Working with Political Science Research Methods

Jason Mycoff is associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware. His research is on American political institutions, in particular the US Congress, congressional committees, and parties.

• About the AuthorAcknowledgmentsChapter 1 • Introduction: Practice Makes PerfectChapter 2 • The Empirical Approach to Political ScienceChapter 3 • Beginning the Research Process: Identifying a Research Topic, Developing Research Questions, and Reviewing the LiteratureChapter 4 • The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, Variables, and MeasurementsChapter 5 • SamplingChapter 6 • Research Design: Establishing Causation: Making Causal InferencesChapter 7 • Qualitative Research: Case Study DesignsChapter 8 • Making Empirical Observations: Qualitative AnalysisChapter 9 • Quantitative Research DesignsChapter 10 • Quantitative MethodsChapter 11 • Making Sense of Data: First StepsChapter 12 • Testing RelationshipsChapter 13 • Analyzing Relationships for Categorical DataChapter 14 • Regression

"This workbook provides innovative exercises for students to practice applying the lessons of a standard research methods course to political science questions.  The activities are useful in class, as assignments, or as the basis for an exam, and can launch great discussions on how and why we do research in the field.  I highly recommend this text to all political science research methods instructors."