an explosive development by integrating empirical data analysis methods with methodologies employing Big Data, Data Mining, and Machine Learning. Moreover, web semantics as well as new concepts, and practices on the socializing network going from emoji to the deep analysis of a wide range of psychological phenomena have emphasized another paradigmatic shift toward contextual analysis of cultural phenomena ( Thompson et al., 2006 ), and a strong interpretivist trend in social and political sciences, employing narratives, crowdsourcing, and a wide range of both traditional and innovative qualitative methods.

Qualitative and interpretivist approaches to governance, policy making and public value co-creation

One of the major transformations induced by the technological innovation based on computers, internet, and the sciences of the artificial is undergoing in the areas of political organization system and governance. From a classic cybernetics-based hierarchical architecture of both state and governance systems, the governance networking ( Ansell, 2000 ; Bevir and Rhodes, 2003 ; Marsh, 2011 ; Torfing, 2012 ) has systematically developed such that it is co-existing and/or replacing old governance structures and data flows with a horizontal architecture based on networking and fast, effective data flows between groups, and communities participating in the policy making processes.

This new framework has fundamentally changed several key areas, like the public value co-creation, and political cultures. Moreover, it seems to be driving research methodology toward an essential paradigmatic shift from object- or event-based to meaning-based epistemology studies aimed at answering the most fundamental research questions concerning multiple worlds and realities, knowledge and cognition, communication, and interaction. Integrating a previously developed consistent research approach to methodology which covered narratives and traditional qualitative methods ( Roe, 1994 ; Schlaufer et al., 2022 ), the interpretivist trend has represented a major challenge for revisiting research methodologies in political science ( Bevir and Rhodes, 2002 ).

Aims of a new design

While recognizing the value of methods and measurements in the empirical approach to the political science research, it is this deep transformation of the human world which requires a more advanced approach on methodology defined as the study of the research methods along with the concepts, principles, theories, and technological considerations which count in the elaboration of both the ontological and epistemological milieu of the domain.

For this reason, our section opens its framework such that Political Science Methodologies represents a much more comprehensive approach to the complex area of research methods and their conceptual and philosophical backgrounds defining the numerous schools of methodological thinking identifying positivist, constructivist, or interpretivist epistemic research communities.

Widening this section for including classic and innovative research methodologies opens new frontiers in methodology research in political science thus justifying our choice for a new section design, and our aim of joining the computational choices already made by almost all the other social sciences.

Author contributions

CV: Conceptualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review and editing.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Publisher's note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: political research, political methodology, research methodology, methods, measurement, modeling and simulation, qualitative methodologies, quantitative methodologies

Citation: Voinea CF (2023) Methodology challenge in political science research. Front. Polit. Sci. 5:1295055. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2023.1295055

Received: 15 September 2023; Accepted: 25 September 2023; Published: 11 October 2023.

Edited and reviewed by: Thania Isabelle Paffenholz , Inclusive Peace, Switzerland

Copyright © 2023 Voinea. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Camelia Florela Voinea, camelia_voinea@yahoo.com

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Legitimacy and legitimation are among the core topics of Political Science in general, as well as in the subfield of Comparative Politics. They relate to core questions of politics, polity and policy - the relation between rulers and ruled, the properties of a political system, its democratic quality, the rule of law, and its policy output, only to name a few. Moreover, the concept of ...
Politics Research Guide
Topical Reviews. Hundreds of annotated guides to recent scholarship in topics across all subfields of political science and international relations. Provides up-to-date, peer-reviewed surveys of major topics, theories, and research questions across all areas of political science. These peer-reviewed articles cover major topics, theories, and ...
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods
Chapter 1- Introduction. Chapter 2- History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics. Chapter 3- The Scientific Method. Chapter 4- Theories, Hypotheses, Variables, and Units. Chapter 5- Conceptualization, Operationalization, Measurement. Chapter 6- Elements of Research Design. Chapter 7- Qualitative Methods.
Empirical Methods in Political Science
This textbook focuses upon empirical methods used in political science. Before turning to the methods, it can be helpful to understand what political science is and what political science research can look like. Broadly, the discipline focuses on power and events throughout history.
Introduction to Empirical Analysis and Quantitative Methods
Course Description. This course is an introduction to the methods employed in empirical political science research. We will cover basic topics in research design, statistics, and formal modeling, considering many examples along the way. The two primary goals of the course are: (1) to provide students with analytic tools that will help them to ...
1.6: Empirical Political Science
Empirical political science attempts to explain and predict. 32. Empirical political science assumes that facts exist: actual, genuine, verifiable facts. Empirical questions are ones that can be answered by factual evidence. The number of votes a candidate receives is an empirical matter: votes can be counted.
Empirical Political Theory: A Template for a Research Design and a
This empirical and methodological turn has brought about a debate regarding the form and desirability of such empirically grounded political theory. We aim, first, to clarify what the empirical turn in political theory implies for research in political theory. We shall situate such empirically grounded political theory in contemporary analytic ...
206 Good Political Science Research Topics For Any Level
The best political science research topics on international politics are: Examine the case for human rights violation in Malawi. Make a case for human rights violation in China. Make a car for the human rights violation in communist countries. Examine the trends in global poverty and its eradication in the world today.
Research Topics
About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.
Empirical Research and Writing: A Political Science Student's Practical
Welcome to the Companion WebsiteStudents can easily misstep when they first begin to do research. Leanne C. Powner's new title Empirical Research and Writing: A Student's Practical Guide provides valuable advice and guidance on conducting and writing about empirical research. Chapter by chapter, students are guided through the key steps in the research process.
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al.)
76154. Josue Franco. Cuyamaca College. Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses ...
Political Science Scope and Methods
License CC BY-NC-SA.) This course is designed to provide an introduction to a variety of empirical research methods used by political scientists. The primary aims of the course are to make you a more sophisticated consumer of diverse empirical research and to allow you to conduct advanced independent work in your junior and senior years.
POLSC101: Research in Political Science
Political theory differs from other subfields in political science in that it deals primarily with historical and normative, rather than empirical, analysis. In other words, political theorists are less concerned with the scientific measurement of political phenomena than with understanding how important political ideas develop over time.
Courses
This course is the third course in the quantitative research methods sequence at the MIT political science department. Building on the first two courses of the sequence (17.800 and 17.802), this class covers advanced statistical tools for empirical analysis in modern political science. Our focus in this course will be on techniques for model ...
Ethics in Political Science Research
Such transformations include the increased amount of empirical research in political science publications and "publish or perish" productivity imperatives. Both developments have important ethical implications. ... with studies conducted on topics like political activism (Langdon and Larweh 2015; Carr 2012; Yorks et al. 2008), ...
Frontiers
After a century of dominance in political analysis and political methodology, the empirical approach to political science research employing survey-based research and field collected empirical data have been decisively challenged by the research methodologies developed by means of the new technologies of the artificial: internet and web, big data and web semantics, artificial intelligence and ...
Special Graduate Topic in Political Science: Public Opinion
Course Description. This course provides an introduction to the vast literature devoted to public opinion. In the next 12 weeks, we will survey the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of political behavior (though we will only tangentially discuss political participation and voting). For the most part we will ….
Political Typology Quiz
About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.