1PSC 701 Research Design and Methodology Fall 2011 Instructor: Dr. David Damore e-mail: [email protected] Time: W 2:30 – 5:15 Phone: 895-3217; Office: WRI B213 Room: WRI B224 Office Hours: M 2:30 – 4:00 W 10:30 – 12:00 Scope and Purpose: This course provides students with the skills necessary to evaluate and conduct systematic, empirical research in political science. The course is divided into three parts. Part one serves as an introduction by familiarizing students with the prospects of and limitations to a scientific study of politics, the sub-fields within the discipline of Political Science, and the process by which social scientific theories are developed. Part two examines the research design process in detail (e.g., hypothesis formulation, measurement, data collection, and inference). An introduction to quantitative methods (e.g., statistics) used in social science research is the focus of part three. Course Material: Brady, Henry E. and David Collier eds. 2010. Rethinking Social Inquiry, 2nd ed. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers. King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Levin, Jack, and James Alan Fox. 2011. Elementary Statistics in Social Research, The Essentials, 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson Education. Monroe, Alan D. 2000. Essentials of Political Research. Boulder, CO: Westview. Course reader and lecture notes (available via course WebCampus site). A calculator will be useful for part three. Requirements: 1. Exams (35%) – Two exams. Exam one is take home in format and occurs after part two of the course and covers all material covered in parts one and two. Exam two covers part three of the course and will be administered in class during finals week. Exam one counts for 20% of course grade and exam two counts for 15% of course grade. 2. Research Paper (35%) – Over the course of the semester students are required to develop a paper offering an original research design assessing a question of significance to the study of politics. Detailed information is forthcoming.2 3. Homework (20%) – A series of homework assignments throughout the term, each of which is due by noon on the day of class. Late work is not accepted, e-mail submissions are. 4. Participation (10%) – Determined by students’ attendance, preparation, and willingness to enter into discussions as they arise. Learning Outcomes: 1. Develop thorough understanding of the social scientific research process. 2. Instill skills necessary to evaluate and conduct empirical social scientific research. 3. Improve critical thinking and writing skills. 4. Strengthen information gathering and analytical skills. Course Procedures: 1. Students must complete all assigned work by the respective due dates in order to pass the course. Late work is not accepted and incompletes will not be granted except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. 2. This course is seminar in nature and only works if students attend and are prepared to engage course material. Thus, attendance at all class sessions is required. Repeated absences, tardiness, early departures, and other disruptions will result in students being administratively dropped from the course or a significant reduction to their course grades. 3. Students are required to turn off all cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices during class. The use of laptops in seminars is allowed provided that they are used exclusively for note taking. If any student abuses this privilege, then all laptops will be prohibited from that point forward. Students are not allowed to tape record, photograph, video tape or otherwise electronically record any of the class. Of course, respect should be shown for all other class members at all times. 4. It is expected that all assigned reading will be completed prior to class. If you do not do the reading, do not show up to class and free ride on the efforts of others. Repeated instances of failure to complete assigned reading will result in students being administratively dropped from the course or a significant reduction to their course grades. 5. All written work must utilize the Style Manuel for Political Science. Any submitted work that uses other styles or formats will not be considered; resulting in a zero for that assignment. A copy of the Style Manuel is available on the course WebCampus site.36. For the first of the three required Discussion Papers that students submit that results in a grade of 85 or lower, students are allowed to resubmit their work for up to half of deducted amount after completing a one-on-one consultation with a representative of the UNLV Writing Center. Any subsequent work that fails to meet the expectations of graduate performance will not be considered; resulting in a zero for that assignment. 7. While course work is but one component of graduate training, there is a norm in graduate school of grade inflation. Typically, grades for graduate seminars range from B+ to A with grades of B or below rare and being assigned only in cases of near total student dereliction. This provides students with a false sense of their performance and potential. Thus, grades for this course will be determined in a manner that is more in line with those in undergraduate courses with the express understanding that a grade of B or below is indicative of a failing performance University Policies and Resources: 1. Academic integrity is a legitimate concern for every member of the campus community; all share in upholding the fundamental values of honesty, trust, respect, fairness, responsibility and professionalism. By choosing to join the UNLV community, students accept the expectations of the Academic Misconduct Policy and are encouraged when faced with choices to always take the ethical path. Students enrolling in UNLV assume the obligation to conduct themselves in a manner compatible with UNLV’s function as an educational institution. An example of academic misconduct is plagiarism: Using the words or ideas of another, from the Internet or any source, without proper citation of the sources. See the “Student Academic Misconduct Policy” located at: http://studentlife.unlv.edu/judicial/misconductPolicy.html. Any evidence of collaboration, plagiarism, or other violations of the honor