Stephen Van Evera greeted new graduate students at MIT with a commonsense introduction to qualitative methods in the social sciences. His helpful hints, always warmly received, grew from a handful of memos to an underground classic primer. That primer evolved into a book of how-to information about graduate study, which is essential reading for graduate students and undergraduates in political science, sociology, anthropology, economics, and history - and for their advisers. -How should we frame, assess, and apply theories in the social sciences? "I am unpersuaded by the view that the prime rules of scientific method should differ between hard science and social science. Science is science." -A section on case studies shows novices the ropes. -Van Evera contends the realm of dissertations is often defined too narrowly "Making and testing theories are not the only games in town.... If everyone makes and tests theories but no one ever uses them, then what are they for?" -In "Helpful Hints on Writing a Political Science Ph.D. Dissertation," Van Evera focuses on presentation, and on broader issues of academic strategy and tactics. -Van Evera asks how political scientists should work together as a community. "All institutions and professions that face weak accountability need inner ethical rudders that define their obligations in order to stay on course."

The Political Science Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide is a practical guide to research, reading, and writing in political science. The Political Science Student Writer’s Manual and Reader’s Guide, Eighth Edition, is a set of instructions and exercises that sequentially develop citizenship, academic, and professional skills while providing students with knowledge about a wide range of political and governmental concepts, phenomena, and information sources. It begins by teaching beginning students to engage newspapers and other political media sources critically and analytically. It focuses on the crafts of writing and scholarship by providing the basics of grammar, style, formats and source citation, and then introduces students to a variety of rich information resources including the Congressional Record, Federal Register, and the Library of Congress. Students actively apply their knowledge and skills by corresponding with their representatives and commenting on pending government regulations. Part 1 concludes with campaign management, policy analysis, legislation assessment, and similar exercises that develop student skilled-observation proficiency. Part 2 prepares students to research, read, write, review, and critique political science scholarship. Finally, Part 3 teaches advanced students how to investigate public opinion; analyze domestic and international public policies; author amicus briefs; and participate in the universal community that deliberates the continuing rich tradition of political philosophy.

Turn your degree into a career Designed to help students consider their career options and opportunities, The CQ Press Career Guide for Political Science Students offers a practical collection of employment resources, career-path options, and real-life tips for how to get ahead. Providing the road map that students need to design their undergraduate experience to maximize their transferable skills, author Wendy Whitman Cobb outlines jobs political science majors can pursue; offers guidance on how to actually get the job; and illuminates pathways to graduate school.

The third edition of Research Methods for Political Science retains its effective approach to helping students learn what to research, why to research and how to research. The text integrates both quantitative and qualitative approaches to research in one volume and covers such important topics as research design, specifying research problems, designing questionnaires and writing questions, designing and carrying out qualitative research and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative research data. Heavily illustrated, classroom tested, exceptionally readable and engaging, the text presents statistical methods in a conversational tone to help students surmount "math phobia." Updates to this new edition include: Research topics chapters have been upgraded and expanded. Two mixed methods design chapters have been added. A new chapter on hermeneutic analysis designs and research with large data sets. The chapter on multivariate statistics has been expanded, with an expanded discussion on logistic regression. Tools on how to prepare and present research findings are now featured in the appendix, allowing instructors more flexibility when teaching their courses. Research Methods for Political Science will give students the confidence and knowledge they need to understand the methods and basics skills for data collection, presentation and analysis.

Dedicated to the empirical analysis of data from the world of international relations, SSIP scholars tend to focus on interstate conflicts, civil wars, and conflict management. The range of perspectives in this edited volume provide a comprehensive introduction to SSIP theory and methodology. Fresh approach traces intellectual development of research approaches rather than merely summarizing results Features original SSIP material not found in other books Includes a number of essays with a broader assessment of SSIP methods - ideal for younger scholars interested in the approach Includes recent SSIP analyses exploring issues such as civil wars

The American PoZiticaZ Science Research Guide to their efforts. Individuals in administra is a new series dealing generally with Ameri tive positions will also find that the APSRG offers a means for keeping current on public can government and specifically with public administration, state and local government, policy questions, despite the normal restric the legislative and executive branches, and tions of time and circumstance. the judiciary. The key to the entire program is the use of the data base of the Political Science Series of As an innovative idea, the APSRG is an approach to political research which focuses upon a the Universal Reference System. Combining ele single area within the discpline of political ments of the definitive URS Supplement and a science. The first in a proposed series of refined indexing procedure, the APSRG is pro softcover research guides, the APSRG is repre duced under the superv~s~on of the same schol sentative of the guiding principle of provid ars who develop that annual supplement.

The teacher-scholars featured in this book explain how to spark a students’ natural curiosity about the world they live in by using experimental design to test basic intuition, generate and answer “what if” questions, and address real world problems that matter deeply to students, researchers, policymakers, political practitioners, and the community at large.