Research Methods I (SPS 311)

2022 Fall
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Social & Political Sci.(SPS)
3
6/7 ECTS (for students admitted in the 2013-14 Academic Year or following years)
Fatih Serkant Adıgüzel serkant.adiguzel@sabanciuniv.edu,
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English
Undergraduate
SPS101 SPS102
Formal lecture,Interactive lecture,Recitation
Interactive,Communicative,Project based learning
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CONTENT

Statistical reasoning and techniques used by social researchers to summarize data and test hypotheses. Topics include describing data collection, sampling measurement, distributions, cross-tabulations, scaling, probability,correlation/regression and non-parametric tests.

OBJECTIVE

This course is designed as an initiation into social science research. As an introduction, we focus on questions like, why bother with scientific thinking? What differentiates scientific thinking from its competitors? Where do concepts and theories come from? What is a variable, and how do we ensure that it accomplishes the tasks we hope it will accomplish? How does one find a research topic, design an inquiry, conduct the research, and present its findings? The course introduces various methods social scientists employ for their research and mainly focuses on quantitative data analysis methods. It gives the basic data science skills to analyze quantitative data.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • Formulate research questions and hypotheses.
  • Collect and use data for a specific research project.
  • Identify various research methods and develop a critical approach in evaluating methodology.
  • Develop quantitative methods and data analysis skills.

ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA

  Percentage (%)
Final 20
Midterm 20
Assignment 24
Group Project 25
Other 11

RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS

Textbook

Imai, K., & Williams, N. W. (2022). Quantitative Social Science: An Introduction in Tidyverse. Princeton University Press.

Readings

Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review, 94(4), 991-1013.
Gerber, A. S., Green, D. P., & Larimer, C. W. (2008). Social pressure and voter turnout: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 33-48.
David Card and Alan Krueger (1994) “Minimum wages and employment: A case study of the fast-food industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.” American Economic Review, 84(4), 772–793.
Malesky, E. J., Nguyen, C. V., & Tran, A. (2014). The impact of recentralization on public services: A difference-in-differences analysis of the abolition of elected councils in Vietnam. American Political Science Review, 108(1), 144-168.
Lyall, J., Blair, G., & Imai, K. (2013). Explaining support for combatants during wartime: A survey experiment in Afghanistan. American Political Science Review, 107(4), 679-705.
Blair, G., Imai, K., & Lyall, J. (2014). Comparing and combining list and endorsement experiments: Evidence from Afghanistan. American Journal of Political Science, 58(4), 1043-1063.
Todorov, A., Mandisodza, A. N., Goren, A., & Hall, C. C. (2005). Inferences of competence from faces predict election outcomes. Science, 308(5728), 1623-1626.
Mueller, H., & Rauh, C. (2018). Reading between the lines: Prediction of political violence using newspaper text. American Political Science Review, 112(2), 358-375.
Chattopadhyay, R., & Duflo, E. (2004). Women as policy makers: Evidence from a randomized policy experiment in India. Econometrica, 72(5), 1409-1443.
Svolik, M. W. (2020). When Polarization Trumps Civic Virtue: Partisan Conflict and the Subversion of Democracy by Incumbents. Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 15(1), 3-31.
Eggers, A. C., & Hainmueller, J. (2009). MPs for sale? Returns to office in postwar British politics. American Political Science Review, 103(4), 513-533.
Foos, F., & Bischof, D. (2022). Tabloid media campaigns and public opinion: Quasiexperimental evidence on Euroscepticism in England. American Political Science Review, 116(1), 19-37.
Adiguzel, F.S., Cansunar A., Corekcioglu G. (Forthcoming). Out of Sight, Out of Mind? Electoral Responses to the Proximity of Health Care, Journal of Politics
Franco, A., Malhotra, N., & Simonovits, G. (2015). Underreporting in political science survey experiments: Comparing questionnaires to published results. Political Analysis, 23(2), 306-312.
Ansell, B., & Samuels, D. (2010). Inequality and democratization: A contractarian approach. Comparative Political Studies, 43(12), 1543-1574.
Geddes, B. (1991). A game theoretic model of reform in Latin American democracies. American Political Science Review, 85(2), 371-392.
Osborne, M. J. (2004). An introduction to game theory. Oxford university press, Chapters 1 and 2