PS 210: Introduction to Empirical Research Methods
Undergraduate course, Northwestern Political Science, 2023
This course provides an introduction to the empirical methods political scientists use to answer questions about politics, and the reasons why such methods matter. After exploring how hard it is to make good descriptive and causal inferences about politics, we will examine three basic strategies for overcoming the obstacles to reliable knowledge about the political world: experimentation, large N or quantitative studies (AKA statistics), and small N studies that use qualitative reasoning. At the end of this course, you will be able to:
* Understand and explain why descriptive and causal inference are difficult tasks in political science.
* Identify possible weaknesses in academic or other descriptive and causal claims about politics.
* Understand and explain the strengths and weaknesses of experimental research designs for causal inference about politics.
* Understand and explain the strengths and weaknesses of survey and regression-based quantitative research designs for descriptive and causal inference about politics.
* Understand and explain the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative methods for descriptive and causal inference about politics.
* Apply all of these tools to critically evaluating examples of political science research.
* Think about how empirical evidence matters to your own questions about politics.