PSC 202 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture I. Evolution of the study of politics II. The scientific method and political scienceIII. The discipline todayIV. Developing a research question Outline of Current Lecture I. ConceptsII. The measurement processIII. Measurement issues Current LectureI. Concepts- mental constructs to represent real-world phenomena 1. in debates about values, concepts ca evoke powerful feelings of identity2. in empirical political science, concepts refer to facts, not values (political scientists use “freedom” or “equality” to describe characteristics in the real world)- identifying the relationship between concepts is at the core of science - acquiring knowledge requires labeling and describing- conceptual questions are difficult to answer empirically- concrete question: question that can be answered empirically- observation always presupposes at least a rudimentary conception of what the answer should be- concepts need to be transformed into concrete questions in such a way that they canbe described and analyzed- a conceptual definition describes clearly the concept’s measureable properties and specifies the units of analysis to which the concept applies II. The measurement process- concept precise definition of conceptmeasurement strategyvariableThese 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.- an operational definition describes the instrument to be used in measuring the concept an putting a conceptual definition “into operation” - variable: a measure of a concept.- Variables have units and can take on one of at least two values- to define a concept: clarify its empirical meaning by making inventory of its empiricalproperties 1. 3 problems: 1) we might think of empirical properties that refer to a different concept, 2)the inventory may include conceptual terms, 3) the empirical properties may represent different dimensions of the concept2. we cannot use one concept to define anotherIII. Measurement issues - measurement error:1. systematic error: the measurement tool consistently mismeasures what we want it to measure2. Random error: the measurement tool produces errors that are unpredictable anderratic- Reliability: extent to which a measurement tool measures a concept consistently- Validity: extent to which a measurement tool measures the intended concept with