This is an immensely helpful book for students starting their own research... an excellent introduction to the comparative method giving an authoritative overview over the research process - Klaus Armingeon, University of Bern Doing Research in Political Science is the book for mastering the comparative method in all the social sciences - Jan-Erik Lane, University of Geneva This book has established itself as a concise and well-readable text on comparative methods and statistics in political science I...strongly recommend it. - Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Philipps-University Marburg This thoroughly revised edition of the popular textbook offers an accessible but comprehensive introduction to comparative research methods and statistics for students of political science. Clearly organized around three parts, the text introduces the main theories and methodologies used in the discipline. Part 1 frames the comparative approach within the methodological framework of the political and social sciences. Part 2 introduces basic descriptive and inferential statistical methods as well as more advanced multivariate methods used in quantitative political analysis. Part 3 applies the methods and techniques of Parts 1 & 2 to research questions drawn from contemporary themes and issues in political science. Incorporating practice exercises, ideas for further reading and summary questions throughout, Doing Research in Political Science provides an invaluable step-by-step guide for students and researchers in political science, comparative politics and empirical political analysis.

Nothing rings truer to those teaching political science research methods: students hate taking this course. Tackle the challenge and turn the standard research methods teaching model on its head with Political Science Research in Practice. Akan Malici and Elizabeth S. Smith engage students first with pressing political questions and then demonstrate how a researcher has gone about answering them, walking them through real political science research that contributors have conducted. Through the exemplary use of a comparative case study, field research, interviews, textual and interpretive research, statistical research, survey research, public policy and program evaluation, content analysis, and field experiments, each chapter introduces students to a method of empirical inquiry through a specific topic that will spark their interest and curiosity. Each chapter shows the process of developing a research question, how and why a particular method was used, and the rewards and challenges discovered along the way. Students can better appreciate why we need a science of politics—why methods matter—with these first-hand, issue-based discussions. The second edition now includes: Two completely new chapters on field experiments and a chapter on the textual/interpretative method. New topics, ranging from the Arab Spring to political torture to politically sensitive research in China to social networking and voter turnout. Revised and updated "Exercises and Discussion Questions" sections. Revised and updated "Interested to Know More" and "Recommended Resources" sections.

This is the perfect guide to conducting a research project in politics and international relations. From formulating a research question and conducting a literature review to writing up and disseminating your work, this book guides you through the research process from start to finish. The book: - Is focused specifically on research methods in politics and IR - Introduces the central methodological debates in a clear, accessible style - Considers the key questions of ethics and research design - Covers both qualitative and quantitative approaches - Shows you how to choose and implement the right methods in your own project The book features two example research projects – one from politics, one from IR – that appear periodically throughout the book to show you how real research looks at each stage of the process. Packed full of engaging examples, it provides you with all you need to know to coordinate your own research project in politics and international relations.

Students can easily misstep when they first begin to do research. Leanne C. Powner’s new title Empirical Research and Writing: A Student′s Practical Guide provides valuable advice and guidance on conducting and writing about empirical research. Chapter by chapter, students are guided through the key steps in the research process. Written in a lively and engaging manner and with a dose of humor, this practical text shows students exactly how to choose a research topic, conduct a literature review, make research design decisions, collect and analyze data, and then write up and present the results. The book′s approachable style and just-in-time information delivery make it a text students will want to read, and its wide-ranging and surprisingly sophisticated coverage will make it an important resource for their later coursework.

This text starts by explaining the fundamental goal of good political science research—the ability to answer interesting and important questions by generating valid inferences about political phenomena. Before the text even discusses the process of developing a research question, the authors introduce the reader to what it means to make an inference and the different challenges that social scientists face when confronting this task. Only with this ultimate goal in mind will students be able to ask appropriate questions, conduct fruitful literature reviews, select and execute the proper research design, and critically evaluate the work of others. The authors' primary goal is to teach students to critically evaluate their own research designs and others’ and analyze the extent to which they overcome the classic challenges to making inference: internal and external validity concerns, omitted variable bias, endogeneity, measurement, sampling, and case selection errors, and poor research questions or theory. As such, students will not only be better able to conduct political science research, but they will also be more savvy consumers of the constant flow of causal assertions that they confront in scholarship, in the media, and in conversations with others. Three themes run through Barakso, Sabet, and Schaffner’s text: minimizing classic research problems to making valid inferences, effective presentation of research results, and the nonlinear nature of the research process. Throughout their academic years and later in their professional careers, students will need to effectively convey various bits of information. Presentation skills gleaned from this text will benefit students for a lifetime, whether they continue in academia or in a professional career. Several distinctive features make this book noteworthy: A common set of examples threaded throughout the text give students a common ground across chapters and expose them to a broad range of subfields in the discipline. Box features throughout the book illustrate the nonlinear, "non-textbook" reality of research, demonstrate the often false inferences and poor social science in the way the popular press covers politics, and encourage students to think about ethical issues at various stages of the research process.

This Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art research methods and applications currently in use in political science. It combines theory and methodology (qualitative and quantitative), and offers insights into the major approaches and their roots in the philosophy of scientific knowledge. Including a comprehensive discussion of the relevance of a host of digital data sources, plus the dos and don’ts of data collection in general, the book also explains how to use diverse research tools and highlights when and how to apply these techniques.

Through accounts from innovative research projects by world-leading political scientists, this volume offers a unique perspective on research methodology. It discusses the practical and intellectual dilemmas researchers face throughout the research process in a wide range of fields from implicit attitude testing to media analysis and interviews.

"Beginning Research in Political Science takes a learn-by-doing-approach to guide students through all of the steps needed for their own original projects. Each chapter builds from the previous chapter with step-by-step instructions that guide students towards the project's completion. The text features recent data from the World Values Survey and instructional SPSS Statistics software tutorials, along with a variety of features reflecting its consistent pedagogy"--

This text introduces students to the discipline of political science and the research process by teaching them how to conduct basic political research without overwhelming them with statistical theorizing and calculation. Political Science Research has three objectives. First, it gives students the scope of the discipline by acquainting them with what political scientists do and study. Second, it familiarizes readers with the methods that political scientists use to examine pertinent questions. Third, the text guides readers through each stage of the research process: topic selection, literature review, hypothesis formulation, data collection, input and analysis, and the writing of the final report.