PO 217B Course Outline 2020 Post PDF

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WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE PO 217B - Asking Questions in Political Science: An Introduction to Research Fall 2020 The educational materials developed for this course, including, but not limited to, lecture notes and slides, handout materials, examinations and assignments, and any materials posted to MyLearningSpace or Zoom, are the intellectual property of the course instructor. These materials have been developed for student use only and they are not intended for wider dissemination and/or communication outside of a given course. Posting or providing unauthorized audio, video, or textual material of lecture content to third-party websites violates an instructor’s intellectual property rights, and the Canadian Copyright Act. Recording lectures in any way is prohibited in this course unless specific permission has been granted by the instructor. Failure to follow these instructions may be in contravention of the university’s Code of Student Conduct and/or Code of Academic Conduct, and will result in appropriate penalties. Participation in this course constitutes an agreement by all parties to abide by the relevant University Policies, and to respect the intellectual property of others during and after their association with Wilfrid Laurier University.

Course Director: Office: Virtual Office Hours: Email: Class Time: Class Location:

Dr. Jason Roy Virtual Tuesday and Thursday 1:30 – 2:30 or by appointment [email protected] Tuesday and Thursday: 11:30 - 12:50 Virtual via Zoom

Wilfrid Laurier University uses software that can check for plagiarism. Students may be required to submit their written work in electronic form and have it checked for plagiarism. Students with disabilities or special needs are advised to contact Laurier's Accessible Learning Office for information regarding its services and resources. Students are encouraged to review the Calendar for information regarding all services available on campus.

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Course overview: This course introduces students to the assumptions and methods of empirical political inquiry. Students will consider the nature of science and social science, will become familiar with the various stages of the empirical research process, will be introduced to conventional practices associated with those stages, and will learn to deploy a widely used statistical package (SPSS) to assist in quantitative analyses. The course will provide a grounding in these topics through a combination of readings, lectures and student research projects. While the course will be delivered remotely, the expectation is that students will attend all virtual lectures at the scheduled time (see below). MyLearningSpace (MLS): Students who have not yet used MLS should familiarize themselves with it immediately. We will be using this platform weekly for discussions outside of class, e-mail correspondence, to access important course information (e.g. assignments), announcements and reading comprehension quizzes. E-Mail policy: Students should send e-mail via MLS. My policy is to respond to e-mails within 24-48 hours during weekdays. Students should not expect e-mail responses on weekends. Questions that may be helpful to others in the class will be posted to the class MLS discussion board (student’s name will be removed prior to posting). Class format: Classes will be held at the scheduled time via Zoom and consist of lecture style presentations and virtual discussions. As such, students should attend Zoom classes prepared to discuss the readings (which is much easier if you have completed the readings!). Lectures will also include material not covered in the text, making class attendance essential to do well in this course. Students are encouraged, but not required, to turn on their video during lectures. Students will be notified via MLS in advance if lectures will be recorded. Students unable to attend the scheduled lecture due to time-zone differences or other conflicts MUST contact me ASAP to discuss options. Course Objectives: By the end of the term, students will: • • • •

Gain an understanding of what is involved in conducting empirical research in political science and other social sciences Identify the core components of a research report Develop a sufficient grasp of research principles and best practices to assess critically the research and arguments of others Learn to deploy a widely used statistical package (SPSS) to assist in quantitative analyses

Required texts: 1. Berdahl, Loleen and Keith Archer. 2015. Explorations: Conducting Empirical Research in Canadian Political Science (3rd Edition). Oxford University Press. !

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The text is available via the Laurier bookstore. Students may also find copies of the text online. An electronic version is also available for rent: https://redshelf.com/book/526801/explorations-526801-9780199008995loleen-berdahl-keith-archer Evaluation: •

5% Reading responses: There will be 5 random days (in class) where I will ask a question based on that day’s readings. Students will receive half a point for being “in class” to complete the response and another half point for providing the correct answer. Students absent from class with proper documentation will be evaluated based on the remaining reading responses.

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15% Online reading comprehension quizzes: For Topic 2 to Topic 16 (15 topics), students will complete 10 multiple choice questions on MLS by 10:30 AM the day that topic will be covered. Each question is worth 0.1% of your final mark. Students who do not complete the questions before 10:30 AM the day the topic will be covered will NOT be able to access the questions or submit responses.

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5% TCPS-II Certificate Due via MLS by 10:30 AM on Tuesday, Oct 20

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10% Quiz 1: first quiz will be held in class on Thursday, Oct 8

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10% Quiz 2: second quiz will be held in class on Thursday, Nov 12

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15% Journal Article Assignment: Due via MLS by 10:30 AM on Thursday, Nov 19

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10% SPSS Assignment: Due via MLS by 10:30 AM on Thursday, Dec 3

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30% Final exam: our final exam will cover all course materials. Date and time to be scheduled by the registrar.

NOTE: A penalty of two percentage points per day (weekends included) will be subtracted for late assignment submissions. For example, if a student submits the SPSS assignment (worth 10% of final grade) two days late, the highest grade possible is 6/10 (6% of final grade). Students must complete all assignments in order to pass this course. The option of doing additional work to improve your course grade will not be available. Laurier values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences under the Student Code of Conduct and Discipline, available in the undergraduate calendar.

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SECTION 1: Conducting Political Science Research NOTE: Dates are provided as a guideline and subject to change

Thursday Sept 10: Introduction to PO 217

Tuesday Sept 15: TOPIC 1

Science and the Study of Politics, chapter 1

Thursday Sept 17: TOPIC 2

Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, Chapter 2

Tuesday Sept 22: TOPIC 3

Concepts, Chapter 4

Thursday Sept 24: TOPIC 4

Theory and Causality, Chapter 3

Tuesday Sept 29: TOPIC 5

Measurement, Chapter 5

Thursday October 1: TCPS II Assignment explained in class TOPIC 6

Ethics, Chapter 6

Tuesday Oct 6: SECTION 1 – Catch-up / Review

Thursday Oct 8: Quiz 1 (Topics 1-6)

Fall Reading week: October 13-16 !

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SECTION 2: Sampling and Research Design Tuesday Oct 20: TCPS II Assignment due TOPIC 7

Sampling, Chapter 8

Thursday Oct 22: TOPIC 8

Case Studies and Comparative Approaches, Chapter 7

Tuesday Oct 27: TOPIC 9

Interviews, Focus Groups, and Observational Research, Chapter 9

Thursday Oct 29: TOPIC 10

Surveys and Official Statistics, Chapter 10

Tuesday Nov 3: TOPIC 11

Experimentation, Chapter 11

Thursday Nov 5: TOPIC 12

Text Analysis, Chapter 12 Journal Article Assignment: Introduced in class

Tuesday Nov 10: SECTION 2 - Catch-up / Review

Thursday Nov 12: Quiz 2 (Topics 7-12)

SECTION 3: Data Analysis

Tuesday Nov 17: TOPIC 13 Analysing Qualitative Data, Chapter 13

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Thursday Nov 19: Journal Article Assignment Due TOPIC 14

Univariate Statistics, Chapter 14

Tuesday Nov 24: Introduction to SPSS SPSS Assignment: Introduced in class

Thursday Nov 26: TOPIC 15

Nominal and Ordinal Data I, chapter 16

Tuesday Dec 1: TOPIC 16

Inferential Statistics, chapter 15

Thursday Dec 3: SPSS Assignment Due SECTION 3 - Catch-up / Review

Tuesday Dec 8: Full PO217 Review

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