Empirical Political Analysis

Introduction: the research process. Part 1 Preparing to research: theory building - concepts and hypotheses in political research; setting the foundation - techniques of systematic bibliographic search; from abstract to concrete - operationalization and measurement; working from a plan - considerations in research design; who, what, where, when - the problem of sampling. Part 2 Data gathering techniques: survey research; interviewing; scaling techniques; content analysis; direct observation; sources and applications of aggregate data; crossing borders - the practice of comparative research. Part 3 Analyzing data: data preparation and data processing; describing the data - the construction of tables, charts and diagrams; statistics - summarizing the distributions on one variable, examining relationships between two variables, examining relationships among several variables; mathematical modelling; focus group methodologies. Part 4 Conclusion: writing (or reading) the research report; overview. Appendices: statistical tables; ethical considerations in empirical research.