PSC 202 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Current Lecture I. Evolution of the study of politics II. The scientific method and political scienceIII. The discipline todayIV. Developing a research question Current LectureI. Evolution of the study of politics- politics:1. a clash of ideas, interests and values striving for dominance+ Lasswell: process of determining “who gets what, where, and when”- a very brief history:1. political science has become less descriptive and more explanatory2. it has also become less normative and more analyticalII. The scientific method and political science- Science1. scientific method: the identification and testing of empirical and normative methods- normative vs. empirical1. normative: a statement that expresses judgment or belief about what ought to be2. empirical: a statement that can be confirmed or proved false through observation - some key steps1. formulate strong research question2. propse an explanation; hypotheses3. data collection process4. use data to evaluate hypotheses5. reassess explanation - if a test proves hypotheses correct, explanations turn into theories- political science1. the application of the scientific enterprise to the study of politics and governmentIII. The discipline todayThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- main subfields1. political theory + examines conceptsmore room for normative claims in some branches2. comparative politics+ politics outside US+comparisons between countries3. American politics+refers to the United Statessome say should include all of the Americas 4. International relations+interaction of countriesIV. Developing a research question- five criteria for good research questions1. clarity+ must be specific enough to give direction to the research2. testability+ must be answered by empirical inquirymust be answered given the resources available3. theoretical significance+should potentially increase our knowledge and understanding of the topic+something someone would care about4. practical relevance+should have use for citizens5. originality- major steps1. finding a good research question2. identifying, classifying, and explaining existing scholarly answers3. preparing research design and data collection4. analyzing the data5. recording the results- good topics are… 1. interesting to you and the reader2. important3. puzzling4. short and