The Craft of Political Research immerses readers not only in how political scientists work but also in how ideas produce research questions and guide the selection of research methods. Emphasizing the internal logic of research methods and the collaborative nature of the research process, this slender text explores the design behind interesting questions, problems in measurement and analysis, and key statistical methods. Brief and inexpensive to include in any course, The Craft of Political Research’s elegant explanations inspire a big picture understanding of how political scientists explain political reality and encourage students to create their own inventive, original, and bold research work. Features include: Focuses on the big picture of how good research leads to good theories instead of just what research method to use. Provides concise and accessible coverage of key topics, including the nature of research, research design, sampling, statistical analysis, ethics, and more. Includes detailed examples of classic and contemporary political science research to give students models for their own original research.

"The Craft of Political Research" immerses readers not only in how political scientists work but also in how ideas produce research questions and guide the selection of research methods. Emphasizing the internal logic of research methods and the collaborative nature of the research process, this slender text explores the design behind interesting questions, problems in measurement and analysis, and key statistical methods. Brief and inexpensive to include in any course, "The Craft of Political Research"'s elegant explanations inspire a big picture understanding of how political scientists explain political reality and encourage students to create their own inventive, original, and bold research work.

The most accessible and practical guide to research methods written especially for politics and international relations students.

An excellent starting point for those new to the area of Research Methods, this work assumes no prior knowledge of the subject and sets out the key issues involved in doing research in politics.

In Writing a Research Paper in Political Science, author Lisa Baglione breaks down the research paper into its constituent parts and shows students precisely how to complete each component. The author provides encouragement at each stage and faces pitfalls head on, giving advice and examples so that students move through each task successfully. Students are shown how to craft the right research question, find good sources and properly summarize them, operationalize concepts, design good tests for their hypotheses, and present and analyze quantitative and qualitative data. Even writing an introduction, coming up with effective headings and titles, presenting a conclusion, and the important steps of editing and revising are covered. Practical summaries, recipes for success, worksheets, exercises, and a series of handy checklists make this a must-have supplement for any writing-intensive political science course. In this Third Edition, updated sample research topics come from American government, gender studies, comparative politics, and international relations. And now, more extensive materials are available on the web, including checklists and worksheets that help students tackle each step, calendar ideas to help them complete their paper on time, and a glossary.

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.

The Craft of Political Research is a non-technical introduction to research design and analysis in political science, emphasizing the choices we make when we design a research project and analyze its results. The book's approach centers on asking an interesting research question, then designing inquiry to eliminate as many alternative explanations as possible. How do we develop theory, and what constitutes a good research question? How do we operationalize measures and gather evidence to answer a question? How do we analyze our data? Students are introduced to such topics as multidimensional concepts, levels of measurement, validity, reliability, random and non-random measurement error, sampling, case selection, causality, experimental and quasi-experimental design, statistical inference, and regression and correlation analysis. Throughout, the emphasis is on understanding the "back story" of analysis--why do we measure in a particular way, why do we choose one design as against another, why do we conduct our analysis as we do. Emphasizing the internal logic of research methods, the greatest strength of the book is its clarity and the broad range of political science examples provided. It works at a conceptual level, seeking an understanding of the principles that underlie techniques and the reasons why we choose them. New to this edition: New and revised examples from the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, and Africa among others, and updated international data from organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations. Separate chapters on causality and research design, with more discussion of each component of the political science research process New section on indexes and scales that reviews ways to improve reliability and validity of measures by combining several variables New sections reviewing collection of publicly available data including downloadable sources of quantitative data New material on internet surveys and other contemporary techniques used in political science research.

Understand the “how” and the “why” behind research in political science. Step by step, Political Science Research Methods walks students through the logic of research design, carefully explaining how researchers choose which method to employ. The Eighth Edition of this trusted resource offers a greater emphasis on the ways in which particular methods are used by undergraduates, expanded coverage of the role of the Internet in research and analysis, and more international examples. Practice makes perfect. In the new fourth edition of the accompanying workbook, Working with Political Science Research Methods, students are given the perfect opportunity to practice each of the methods presented in the core text. This helpful supplement breaks each aspect of the research process into manageable parts and features new exercises and updated data sets. A solutions manual with answers to the workbook is available to adopters.