types of research questions political science

Political Science Research Questions : Uncovering insightful and relevant inquiries

political science

Political science research questions seek to analyze political phenomena and institutions in society. This involves examining power structures, public policies, and government behavior to understand and explain political processes.

Political science research questions cover a wide range of topics, including comparative politics, international relations, and public administration. Researchers explore questions related to governance, political ideologies, and the impact of political decisions on society. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for informing public policy, promoting democratic participation, and enhancing the functioning of political systems.

By delving into these questions, scholars contribute to deeper insights, informed debates, and evidence-based decision-making in the political arena. This research also helps to advance our understanding of the complexities and nuances inherent in political phenomena, offering valuable perspectives for addressing societal challenges.

Political Science Research Questions : Uncovering insightful and relevant inquiries

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Understanding The Importance

When delving into the realm of political science research, understanding the importance of research questions is crucial for unlocking insightful discoveries. Research questions serve as the backbone of any empirical study, shaping the direction of the investigation and guiding the researcher towards valuable insights. By establishing clear and focused research questions, political scientists can effectively navigate the complexity of political phenomena, contributing to the advancement of knowledge within the field.

Significance Of Research Questions In Political Science

Research questions play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of political science research. This is primarily because clearly formulated research questions act as a guidepost for researchers, ensuring that their inquiries are precise and targeted . By honing in on specific aspects of political phenomena, researchers can avoid ambiguity and obtain focused insights that contribute meaningfully to the expansion of political science knowledge .

Establishing The Link Between Research Questions And Insightful Discoveries

The link between research questions and insightful discoveries lies in the focus and specificity of the inquiries. When research questions are carefully crafted , they serve as critical tools for delving deep into the intricacies of political phenomena. In doing so, researchers can uncover nuanced patterns, relationships, and causality that underlie the complex landscape of politics. Through this process, the insightful discoveries stemming from well-formulated research questions bolster the evidence base of political science, enriching the discipline with robust and meaningful findings .

Formulating Effective Research Questions

Research questions are crucial in guiding the process of political science studies. Formulating effective research questions ensures that the research is focused, relevant, and impactful. By asking the right questions, political scientists can delve into complex societal issues and contribute to a deeper understanding of political dynamics.

Attributes Of Effective Political Science Research Questions

Specific and Focused: Effective research questions are specific and focused on a particular aspect of political science . They avoid being too broad or vague, allowing for in-depth analysis.
Clear and Concise: Research questions should be articulated in a clear and concise manner to ensure understanding and avoid ambiguity.
Empirical and Testable: Political science research questions should be framed in a way that allows for empirical investigation and testing, enabling the collection of concrete data and evidence.
Relevance to Political Context: Questions must be relevant to the current political landscape, addressing issues that have practical and real-world significance.

Utilizing Contextual Relevance To Frame Research Questions

Crafting research questions that are contextually relevant involves understanding the societal, historical, and cultural context in which the political phenomena under investigation occur. By aligning research questions with the relevant political context , scholars can ensure that their inquiries address actual challenges and developments, leading to insightful and applicable findings.

Types Of Political Science Research Questions

In political science research, various types of research questions are explored to analyze and understand various aspects of political behavior, institutions, and processes. Each type of research question serves a specific purpose and contributes to the depth of knowledge within the field. Understanding the different types of political science research questions is crucial for developing effective research methodologies and addressing complex political phenomena.

Descriptive Research Questions In Political Science

Descriptive research questions in political science focus on identifying and describing the characteristics, patterns, and behaviors within political systems. These questions seek to provide a comprehensive overview of a particular political phenomenon or event, often using qualitative or quantitative methods to analyze and present the data. Examples of descriptive research questions include:

What are the voting patterns among different demographic groups within a specific constituency?
How has public opinion on immigration policies evolved over the past decade?

Explanatory Research Questions In Political Science

Explanatory research questions aim to uncover the reasons or causes behind political phenomena or events. These questions delve deeper into understanding the relationships between different variables, exploring underlying mechanisms, and explaining the factors that influence political outcomes. Explanatory research questions often involve hypothesis testing and statistical analysis. Examples of explanatory research questions include:

What are the factors that contribute to the rise of populist movements in democratic societies?
How does the distribution of power within a political system impact policy decision-making?

Predictive Research Questions In Political Science

Predictive research questions in political science seek to anticipate future political developments or outcomes based on current trends, patterns, and dynamics. These questions utilize historical data, forecasting models, and scenario analysis to project potential political scenarios and their likely consequences. Examples of predictive research questions include:

What are the potential implications of a trade war between major global economies on international relations?
How might demographic shifts influence the electoral landscape in the upcoming national elections?

Examples Of Insightful Political Science Research Questions

Exploring the impact of globalization on political stability.

Globalization has significantly transformed the dynamics of international relations, potentially influencing political stability in various regions. A research question could be:

How has globalization contributed to the rise of transnational political movements?
What are the implications of economic interdependence on state sovereignty and political stability?
How does the flow of information and cultural exchange due to globalization impact political stability in different societies?

Analyzing The Role Of Social Media In Shaping Political Discourse

Social media platforms have become integral to political communication and public opinion formation. Researchers can investigate the following questions:

What is the influence of social media on the formation and dissemination of political narratives?
How does social media contribute to polarization or consensus-building in political discourse?
What role does social media play in amplifying or attenuating the impact of misinformation and propaganda in political campaigns?

Best Practices For Uncovering Relevant Inquiries

When conducting political science research, formulating relevant and impactful research questions is crucial for success. Understanding the best practices for uncovering relevant inquiries is essential for yielding meaningful insights and driving the field forward. Below, we explore key strategies for shaping research questions in political science.

Leveraging Interdisciplinary Perspectives In Shaping Research Questions

One of the best practices for uncovering relevant inquiries in political science research is to leverage interdisciplinary perspectives when formulating research questions. Political science is a complex field that intersects with various disciplines, including sociology, economics, history, and law. By integrating insights from these diverse fields, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of political dynamics and societal structures.

Incorporating Ethical Considerations In Political Science Research Question Formulation

Another essential aspect of shaping research questions in political science is the incorporation of ethical considerations into the question formulation process. Political science research often delves into sensitive topics related to governance, power, and social justice. Thus, it is imperative for researchers to carefully consider the ethical implications of their inquiries, ensuring that their work adheres to ethical standards and respects the dignity and rights of individuals and communities.

Frequently Asked Questions Of Political Science Research Questions

What are some popular political science research questions.

Political science research questions often focus on topics like political behavior, governance, comparative politics, and international relations. Some popular questions include: “How do political institutions influence citizens’ behavior? ” And “What factors contribute to the stability of political systems? “

How Can I Develop A Unique Political Science Research Question?

To develop a unique political science research question, consider current events, gaps in existing literature, and areas of personal interest. Addressing underexplored topics or frameworks can lead to innovative research questions that contribute to the field’s knowledge base.

Why Is It Important To Refine Political Science Research Questions?

Refining research questions in political science is crucial as it helps focus the study, enhances clarity, and guides the research process. Well-defined questions enable researchers to effectively gather and analyze data, leading to more precise and impactful findings.

The political science research questions discussed highlight the significance of understanding and analyzing the complexities of modern political systems. By delving into these inquiries, researchers can develop valuable insights that contribute to our understanding of politics and its impact on society.

These questions serve as a foundation for future research and enriching our knowledge of the political landscape.

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Political Research: Methods and Practical Skills (3rd edn)

Guided Tour of the Online Resources
1. Political Research
2. Forms of Knowledge: Laws, Explanation, and Interpretation in the Study of the Social World
3. Objectivity and Values
4. Asking Questions: How to Find and Formulate Research Questions
5. Finding Answers: Theories and How to Apply Them
6. Research Design
7. What is Data?
8. Experimental Research
9. Comparative Research
10. Historical Research
11. Surveys
12. Interviewing and Focus Groups
13. Ethnography and Participant Observation
14. Textual Analysis*
15. Quantitative Analysis: Description and Inference
16. Patterns of Association: Bivariate Analysis
17. A Guide to Multivariate Analysis
Finding and Citing Sources for Political Research

p. 93 4. Asking Questions: How to Find and Formulate Research Questions

Sandra Halperin Sandra Halperin Professor of International Relations, Royal Holloway, University of London
and Oliver Heath Oliver Heath Professor of Politics, Royal Holloway, University of London
https://doi.org/10.1093/hepl/9780198820628.003.0004
Published in print: 17 April 2020
Published online: August 2020

This chapter deals with the first step of the research process: the formulation of a well-crafted research question. It explains why political research should begin with a research question and how a research question structures the research process. It discusses the difference between a topic or general question, on the one hand, and a focused research question, on the other. It also considers the question of where to find and how to formulate research questions, the various types of questions scholars ask, and the role of the ‘literature review’ as a source and rationale for research questions. Finally, it describes a tool called the ‘research vase’ that provides a visualization of the research process, along with different types of questions: descriptive, explanatory, predictive, prescriptive, and normative.

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Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al.)

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Josue Franco
Cuyamaca College

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

ProgramPage
Table of Contents

1.1: Welcome
1.2: The Social Network of Political Science
1.3: Organization of the Book
1.4: Analyzing Journal Articles
1.5: Research Paper Project Management
1.6: Key Terms/Glossary
1.7: Summary
1.8: Review Questions
1.9: Suggestions for Further Study

2.1: Brief History of Empirical Study of Politics
2.2: The Institutional Wave
2.3: The Behavioral Wave
2.4: Currents- Qualitative versus Quantitative
2.5: Currents- Politics- Normative and Positive Views
2.6: Emerging Wave- Experimental Political Science
2.7: Emerging Wave- Big Data and Machine Learning
2.8: Key Terms/Glossary
2.9: Summary
2.10: Review Questions
2.11: Critical Thinking Questions
2.12: Suggestions for Further Study

3.1: Philosophy of Science
3.2: Whats is the Scientific Method?
3.3: Applying the Scientific Method to Political Phenomena
3.4: Key Terms/Glossary
3.5: Summary
3.6: Review Questions
3.7: Critical Thinking Questions
3.8: Suggestions for Further Reading/Study

4.1: Correlation and Causation
4.2: Theory Constrution
4.3: Generating Hypotheses from Theories
4.4: Exploring Variables
4.5: Units of Observation and Units of Analysis
4.6: Casual Modeling
4.7: Key Terms/Glossary
4.8: Critical Thinking Problems
4.9: Review Questions
4.10: Critical Thinking Questions
4.11: Critical Thinking Questions

5.1: Conceptualization in Political Science
5.2: Operationalization
5.3: Measurement
5.4: Key Terms/Glossary
5.5: Summary
5.6: Review Questions
5.7: Critical Thinking Questions
5.8: Suggestions for Further Study

6.1: Introduction- Building with a Blueprint
6.2: Types of Design- Experimental and Nonexperimental Designs
6.3: Components of Design- Sampling
6.4: Components of Design- Observations
6.5: Key Terms/Glossary
6.6: Summary
6.7: Review Questions
6.8: Critical Thinking Questions
6.9: Suggestions for Further Study

7.1: What are Qualitative Methods?
7.2: Interviews
7.3: Exploring Documentary Sources
7.4: Ethnographic Research
7.5: Case Studies
7.6: Key Terms/Glossary
7.7: Summary
7.8: Review Questions
7.9: Critical Thinking Questions
7.10: Suggestions for Further Study

8.1: What are Quantitative Methods
8.2: Making Sense of Data
8.3: Introduction to Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
8.4: Interpreting Statistical Tables in Political Science Articles
8.6: Summary
8.7: Review Questions
8.8: Critical Thinking Questions
8.9: Suggestions for Further Study
8.5: Key Terms

9.1: Ethics in Political Research
9.2: Research Ethics
9.3: Navigating Qualitative Data Collection
9.4: Research Ethics in Quantitative Research
9.5: Ethically Analyzing and Sharing Co-generated Knowledge
9.6: Key Terms/Glossary
9.7: Summary
9.8: Review Questions
9.9: Critical Thinking Questions
9.10: Suggestions for Further Study

10.1: Congratulations!
10.2: The Path Forward
10.3: Frontiers of Political Science Research Methods
10.4: How to Contribute to this OER

Detailed Licensing

Thumbnail: Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress in the Thomas Jefferson Building. (Public Domain; Carol M. Highsmith via Wikipedia )

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods - 1st Edition

(3 reviews)

Josh Franco, Rancho San Diego, CA

Charlotte Lee, Berkeley, CA

Kau Vue, Fresno, CA

Publisher: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

Language: English

Formats Available

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Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Hakseon Lee, Professor, James Madison University on 3/23/24

Most materials that are supposed to be taught at an introductory political science research methods are covered. Quantitative analysis section is relatively short, but considering it is an "intro" textbook, it's understandable. BTW Including Ch. 9... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Overall, explanations of abstract and complex concepts are well presented. The concepts and definitions provided in the glossary are accurate as well.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The textbook is written for undergraduate political science major students, and the level of complexity is quite relevant to them. Research methods materials are not fast changing subject and the textbook’s contents have longevity.

Clarity rating: 5

The textbook is written very clearly and easy to understand. After each chapter, summary of each subsection in chapters are provided in a very succinct and clear way, and I believe the summary sections are beneficial to students

Consistency rating: 5

Even though the textbook is written by several authors, they followed the same format of each chapter: providing clear learning objectives, summary, review questions, critical thinking questions, suggestions for further study, and references. Students will not be confused at all reading chapter by chapter.

Modularity rating: 5

Having total of 10 chapters, the textbook can be easily used module by module structure. Each chapter has subsections which have clear learning objectives, and this will be helpful for instructors who plan to use the textbook sequentially.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Overall organization and structure follow conventional existing textbooks’ organization/structure. Majority of undergraduate research methods class are taught from history and development of research methods to quantitative analysis step by step, and the textbook follows the usual organization/structure.

Interface rating: 5

The book is very much reader friendly. Table of contents are very well organized and readers can have an easy overlook of the textbook.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I have not found significant or consistent grammatical errors at all.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

Introducing diverse coauthors with cartoon images at the beginning of the textbook is helpful for students to learn about diverse authors. Also, examples used have diverse backgrounds.

Reviewed by Huei-Jyun Ye, Assistant Professor, Wabash College on 10/23/23

This textbook covers the scientific method of studying politics, theory and hypothesis building, conceptualization and operationalization, elements of research design, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, and research ethics. For the very intro level (for freshmen or sophomores), this textbook will serve well. For advanced undergraduate courses, this textbook lacks an introduction to specific research methods like surveys, experiments, case comparisons, etc. This textbook touches a little bit on qualitative and quantitative approaches but does not explain the methods political scientists use. I feel this is a tradeoff for an introduction textbook. Instructors who are seeking materials explaining methods will need to find other supplements. Other than that, I would recommend using this book to explain the process of doing political science research.

The explanations of political science research methods are spot-on and comprehensible. I do not find big mistakes in the chapters.

I believe we can use this textbook for a long time as most of the concepts are standards of the field. Some examples address timely concerns that political scientists have been working on. The studies referred to in the textbook are also not obsolete.

The textbook is overall clear and easy to read. The authors make good efforts to explain the jargon in plain language. For example, when introducing conceptualization and operationalization, the author asks questions as if they were students and provides answers to explain the ideas. Different from throwing all the jargon and definitions to readers’ faces, students may find this conversation style more accessible.

The authors do a good job of setting a tone for this textbook, even though it is written by multiple authors. Each chapter starts with an outline, followed by content, glossary, summary, review questions, and suggestions for further study. Readers can expect all these elements in every chapter.

The chapters can be easily turned into sequential modules. What is even better is that the authors provide learning objectives for each section, not just for chapters. This design makes it easier for instructors to break down each chapter into smaller tasks. Students can know what to expect or take away from the subsections in each module. The summary and review questions at the end of each chapter also serve as a good wrap-up for individual modules.

The organization of the chapters is logical and straightforward. The subsections within each chapter are well-connected. Students would not have any problem building up their understanding of the research inquiry process when they read over the textbook.

The Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is reader-friendly. I have no difficulty in following the sections, and the formatting, including figures and tables, does not go off the place. Also, the PDF keeps the bookmarks so that readers can clearly see the structure on the sidebar and jump to different sections easily.

I do not notice major grammatical errors.

This book uses studies on various topics and has broad cultural implications. I appreciate that the examples and studies that the authors choose to demonstrate how to do political science research cover diversity and equity in society. The authors also present different schools of view without imposing a specific paradigm on the readers.

I recommend this book.

Reviewed by Lindsay Benstead, Professor of Politics & Global Affairs, Portland State University on 8/12/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This textbook covers topics in a comprehensive overview of methodology used in Political Science. It is suitable for an introductory course (e.g., 100-200 level), in that it covers the 'History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics," which includes basic facts about the history of the field of Politics. It then covers topics in quantitative and qualitative analysis. Importantly, it includes a section on ethics.

In my review of the textbook and use in designing a new course, I found the information presented in the textbook to be accurate.

Since this textbook covers foundational topics in research methods, it is likely to remain relevant for a decade or more.

This textbook is written in a clear way that will be understood by students in introductory political science methods courses (e.g., 100-200 level). This is not to say that more advanced students would not benefit from reading this textbook, but only if they are undergraduate or graduate students just beginning their study of research methods in the field.

This book is internally consistent. In addition to content in each chapter, it includes m/c questions, open-ended questions, and resources for further study. These are presented at the end of each chapter in such a way that they can consistently be assigned to students on a weekly basis and used in the preparation of exams and quizzes.

Each chapter is broken up into multiple sections, making it easy for instructors to present the material in modular and easily digestible ways.

The book is well organized, proceeding in a logical way from introductory material through quantitative topics, followed by qualitative methods and research ethics.

The pdf interface is easily navigated.

There are not grammatical errors in the book that I noted.

The textbook has several authors. The authors provide cartoon images of themselves. The group of authors come from diverse backgrounds, making the book more likely to help students from diverse backgrounds know that Political Science is their field of study.

About the Authors
History of this OER
Table of Tables
Table of Figures
Chapter 1- Introduction
Chapter 2- History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics
Chapter 3- The Scientific Method
Chapter 4- Theories, Hypotheses, Variables, and Units
Chapter 5- Conceptualization, Operationalization, Measurement
Chapter 6- Elements of Research Design
Chapter 7- Qualitative Methods
Chapter 8- Quantitative Research Methods and Means of Analysis
Chapter 9- Research Ethics
Chapter 10- Conclusion

Ancillary Material

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

About the Book

Welcome to the official website for Introduction to Political Science Research Methods and Polimetrics: A Stata Companion to Introduction to Political Science Research Methods workbook!

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods, authored by Dr. Josh Franco, Dr. Charlotte Lee, Kau Vue, Dr. Dino Bozonelos, Dr. Masahiro Omae, and Dr. Steven Cauchon, is an Open Education Resource textbook licensed CC BY-NC that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

Polimetrics: A Stata Companion, authored by Dr. Josh Franco, is an Open Education Resource workbook licensed CC BY-NC and designed as a Stata companion to Introduction to Political Science Research Methods . This workbook provides a tour of the Stata software, an introduction to cross-sectional, time series, and panel data, and an introduction to a variety of models. I review models where the outcome is linear, binary, ordinal, categorical, and count. Additionally, I have an interpretation chapter on survival models.

About the Contributors

Dr. Josh Franco, Cuyamaca College, Political Science: Josh Franco is a full-time, tenure-track Assistant Professor at Cuyamaca College in east San Diego County, California. He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science, B.A. in public policy, and A.A. in economics and political science. Dr. Franco has five years of experience working in the California State Government and U.S. House of Representatives. Additionally, he was recently published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Political Science Education.

Dr. Charlotte Lee, Berkeley City College, Political Science: Charlotte Lee is full-time faculty at Berkeley City College. She teaches courses in political science and global studies. She has conducted fieldwork in Eastern Europe and China, culminating in several peer-reviewed publications in comparative politics, and will draw on that research in writing OER materials on qualitative research methods. Dr. Lee has participated in several Peralta district wide OER workshops. In February 2019, she co-facilitated an ASCCC OER Task Force webinar on resources in political science. Her Ph.D. is in political science from Stanford University.

Kau Vue, M.A. M.P.A., Fresno City College, Political Science: Kau Vue is an instructor of political science at Fresno City College in Fresno, California. She holds an M.A. in political science, a Master’s in Public Administration (M.P.A.) and a B.A. in political science and economics.

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Vernon Yian

February 19th, 2021, gv249: how to identify a research question.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Mashal Ijaz, BSc. Politics and International Relations ’21

Why conduct political science research?

It is important to start by asking the fundamental: why conduct political science research? If your passion is quantitative political science research, that may not be a very important question. However, it is always worthwhile to put in perspective the rationale behind wanting to conduct ‘good’ political science research and, more importantly, what makes political science research ‘good’. The most obvious reason to learn how to conduct political science research is so that you know what to look for in the works of other researchers. This means you will be able to pick apart, dissect and analyse for yourself whether studies hold up to scrutiny once you apply your research knowledge. Obviously, this can be helpful in course readings for other modules, but it can also be very useful when others try to convince you of a specific viewpoint using research. You will know exactly what to look for when trying to gauge the quality of their research.

Identifying a question

According to Popper (1968), “there is no such thing as a logical method of having new ideas”. That is, if you are trying to develop a research question, there is no step-by-step process to follow which will result in inspiration for a great idea. However, instead of waiting for inspiration to strike randomly, we can begin by reading the literature around a specific topic we might be interested in. In so doing, we attempt to locate the gap or hole in the literature that we can then try to fill by conducting research. This ‘gap’ need not be a revolutionary idea which changes the field. It can be an identification of a new outcome variable for a specific phenomenon, or even simply a new conceptualisation, description or measurement of it. It could also be a new explanatory variable which has an effect on a known outcome. It can be a new moderator or mediator i.e. you find that there may be a different mechanism through which the explanatory variable affects the outcome variable (these will be discussed in more detail in future articles). Another approach could be transporting a study conducted in a specific region to a different area with the logic being that it will bring to light some new insight about a specific phenomenon.

Research questions can be descriptive – they ask ‘what’ questions, such as exploring the particular features of a political institution, idea etc. Research questions can also be causal. These are, arguably, the more interesting ones but also more difficult to conduct. They involve analysing the effect or mechanism behind two variables – the ‘why’ questions. When asking causal questions, it is usually best to avoid trying to find all the reasons behind a specific phenomenon. For example, if you ask, “Why did Clinton lose the 2016 election”, this will inevitably cause you some trouble since it is seemingly impossible to try and identify and measure all the explanatory variables for a specific outcome. Instead, we can ask “What was the effect of misogynistic remarks on political candidates in the 2016 US general election?” In this way, we are identifying and separating a specific explanatory variable and trying to measure its effect on the outcome.

These are a few helpful ways of thinking about how to begin formulating your own research question. However, at the end of the day, as Geddes (2003) points out, you need to have a certain level of genuine curiosity about the political and social world.

From theory to operationalism

Political science is not just about the facts. Since the political world is constantly changing, we need to understand how we move from causal theories to scientific knowledge. Political scientists develop and test theories; once developed, we can restate them into testable hypotheses. As we move from causal theory to hypothesis, we move from general statements about how we think the world works to a more specific statement about the expected relationship in the real world. Therefore, the next logical step after we have identified a political science question is to conceptualise and operationalise our variables. A great way to understand this is using Sartori’s (1970) ladder of abstraction. This framework attempts to understand concept formation through a logic of appropriate comparison. A concept is made less abstract and more specific when we add qualifications. For example, ‘political ideology’ is a ‘high level’ category which is more concretely conceptualised as an example of a political ideology, such as ‘nationalism’. This can be made more specific by the addition of attributes, for example, ‘alt-right white nationalism’. In this way, we can conceptualise broad theoretical concepts into more concrete variables which we might have a way of measuring. Therefore, a question such as “what is the effect of the internet on politics” is not a ‘good’ research question because of the abstract concepts involved. It is better to conceptualise ‘internet’ and ‘politics’ and try to be more specific in the hopes that we can measure these variables.

Key definitions:

Variable: an entity that takes on different values (not a constant)
Outcome variable, Y: (dependent) variable that you are trying to measure
Explanatory variable, X: (independent) variable that is being manipulated to observe the effect on the outcome variable
Mechanism: a causal explanation for a relationship
Operationalisation: means by which a concept can be veriﬁed and measured.
Inductive reasoning: deriving theories from observing empirical reality
Deductive reasoning: develop theories and test them against empirical reality
Positivism: there are objective facts that are observable and verifiable in the same way by different individuals
Constructivism: facts are socially embedded and constructed. Reality is subjective, and we cannot claim to objectively observe reality.
Normative: asks what ought to happen and why
Empirical: asks what happened, happens or will happen, and why

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Literature Review Assignment

Formulating a Research Question:

Who: think in terms of demographics (gender, age, ethnicity, religious preference, special interest groups, etc)
What: think about concepts/aspects, sociological and political factors, relevant hot-topic issues, statistics, etc.
Where: compare/contrast a location
Why/How/So What!: consider the topic's significance in relation to the reviewed literature, and weigh advantages vs. disadvantages

Keep in mind that research questions can also evolve and change as you review the literature.

Crafting Good Research Questions

Draw on background knowledge
Begin from empirical questions. Good questions are usually about the outcomes (what explains y?) rather than about the causes (what effects does x have?)
Utilize "reporter questions" to go beyond basic facts (who, what, when, where, why, how)
Do not have a single correct answer

Empirical Research

What Is Empirical Research? Empirical research applies observation and experience as the main modes of gathering data. Characteristics include:

Content being based on actual and objective observation or experimentation
Findings published in scholarly or academic journals
Introduction, including literature review
Methodology
Presentation of the results
Discussion and/or conclusion

Quantitative Research

What Is Quantitative Research? This type of research emphasize objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques. The ultimate goal is to determine the relationship between one thing [an independent variable] and another [a dependent variable] within a population. Characteristics include:

Data usually gathered using structured research instruments
Results based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population
Research study can usually be replicated or repeated, given its high reliability
Researcher has a clearly defined research question to which objective answers are sought
Data are in the form of numbers and statistics
Project can be used to generalize concepts more widely, predict future results, or investigate causal relationships
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Political Science

Planning for research, formulate a research question using context, credo reference, encyclopedias, idea to research question to thesis.

Research Techniques
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Most students decide on their topic first then try to find out if there has been anything written on the subject. WRONG ! It is necessary to do some planning and preliminary research before deciding!

The table above illustrates how a research question develops from a broad topic to a focused research question . A concept map should help you identify a sub-topic and possible issues or problems .

Use the resources shared in this guide as well as preliminary research to explore your topic further. Preliminary research will provide some context to help you consider a possible research question.

CREDO Reference is like having a library's reference section in one website. The database contains full-text subject encyclopedias, reference works, dictionaries, and handbooks in all disciplines. Visit the page and search for the main topic you are interested in to get definitions, background information, and pro/con positions.

Some example sources are below:

Global Poverty (The Princeton Encyclopedia of the World Economy)
Kyoto Protocol (Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices)
Urbanization (The Dictionary of Human Geography)

To find subject dictionaries relevant to your issue, country, or geographic region, search GALILEO or the catalog and add "AND encyclopedia" to your search. (e.g. "Global Economy AND encyclopedia")

1. Start with a general subject you think you want to explore

Example: Lone wolf terrorism, electronic surveillance, social media use in emergencies, unmanned systems, suicide bombers. These look more like headings in an Encyclopedia than topics for a paper.

2. Look for particular aspects of the general subject you might want to explore further.

Look at the texts assigned in class or ones you have used for other classes.
Read some background sources. You may not use these sources as evidence in your paper, but they can help you find and narrow a topic.
Look at one or two basic books on the subject. Scan the Table of Contents; Index. Browse the Chapters.

3. Once you have picked an aspect, develop some research questions about the aspect you have selected. You will probably need to find some pre-research and find books or chapters in books on the particular aspect you have selected.

Avoid questions that can be answered by a simple description
Avoid yes/no questions
Avoid questions that are too broad
Avoid questions like What would have happened if…

4 . Now you may be ready to develop your thesis and start your real research. A research paper is not just a collection of facts or bits of information. It usually takes the form of an argument in support of a thesis.

A thesis is not a description of your paper, though it should be clear from your thesis what your paper is about. Example. This paper is about the use of non-violent tactics used to protest the War in Vietnam. This is a description . not a thesis
A thesis is not a question, though it comes from a question that a researcher asked. Example: Were non-violent tactics successful in bringing an early end to the war in Viet Nam? This is a question not a thesis
A thesis is not a statement of fact Example: Many college students were involved in non-violent protests against the war in Viet Nam. - this is a statement not a thesis.
A thesis is not a statement of personal opinion. Though it should reflect what you have concluded, a thesis is not a mere statement of your own personal beliefs or prejudices.

A thesis is a specific, possible, debatable answer to a question that can be supported by evidence. It makes an assertion that sets up an argument. It is then the writer’s job to supply evidence to prove their point in the rest of the paper.

Example of a Thesis: The Vietnam War protest movement was more about white, middle-class young men being drafted and then sent into war than it was about stopping an unjust war.

Example of a Thesis: Although the timber wolf is actually a timid and gentle animal, it is being systematically exterminated because people wrongfully believe it to be a fierce and cold-blooded killer.

Hint: Use a formula to develop a working thesis statement (which you will need to revise later). Here are a few examples:

Although ______ have argued that ______, closer examination shows that ______.
______ uses ______ and ______ to prove that ______.
Phenomenon X is a result of the combination of ______, ______, and ______.
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Writing in Political Science - Duke University Writing Studio 4 page introduction to the basics of political science scholarly communication.
Research Methods Knowledge Base The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods. It covers the entire research process including: formulating research questions; sampling (probability and nonprobability); measurement (surveys, scaling, qualitative, unobtrusive); research design (experimental and quasi-experimental); data analysis; and, writing the research paper. It also addresses the major theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of research including: the idea of validity in research; reliability of measures; and ethics.
Choosing a Research Design - PHDStudent.com
Research Basics - Explorable.com (previously www.experiment-resources.com) Includes sections on: -Research Methods: Formulating questions, collecting data, testing hypotheses -Experimental Research: Setting up experiments -Research Designs: Different types of designs used in research -Statistics in Research: A guide to statistics in research.
The Theory and Practice of Field Experiments: An Introduction from the EGAP Learning Days Since 2015, EGAP has conducted week-long workshops on experimental research methods for scholars and evaluation professionals based in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In these workshops — known as Learning Days — EGAP members from around the world travel to the workshop location to instruct on core topics in causal inference and experimental design, and to work closely one-on-one with participants to develop their research designs. In an effort to create a resource that EGAP members, workshop alumni, and others can use to organize their own workshops or refresh their training, Jake Bowers, Maarten Voors, and Nahomi Ichino have produced an online book. The book is organized around modules on the usual Learning Days topics as well as some new topics. At the heart of each module are slides that workshop facilitators can use directly or adapt for specific audiences. more... less... Authors: Jake Bowers, Maarten Voors, and Nahomi Ichino
UC Library Search Search tip: Use these subject headings and keyword searches to find the latest books, ebooks, etc.
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Research Topics & Ideas: Politics

100+ Politics-Related Research Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

Political science research topics and ideas

Finding and choosing a strong research topic is the critical first step when it comes to crafting a high-quality dissertation or thesis. If you’ve landed on this post, chances are you’re looking for a politics-related research topic , but aren’t sure where to start. Here, we’ll explore a variety of politically-related research ideas across a range of disciplines, including political theory and philosophy, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy.

NB – This is just the start…

The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps . In this post, we’ll kickstart the process by sharing some research topic ideas. This is the starting point, but to develop a well-defined research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , along with a well-justified plan of action to fill that gap.

If you’re new to the oftentimes perplexing world of research, or if this is your first time undertaking a formal academic research project, be sure to check out our free dissertation mini-course. Also, be sure to sign up for our free webinar that explores how to find a high-quality research topic from scratch.

Overview: Politics-Related Topics

Political theory and philosophy
Comparative politics
International relations
Public administration
Public policy
Examples of politics-related dissertations

Topics & Ideas: Political Theory

An analysis of the impact of feminism on political theory and the concept of citizenship in Saudi Arabia in the context of Vision 2030
A comparative study of the political philosophies of Marxism and liberalism and their influence on modern politics
An examination of how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the relationship between individual freedom and collective responsibility in political philosophy
A study of the impact of race and ethnicity on French political philosophy and the concept of justice
An exploration of the role of religion in political theory and its impact on secular democracy in the Middle East
A Review of Social contract theory, comparative analysis of the political philosophies of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau
A study of the concept of the common good in political philosophy and its relevance to the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe
An examination of the relationship between political power and the rule of law in developing African countries
A study of the impact of postmodernism on political theory and the concept of truth, a case study of the US
An exploration of the role of virtue in political philosophy and its impact on the assessment of moral character in political leaders

Topics & Ideas: Comparative Politics

A comparative study of different models of federalism and their impact on democratic governance: A case Study of South American federalist states
The impact of ethnic and religious diversity on political stability and democracy in developing countries, a review of literature from Africa
An analysis of the role of civil society in promoting democratic change in autocratic regimes: A case study in Sweden
A comparative examination of the impact of globalization on political institutions and processes in South America and Africa.
A study of the factors that contribute to successful democratization in authoritarian regimes, a review of the role of Elite-driven democratization
A comparison of the political and economic systems of China and India and their impact on social development
The impact of corruption on political institutions and democracy in South East Asia, a critical review
A comparative examination of the impact of majoritarian representation (winner-take-all) vs proportional representation on political representation and governance
An exploration of Multi-party systems in democratic countries and their impact on minority representation and policy-making.
A study of the factors that contribute to successful decentralization and regional autonomy, a case study of Spain

Research Topic Kickstarter - Need Help Finding A Research Topic?

Topics & Ideas: International Relations

A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of diplomacy and military force in resolving international conflicts in Central Africa.
The impact of globalization on the sovereignty of nation-states and the changing nature of international politics, a review of the role of Multinational Corporations
An examination of the role of international aid organizations in promoting peace, security, and development in the Middle East.
A study of the impact of economic interdependence on the likelihood of conflict in international relations: A critical review of weaponized interdependence
A comparative analysis of the foreign policies of the EU and the US and their impact on international stability in Africa
An exploration of the relationship between international human rights and national sovereignty during the Covid 19 pandemic
A study of the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO)s in international politics and their impact on state behaviour
A comparative analysis of the effectiveness of international regimes in addressing global challenges such as climate change, arms control, and terrorism in Brazil
An examination of the impact of the rise of BRICS on the international system and global governance
A study of the role of ideology in shaping the foreign policies of states and the dynamics of international relations in the US

Free Webinar: How To Find A Dissertation Research Topic

Tops & Ideas: Public Administration

An analysis of the impact of digital technology on public administration and the delivery of public services in Estonia
A review of models of public-private partnerships and their impact on the delivery of public services in Ghana
An examination of the role of civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability of public administration in Papua New Guinea
A study of the impact of environmentalism as a political ideology on public administration and policy implementation in Germany
An exploration of the relationship between public administration and citizen engagement in the policy-making process, an exploration of gender identity concerns in schools
A comparative analysis of the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, decentralisation and pay and employment reform in developing countries
A study of the role of collaborative leadership in public administration and its impact on organizational performance
A systematic review of the challenges and opportunities related to diversity and inclusion in police services
A study of the impact of corrupt public administration on economic development and regional growth in Eastern Europe
An exploration of the relationship between public administration and civil rights and liberties, including issues related to privacy and surveillance, a case study in South Korea

Topics & Ideas: Public Policy

An analysis of the impacts of public policy on income inequality and poverty reduction in South Sudan
A comparative study of the effectiveness of legal and regulatory, economic and financial, and social and cultural instruments for addressing climate change in South Korea
An examination of the role of interest groups in shaping public policy and the policy-making process regarding land-use claims
A study of the impact of globalization on the development of public policies and programs for mitigating climate change in Singapore
An exploration of the relationship between public policy and social justice in tertiary education in the UAE
A comparative analysis of the impact of health policies for the management of diabetes on access to healthcare and health outcomes in developing countries
Exploring the role of evidence-based policymaking in the design and implementation of public policies for the management of invasive invertebrates in Australia
An examination of the challenges and opportunities of implementing educational dietary public policies in developing multicultural countries
A study of the impact of public policies on urbanization and urban development in rural Indonesia
An exploration of the role of media and public opinion in shaping public policy and the policy-making process in the transport industry of Malaysia

Examples: Politics Dissertations & Theses

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a politics-related research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual dissertations and theses to see how this all comes together.

Below, we’ve included a selection of research projects from various politics-related degree programs to help refine your thinking. These are actual dissertations and theses, written as part of Master’s and PhD-level programs, so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

We, the Righteous Few: Immoral Actions of Fellow Partisans are Judged as Less Possible (Varnam, 2020)
Civilizing the State: Civil Society and the Politics of Primary Public Health Care Provision in Urban Brazil (Gibson, 2012)
Political regimes and minority language policies: evidence from Taiwan and southeast Asia (Wu, 2021)
The Feminist Third Wave: Social Reproduction, Feminism as Class Struggle, and Contemporary Women’s Movements (Angulo, 2019)
The Politics of Immigration under Authoritarianism (Joo, 2019)
The politics of digital platforms: Sour Dictionary, activist subjectivities, and contemporary cultures of resistance (Okten, 2019)
Vote choice and support for diverse candidates on the Boston City Council At-Large (Dolcimascolo, 2022)
The city agenda: local governance and national influence in the policy agenda, 1900-2020 (Shannon, 2022)
Turf wars: who supported measures to criminalize homelessness in Austin, Texas? (Bompiedi, 2021)
Do BITs Cause Opposition Between Investor Rights and Environmental Protection? (Xiong, 2022)
Revealed corruption and electoral accountability in Brazil: How politicians anticipate voting behavior (Diaz, 2021)
Intersectional Solidarity: The Political Consequences of a Consciousness of Race, Gender and Sexuality (Crowder, 2020)
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives (Munoz, 2019)

Looking at these titles, you can probably pick up that the research topics here are quite specific and narrowly-focused , compared to the generic ones presented earlier. In other words, to create a top-notch research topic, you must be precise and target a specific context with specific variables of interest . In other words, you need to identify a clear, well-justified research gap.

Get 1:1 Help

If you’re still feeling a bit unsure about how to find a research topic for your dissertation or research project, check out our Topic Kickstarter service below.

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University Libraries

Psci 3300: introduction to political research.

Library Accounts
Selecting a Topic for Research
From Topic to Research Question
From Question to Theories, Hypotheses, and Research Design
Annotated Bibliographies
The Literature Review
Search Strategies for Ann. Bibliographies & Lit. Reviews
Find PSCI Books for Ann. Bibliographies & Lit. Reviews
Databases & Electronic Resources for Your Lit. Review
Methods, Data Analysis, Results, Limitations, and Conclusion
Finding Data and Statistics for the Data Analysis
Citing Sources for the Reference Page

Need Help with Basic and Advance Research?

Visit the Basic and Advanced Library Research Guide to learn more about the library.

If you select "no," please send me an email so I can improve this guide.

Hypothesis in Political Science

"A generalization predicting that a relationship exists between variables. Many generalizations about politics are a sort of folklore. Others proceed from earlier work carried out by social scientists. Within the social sciences most statements about behaviour relate to large groups of people. Hence, testing any hypothesis in the field of political science will involve statistical method. It will be dealing with probabilities.

To test a hypothesis one must pose a null hypothesis. If we wanted to test the validity of the common generalization, 'manual workers tend to vote for the Labour Party' we would begin by assuming the statement was untrue. The investigation would require a sample survey in which manual workers were identified and questions put to them. It would need to be done in several constituencies in different parts of the country. Having collated the data we would use the evidence to test the null hypothesis, employing statistical techniques to assess the probability of acquiring such data if the null hypothesis were correct. These techniques are known as 'significance tests'. They estimate the probability that the rejection of a null hypothesis is a mistake. If the statistical tests indicates that the odds against it being a mistake are 1000 to one, then this is stated as a '.001 level of significance'.

The fact that the research showed that it was highly likely that manual workers 'tend' to vote for the Labour vote would not satisfy most political scientists. They also want to understand those who did not. Consequently much more work would need to be done to refine the hypothesis and define the tendency with more accuracy. Whatever the case, a hypothesis in the social sciences about a group or socio-demographic category can never tell us about the behaviour of an individual in that group or category."

Hypothesis. (1999). In F. Bealey. The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science , Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishers.

What a Quantitative Research Design?

Quantitative research studies produce results that can be used to describe or note numerical changes in measurable characteristics of a population of interest; generalize to other, similar situations; provide explanations of predictions; and explain causal relationships. The fundamental philosophy underlying quantitative research is known as positivism, which is based on the scientific method of research. Measurement is necessary if the scientific method is to be used. The scientific method involves an empirical or theoretical basis for the investigation of populations and samples. Hypotheses must be formulated, and observable and measurable data must be gathered. Appropriate mathematical procedures must be used for the statistical analyses required for hypothesis testing.

Quantitative methods depend on the design of the study (experimental, quasi-experimental, non-experimental). Study design takes into account all those elements that surround the plan for the investigation, such as research question or problem statement, research objectives, operational definitions, scope of inferences to be made, assumptions and limitations of the study, independent and dependent variables, treatment and controls, instrumentation, systematic data collection actions, statistical analysis, time lines, and reporting procedures. The elements of a research study and experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental designs are discussed here.

Elements of Quantitative Design

Problem statement.

First, an empirical or theoretical basis for the research problem should be established. This basis may emanate from personal experiences or established theory relevant to the study. From this basis, the researcher may formulate a research question or problem statement.

Operational Definitions

Operational definitions describe the meaning of specific terms used in a study. They specify the procedures or operations to be followed in producing or measuring complex constructs that hold different meanings for different people. For example, intelligence may be defined for research purposes by scores on the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale.

Population and Sample

Quantitative methods include the target group (population) to which the researcher wishes to generalize and the group from which data are collected (sample). Early in the planning phase, the researcher should determine the scope of inference for results of the study. The scope of inference pertains to populations of interest, procedures used to select the sample(s), method for assigning subjects to groups, and the type of statistical analysis to be conducted.

Formulation of Hypotheses

Complex questions to compare responses of two or more groups or show relationships between two or more variables are best answered by hypothesis testing. A hypothesis is a statement of the researcher's expectations about a relationship between variables.

Hypothesis Testing

Statements of hypotheses may be written in the alternative or null form. A directional alternative hypothesis states the researcher's predicted direction of change, difference between two or more sample means, or relationship among variables. An example of a directional alternative hypothesis is as follows:

Third-grade students who use reading comprehension strategies will score higher on the State Achievement Test than their counterparts who do not use reading comprehension strategies.

A nondirectional alternative hypothesis states the researcher's predictions without giving the direction of the difference. For example:

There will be a difference in the scores on the State Achievement Test between third-grade students who use reading comprehension strategies and those who do not.

Stated in the null form, hypotheses can be tested for statistically significant differences between groups on the dependent variable(s) or statistically significant relationships between and among variables. The null hypothesis uses the form of “no difference” or “no relationship.” Following is an example of a null hypothesis:

There will be no difference in the scores on the State Achievement Test between third-grade students who use reading comprehension strategies and those who do not.

It is important that hypotheses to be tested are stated in the null form because the interpretation of the results of inferential statistics is based on probability. Testing the null hypothesis allows researchers to test whether differences in observed scores are real, or due to chance or error; thus, the null hypothesis can be rejected or retained.

Organization and Preparation of Data for Analysis

Survey forms, inventories, tests, and other data collection instruments returned by participants should be screened prior to the analysis. John Tukey suggested that exploratory data analysis be conducted using graphical techniques such as plots and data summaries in order to take a preliminary look at the data. Exploratory analysis provides insight into the underlying structure of the data. The existence of missing cases, outliers, data entry errors, unexpected or interesting patterns in the data, and whether or not assumptions of the planned analysis are met can be checked with exploratory procedures.

Inferential Statistical Tests

Important considerations for the choice of a statistical test for a particular study are (a) type of research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested; (b) number of independent and dependent variables; (c) number of covariates; (d) scale of the measurement instrument(s) (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio); and (e) type of distribution (normal or non-normal). Examples of statistical procedures commonly used in educational research are t test for independent samples, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, multivariate procedures, Pearson product-moment correlation, Mann–Whitney U test, Kruskal–Wallis test, and Friedman's chi-square test.

Results and Conclusions

The level of statistical significance that the researcher sets for a study is closely related to hypothesis testing. This is called the alpha level. It is the level of probability that indicates the maximum risk a researcher is willing to take that observed differences are due to chance. The alpha level may be set at .01, meaning that 1 out of 100 times the results will be due to chance; more commonly, the alpha level is set at .05, meaning that 5 out of 100 times observed results will be due to chance. Alpha levels are often depicted on the normal curve as the critical region, and the researcher must reject the null hypothesis if the data fall into the predetermined critical region. When this occurs, the researcher must conclude that the findings are statistically significant. If the researcher rejects a true null hypothesis (there is, in fact, no difference between the means), a Type I error has occurred. Essentially, the researcher is saying there is a difference when there is none. On the other hand, if a researcher fails to reject a false null (there is, in fact, a difference), a Type II error has occurred. In this case, the researcher is saying there is no difference when a difference exists. The power in hypothesis testing is the probability of correctly rejecting a false null hypothesis. The cost of committing a Type I or Type II error rests with the consequences of the decisions made as a result of the test. Tests of statistical significance provide information on whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis; however, an effect size ( R 2 , eta 2 , phi, or Cohen's d ) should be calculated to identify the strength of the conclusions about differences in means or relationships among variables.

Salkind, Neil J. 2010. Encyclopedia of Research Design . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412961288 .

Some Terms in Statistics that You Should Know

Bivariate Regression

Central Tendacy, Measures of

Chi-Square Test

Cohen's d Statistic

Cohen's f Statistic

Correspondence Analysis

Cross-Sectional Design

Descriptive Statistics

Effect Size, Measure of

Eta-Squared

Factor Loadings

False Positive

Frequency Tables

Alternative Hypotheses

Null Hypothesis

Krippendorff's Alpha

Multiple Regression

Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)

Multivariate Normal Distribution

Partial Eta-Squared

Percentile Rank

Random Error

Reliability

Regression Discontinuity

Regression to the Mean

Standard Deviation

Significance, Statistical

Trimmed Mean

Variability, Measure of

Is the term you are looking for not here? Review the Encyclopedia of Research Design below.

SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods links over 175,000 pages of SAGE’s renowned book, journal and reference content. Researchers can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more. Subject coverage includes sociology, health, criminology, education, anthropology, psychology, business, political science, history, economics, among others.

Sage Research Methods has a feature called a Methods Map that can help you explore different types of Research Designs .

You can also explore Cases to see real research using your selected research method to learn how other authors are writing up their findings.

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5 Analytic Methods for Political Science Research

Analytical research is an integral part of any political science research. Knowing the different methods through which political researchers are able to analyze their research is crucial for anyone looking to develop new insight.

Political Science Research analytical methods

For hundreds of years, political theorists, judges, lawyers, and legal scholars, have all worked to create new theories and means for understanding the ever-developing institutions that govern us.. Political science research influences real-world decision-making - from this year’s military spending budget, down to the amount of fees the post office is allowed to charge to send a letter.

There are a variety of unique tools and methodologies employed by researchers trying to tackle problems in the real-world. Today we will go over the essentials of political research, and highlight the many unique ways researchers can gather and analyze data.

What is Political Science?

Political science research is typically concerned with the theory and practice of governing, lawmaking, and politicking. Political scientists, like researchers in other disciplines, utilize a number of different methods and tools to conduct experiments, and gather new insights about a particular issue or phenomenon.

Five Methods of Political Science Research

Quantitative data analysis, qualitative data analysis, game theory models, historical analysis.

Quantitative data analysis is concerned with measuring the raw figures and numbers. This form of data analysis uses statistical models and math, to develop new theories about the world around us.

Quantitative analysis is a form of descriptive statistics; meaning they are used to quantify the most basic features of a data set. Quantitative data can either be discrete (having to do with a particular set of numbers) or continuous - meaning that any numeric value could have a potential fit.

Examples of quantitative data collection most commonly involve some kind of surveying or polling, and is concerned with gathering information such as:

Test Scores
Population Size
Iterations of an Event
Errors Made

These are all characteristics that can be easily picked apart and quantified using numerical data. They tell us how much of something there is in any given topic - allowing us to perform necessary calculations during our analysis.

Conversely, qualitative data analysis is concerned with identifying and exploring those types of qualities that cannot be easily defined by numbers and figures. Qualitative data is most often composed of observations: descriptions of behaviors and phenomenon that cannot be quantified by numbers. Qualitative data analysis can be thought of as looking at the “how” or “why” of a particular issue, whereas quantitative data captures the “what”. These observations are invaluable to researchers, as they assign reason and motivation behind an action. Knowing what motivates someone to make a particular action is what drives the majority of political research projects today.

Qualitative data can be broken down into three distinct types:

Ordinal Data
Binary Data
Nominal Data

Ordinal data exists on a ranging scale, and is one of the most prevalent types of questions found in a traditional survey. Questions that ask participants to share answers based on a sliding scale (such as “very unlikely” to “very likely”) are a common form of ordinal data collection.

Binary data is represented numerically, and is most often used in the creation of statistical models. These models can be used to track the likelihood of an individual to make a certain choice, among other things.

Nominal data is used to label a subject without the use of numerical figures. These include multiple-choice survey responses, or cases where subjects are allowed to self-sort into a particular group.

Game Theory is a model for studying the decision-making process that goes on behind nearly every social interaction. Strategy, cost-benefit analysis, and optimal decision-making are all integral parts of the game theory model.

Researchers often use game theory models in order to better understand how individual actors come to a decision when faced with competition or consequence. The Prisoner’s Dilemma - where two convicts are tasked with choosing whether or not to inform on the other, therefore risking jail time, is a classic example of game theory in action.

Historical analysis is a hugely important tool for political science researchers, as it enables them to present history as more than just a series of events that happened in succession. Overcoming this traditional and simplistic way of stating history - like the way you might see it described in a children’s textbook - is crucial for researchers looking to derive new insights from their political analysis.

Researchers can draw upon historical inferences from a number of sources including historical texts, films, as well as first and second-hand accounts of events. Researchers will often build off of the works of prior authors in order to develop their own theories and outlooks.

Historical analysis is a common and very effective model for deriving new insights from history. For example, judges often make determinations on matters of law by using historical and legal precedence to inform their decision-making.

Scenarios are a flexible tool that can be used to develop models; models that can be used to drive everything from policy making down to law enforcement.

Scenarios can be as vast and unspecific - or as calculated and precise - as you need them to be. Social scientists often develop broad scenarios centered around a specific issue or problem they want to explore. These theoretical scenarios are then used to answer key questions like:

How would (X) change if (Y) were to happen?
What other factors could have influenced this outcome?
Who are the key players in this scenario?
What could we have done differently to prevent this?
What variables exist outside of our control?

Theoretical scenarios are a cost-effective way for researchers to predict and forecast changing phenomena. They can also be used to argue for or against a particular course of action; enabling researchers to build up support for their conclusions, turning them into real-world action.

Key Takeaways

For more information on the steps of the research process and data analysis, please visit our Helpfull research guide .

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Oxford Bibliographies: Political Science This link opens in a new window Hundreds of annotated guides to recent scholarship in topics across all subfields of political science and international relations.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia: Politics Provides up-to-date, peer-reviewed surveys of major topics, theories, and research questions across all areas of political science.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia: International Studies These peer-reviewed articles cover major topics, theories, and research questions across many subfields of international studies/international relations, like conflict, security, human rights, diplomacy, etc. This is the follow-up to the International Studies Association's International Studies Encyclopedia Online .
Oxford Handbooks Online These handbooks provide a great source for authoritative reviews of research across political science, political theory, and related disciplines. Most of these we also have in print.
Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window These handbooks provide overviews current research and future trends in the social sciences and humanities, with a strong collection in politics, particularly international relations and area studies.
Annual Review of Political Science This link opens in a new window Comprehensive review of the literature in political science. Can help students identify major tends in the field as well as find general overviews of research in specific subject areas of politics.
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Encyclopedia of Political Theory - Mark Bevir, ed. Thorough discussions of a diverse range of political theories and concepts.
Past Masters This link opens in a new window Searchable full-text works in several languages from major philosophers and theologians.

Major Encyclopedias Covering the Whole Discipline

SAGE Handbook of Political Science Published in 2020, this handbook provides a thorough overview of the discipline. Each of the 92 chapters gives a comprehensive overview of major topics within each subfield. Thematic sections include, Political Theory, Methods, Political Sociology, Comparative Politics, Public Policies and Administration, International Relations, and Major Challenges for Politics and Political Science in the 21st Century.
International Encyclopedia of Political Science (2011) Covers all aspects of politics, from political theory and methodology to political sociology, comparative politics, public policies, and international relations.
The Encyclopedia of Political Science Covers all areas of political science and provides medium-length entries with short bibliographies for further reading. Created under the direction of the American Political Science Association. Also in print at JA61 .E513 2011 (Trustee Reading Room Reference).
International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) This link opens in a new window Covering 26 volumes in print, this major encyclopedia aims to capture the "state of the art" of the social and behavioral sciences, expanding its focus to include related biological fields, such as evolutionary science, genetics, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, and health. Topics include anthropology, archaeology, demography, economics, education, geography, history, law, linguistics, philosophy, political science, psychiatry, psychology, and sociology.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window Offers reports and analysis on a variety of current policy issues. Includes background information, pro/con debates, and a chronology, plus resources for additional research.
Facts On File Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window Explore current issues and events with in-depth articles made to inspire thought-provoking debates. Topic pages feature the latest related news coverage from Reuters® as well as a variety of helpful background information, from the key pro/con arguments to chronologies of related events to primary documents. Updated weekly. 1995–present.
World News Digest (Facts on File) This link opens in a new window Digest of major news stories around the world. 1940+

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Political Science Research

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Qualitative vs Quantitative Research

For decades, there has been a raging debate among scholars regarding the differences between and advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. In fact, this has probably been one of the largest and longest methodological debates in all of social science research. Perhaps it can be briefly summarized by the following two famous and opposing quotations: Donald Campbell says, “All research ultimately has a qualitative grounding”; and Fred Kerlinger says, “There’s no such thing as qualitative data. Everything is either 1 or 0” (in Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 40). Although it is not necessarily critical to determine which—if either—of these approaches can be described as the better one, it is imperative to have a thorough understanding of these methods in order to be able to conduct sound political science research. After all, for a study to be of value to scholars and other individuals interested in the topic, it is necessary for one to choose the correct research approach, ask suitable questions, use appropriate research methods and statistical analyses, correctly deduce or induce inferences, and have suitable general goals driving the research.

The questions under consideration and the answers obtained by any particular study will depend on whether the study uses quantitative or qualitative approaches. The purpose of this article is to differentiate between these two types of research. First, the literature available on this topic is briefly summarized, focusing specifically on how qualitative and quantitative research is defined, as well as the different assumptions on which these types of research are based. Next, a summary of the similarities and differences in each stage of the research process is provided. Then, the different methods that these two types of approaches use are discussed. Next, since this is a book examining political science in the 21st century, current and future research directions are examined. In particular, the use of what are called mixed methods approaches is discussed. The article ends with a brief summary and conclusion of the information that has been presented. Finally, suggested books and articles for further reading are provided, including some material for individuals interested in conducting advanced statistical studies, which are beyond the scope of this article.

Definition of Quantitative Research

Assumptions of quantitative research, definition of qualitative research, assumptions of qualitative research, the research question, research design, data collection, data analysis, reporting of results, limitations of quantitative methods, limitations of qualitative methods, future directions, quantitative and qualitative research.

The following section introduces the definitions and assumptions of quantitative and qualitative research. First, however, it is worth briefly discussing two types of political analysis in order to understand the origins of quantitative and qualitative methods. Political scientists distinguish between empirical analysis—obtaining and dealing with knowledge and information—and normative analysis— determining how to use that knowledge. Normative analysis relies on the development of subjective goals and values to apply what has been learned to reality. Empirical analysis, however, focuses on using common terms to explain and describe political reality and can be either quantitative or qualitative in nature. If something is empirical, it is verifiable through observations or experiments. Empirical analysis is the focus of this article.

As a first step, it is necessary to define these two methods of research and examine their goals. Quantitative research can be defined as a process of inquiry examining an identified problem that is based on testing a theory measured by numbers and analyzed with statistical techniques. Thus, quantitative research involves the analysis of numerical data. A more technical definition is provided by Brady and Collier (2004), who define mainstream quantitative methods as “an approach to methodology strongly oriented toward regression analysis, econometric refinements on regression, and the search for statistical alternatives to regression models in contexts where specific regression assumptions are not met” (p. 294). The econometric refinements and statistical alternatives referred to by the authors are beyond the scope of this article but include logit and probit models, time-series analysis, and a variety of techniques to circumvent problems that can occur in regression analysis, such as heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation. Essentially, quantitative methods have played a major role in improving on commonly used research tools within the structure of regression models that are frequently used in the field of political science.

The goal of quantitative research is to examine particular instances or aspects of phenomena to determine if predictive generalizations of a theory hold true or to test causal hypotheses. As a result, there are several key assumptions underlying quantitative research methods, which are briefly outlined here. These include the following:

Reality can be studied objectively.
Research must remain independent of the researcher through the use of experiments, questionnaires, machines, or inventories.
Research is value free, and the researcher does not become a part of or interfere with the research.
Theories and hypotheses are tested in a cause effect order with research based primarily on deductive forms of logic identified a priori by the researcher.
The purpose of research is to develop generalizations that contribute to theory and allow the researcher to predict, explain, and understand a particular phenomenon.

Qualitative research can be defined as a process of inquiry that builds a complex and holistic picture of a particular phenomenon of interest by using a natural setting. Thus, qualitative research involves the analysis of words, pictures, videos, or objects in the context in which they occur.

The goal of qualitative research is to understand social issues from multiple perspectives to have a comprehensive understanding of a particular event, person, or group. As with quantitative research, there are several key assumptions underlying qualitative research methods:

Reality is socially constructed, and there are multiple realities.
The researcher interacts and often works closely with the individuals or groups under study and serves as the primary instrument for data collection and analysis.
The research is value laden, and the researchers become a part of the research, attempting to understand the lives and experiences of the people they study.
Research is context bound and based on inductive forms of logic that emerge as a study progresses.
The purpose of research is to find theories that help explain a particular phenomenon.

Comparing and Contrasting Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

The following section examines how quantitative and qualitative methods are similar to and different from each other throughout the research process, beginning with the creation of a research question and up to the reporting of the results. Although examining quantitative and qualitative methods as two separate categories is necessary for the sake of clarification throughout this section, it is important to realize that these two methods are not mutually exclusive, a topic that will be discussed in more detail shortly. As Manheim, Rich, Willnat, and Brians (2007) note, when examining the differences between quantitative and qualitative methods, “The distinctions discussed are generally more matters of degree than absolutes. The two types of methods often require only different forms of work, but are working toward similar objectives” (p. 323). This is important to keep in mind while reading this article.

The first step in conducting sound political science research is selecting a research question. An appropriate research question should fulfill either a scientific need or a societal need by helping to provide an answer to an important problem. Both quantitative and qualitative forms of research begin by creating a research question that is intended to produce knowledge of the empirical world. In terms of the research questions, the main difference between quantitative and qualitative methods typically exists in the type of questions that are being posed.

A theory is a potential explanation for events and is composed of a set of logically related propositions and assumptions. Theorizing is the actual process of stating these conceptual explanations for events that take place in the real world by proclaiming relationships among the concepts. Theories are created to help people understand phenomena. There are several characteristics that make a theory particularly useful in explaining observations. Theories should be (a) testable, (b) logically sound, (c) communicable, (d) general, and (e) parsimonious.

Theorizing is a critical phase of the research process for quantitative and qualitative researchers. However, quantitative researchers are more likely than qualitative researchers to focus on testing performed theories. Quantitative researchers base their studies on a theory that relates to their subject in an attempt to develop generalizations that contribute to theory. Thus, in quantitative research, theorizing occurs prior to the collection of data. Qualitative researchers, on the other hand, are more likely than quantitative researchers to elaborate on theories while making observations of a particular phenomenon. Many qualitative researchers argue that, as a result of this, their theories are far more grounded in reality than are those of quantitative researchers. However, quantitative researchers argue that the formulation of theory during the observation-making process can easily lead to the creation of a theory designed around those specific observations. As a result, these theories would be polluted and not testable. Furthermore, if a theory is based on observation of one particular group, the usefulness of the theory is quite limited.

Simply defined, a research design is the plan of a study. It organizes observations in a manner that establishes a logical basis for causal inference. Essentially, the research design can be viewed as the blueprint for a study. There are three main types of research designs in political science: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory. Exploratory research attempts to discover which factors should be included when theorizing about and researching a particular subject. Descriptive research attempts to measure some aspect of reality for its own sake and not for the purpose of developing or testing some theory. Explanatory research uses observations of reality to test hypotheses and help develop an understanding of patterns of behavior in the context of a specific theory.

Regardless of the purpose of a study, every research design should have the same basic elements, which are outlined by Manheim et al. (2007): (a) a statement outlining the purpose of the research; (b) a review of the theory and any hypotheses that are going to be tested, if applicable; (c) a statement explaining the variables that will be used; (d) an explanation of the operationalization and measurement of the variables; (e) a statement of how observations will be organized, as well as conducted; and (f) a discussion of how the data that are collected will be analyzed.

Although both quantitative and qualitative researchers produce research designs for their studies, quantitative researchers are much more likely than their counterparts to base their designs on the logic of experiments. For instance, quantitative researchers often emphasize control groups, pretests, and other elements that provide them with the opportunity to hold some factor(s) constant in their attempt to make causal inferences. Qualitative research designs, on the other hand, typically focus more on who or what is being observed, where the observation will take place, how observations will be conducted, and how the data will be recorded. For qualitative researchers, more emphasis is placed on viewing people and events as they naturally occur, while for quantitative researchers there is a greater focus on establishing cause-and-effect relationships.

A sample is a small group of cases drawn from and used to represent a larger population under consideration. A representative sample is a sample in which each major attribute of the larger population occurs in approximately the same proportion or frequency as in the larger population. “In other words, a truly representative sample is a microcosm—a smaller, but accurate model—of the larger population from which it is taken” (Manheim et al., 2007, p. 119). When a sample is representative, the conclusions drawn from it are generalizable to the entire population.

In quantitative studies, sampling is based on the logic of probability to produce statistical representativeness. Additionally, in quantitative research, sampling is done before the data are collected. Qualitative researchers, on the other hand, usually create their sample once their study is already in progress. After observing, learning about, and gaining understanding from an initial case, qualitative researchers are then able to determine what they will observe next. Additionally, whereas generalizability is a chief concern for quantitative researchers, this is not the case for qualitative researchers, who are far more concerned with finding the specific information that they are looking for from their sample. Since this method is very time-consuming, qualitative findings are often based on fewer cases than quantitative findings.

Data are observations or information about reality that represent attributes of variables and result from the research process. Although data collection is an integral part of both types of research methods, data are composed of words in qualitative research and numbers in quantitative research, which results in a data collection process that differs significantly for quantitative and qualitative research. Furthermore, the data collection process is different: Although quantitative researchers have the ability to administer a previously prepared questionnaire or watch an experiment unfold behind blind glass, qualitative researchers are engaged—sometimes for long periods of time—with the people or groups under study.

As can likely be seen by now, quantitative researchers frequently have a detailed plan of action that is thought out prior to the beginning of a study’s taking place. Qualitative researchers, on the other hand, tend to take a more fluid approach to their studies. This holds true for the analysis of data, as well. Whereas in quantitative studies, the data analysis methods are planned out in advance and then occur after the data are collected, data analysis typically takes place at the same time as data collection in qualitative studies. To make appropriate future observations, analyses must often begin after studying one to several initial cases. As a result, quantitative researchers are not usually afforded the opportunity to modify their methods of data collection during a project, while qualitative researchers can do so at any point in a project after conducting the initial data analysis.

Additionally, although qualitative data are more subjective and sometimes difficult to interpret, quantitative data are easily coded into numerical formats. As a result, it is much easier to enter quantitative data into computer programs, such as Excel and SPSS, than it is to enter qualitative data. Furthermore, there are a number of programs that analyze the statistical data, such as SPSS and Stata. Although programs do exist for the interpretation of qualitative data, they are not used nearly as extensively as those used for quantitative data analysis.

Finally, whereas quantitative researchers have a variety of means to test the statistical significance and validity of the data that they are analyzing, this is not the case for qualitative researchers. Instead, qualitative researchers must do their best to present a clear, accurate, and convincing analysis of their data. As a result, a topic of much debate between quantitative and qualitative researchers is the validity and reliability of findings produced in studies. Validity is the extent to which measures correspond to the concepts they are intended to reflect. Reliability is the consistency with which a measuring instrument allows assignment of values to cases when repeated over time. Although a measure can be reliable without being valid, it cannot be valid without being reliable.

Additionally, since one of the main points of conducting quantitative research is to study causal relationships, part of the process involves manipulating various factors that could potentially influence a phenomenon of interest while at the same time controlling for other variables that could affect the outcome. For instance, if a researcher were examining if gender played a role in whether a person received a job, it would be important to control for other variables, such as education or previous work experience, since these factors may also determine why an individual would receive an employment offer. In quantitative analysis, empirical relationships and associations are typically examined by using general linear models, nonlinear models, or factor analysis to understand important information about the relationship between variables, such as the direction of a relationship. However, despite the results that may be produced by these models, it is important to note that a major tenet of quantitative research is that correlation does not imply causation. In other words, a spurious relationship is always a possible result of the data analysis.

When presenting the results of a study, qualitative researchers often have an arduous task in front of them. Since their reports typically rely on the interpretation of observations, it is necessary for them to be very careful in the selection of what stories, quotations, pictures, and so on, they will share in order to avoid bias. The reports produced by quantitative researchers tend to be more straightforward since they rely mostly on the interpretation of statistics. But here, too, it is important to make sure that bias was avoided in the sample and that appropriate data analysis methods were used in order to avoid bias in quantitative analysis.

To sum up, there are a lot of similarities among quantitative and qualitative research methods. Irrespective of which method is used, it is still necessary to create an appropriate research question, understand the theory behind what will be observed, create a research design, collect and analyze data, and create a report of the results. However, there are several key differences between quantitative and qualitative research methods. These methods differ in (a) the types of questions that they pose, (b) their analytical objectives, (c) the amount of flexibility allowed in the research design, (d) the data collection instruments that are used, and (e) the type of data that are ultimately produced. According to Mack, Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, and Namey (2005), the fifth difference is the biggest. The authors argue that quantitative methods are generally inflexible since categories are typically closed-ended or fixed, while qualitative methods are more flexible, with a large amount of spontaneity and adaptation occurring during interaction with other people, especially in the form of open-ended questions.

To decide which research approach should be used, several things should be taken into account, including the problem of interest, the resources available, the skills and training of the researcher(s), and the audience for the research. Since there are considerable differences in the assumptions that underlie these two research approaches, as well as the collection and analysis of data, these considerations are important. The following sections provide a more detailed examination of the various types of quantitative and qualitative research methods, as well as the limitations of these methods in general.

Quantitative Methods in Political Science

Quantitative methods are essentially a variety of research techniques that are used to gather quantitative data. There are a variety of different types of quantitative methods, which are briefly outlined in this section: experiments, quasi experiments, content analysis, and surveys. First, in experiments, participants are randomly assigned to experimental conditions, as well as experimental controls. The individuals who are assigned to experimental controls are testing the independent variable. The difference between experiments and quasi experiments is the way that subjects are selected. In quasi experiments, participants are assigned to experimental conditions in a nonrandom fashion.

Next, content analysis is a systematic means of counting and assessing information in order to interpret it. For instance, scholars may count the number of times that personal characteristics, such as dress or hairstyle, are mentioned in newspaper articles to determine whether media coverage of male and female candidates differs. Finally, surveys are used to estimate the characteristics of a population based on responses to questionnaires and interviews from a sample of the population. Surveys provide five types of information: (1) facts, (2) opinions, (3) perceptions, (4) attitudes, and (5) behavioral reports. Essentially, questionnaires and surveys can serve as a means for helping scholars understand why people feel or act the way that they do, as well as measure their attitudes and assess their behaviors.

There are three key criticisms of quantitative research that are discussed here. First, since quantitative research methods were adopted from the physical sciences, critics argue that all cases are treated as though they are alike. Complex concepts are turned into numbers, and their unique elements are dissipated as a result. Furthermore, people can easily attribute different meanings to something even when they are experiencing the same phenomena. Second, and related to the first criticism, some people argue that quantitative methods are inherently biased. Since they are adopted from the physical sciences, critics argue that quantitative methods fail to take into account the unique cultural roots and other critical aspects of marginalized groups of people. Thus, according to critics, when it comes to populations that have been politically excluded, the usage of quantitative methods may not be appropriate, according to critics. Third, critics argue that quantitative research methods result in taking individuals out of their natural settings to examine very limited aspects of what a person thinks or believes. To these critics, context is very important, and by taking actions out of context, it is impossible to understand the true meaning of events or responses.

Qualitative Methods in Political Science

Just as quantitative research methods have a variety of research techniques that are used to gather data, there are also a variety of qualitative methods. This section focuses on several of these: ethnographic studies, phenomenological studies, case studies, focus groups, and intense interviews. First, in ethnographic studies, researchers examine cultural groups in their natural setting. Examples of cultural groups can include students in a dormitory, women in a crisis center, or people from a village in Asia. This type of study can provide rich, detailed information about the individuals in various groups, since it involves first-hand observation.

Second, in phenomenological studies, a small group of people is studied intensively over a long period to understand the life experience of the individuals being studied. Phenomenological studies can involve direct or indirect observation. Additionally, depending on the study, the individuals being observed may or may not know the purpose of the study or what exactly is being observed. Sometimes the researcher relies on building a trusting relationship with the subjects so the subjects act as naturally as possible even though they are being observed. As a result of this closeness, the researcher can often tell when a person is modifying his or her behavior. However, it is not always possible to establish this kind of relationship. As a result, some researchers conceal the purpose of their studies from those being observed to avoid the modifying of behavior by the subject. This process of behavior modification by the respondent is called reactivity and can greatly affect the results of a study.

Third, in a case study, a case is studied by a researcher, and detailed information about the entity or phenomenon is recorded. Sometimes information that is found in a case study can lend itself to the content analytical techniques discussed in the previous quantitative research section. Other times, newspapers, books, interviews, or other sources may be used. In content analysis, researchers are looking for specific words, phrases, or general ideas that are relevant to their study. The researchers will then count the instances of these items to learn more about a particular subject. For instance, some political scientists are interested in learning about gender bias in the media. By examining how often a female versus a male candidate is mentioned in an article or the type of coverage the candidate receives, these scholars are able to draw conclusions about gender bias in the media.

Finally, there are two other ways to collect and analyze qualitative data that are of relevance in this section—focus groups and intense interviewing. Focus groups are in-depth studies composed of small groups of people who have guided discussions. For instance, a focus group may be shown a political advertisement that a political campaign hopes to air on television. After watching the advertisement, members of the group are asked questions, and a discussion is prompted in which they can discuss their feelings about the ad, such as what they liked and did not like, as well as whether they were swayed by the ad and found it to be credible. These responses allow the advertisement’s producers to make changes that make the ad more effective.

Intense interviews are similar to survey questionnaires in that the interviewer generally has some thoughts in mind about what the respondent will be asked. However, although survey questions are planned out in their entirety in advance, this is often not the case in intense interviews where the interviewee has the ability to ask follow-up questions or a variety of other questions related to an answer provided by the respondent. Additionally, whereas survey questionnaire responses tend to be closed-ended (a particular response can be chosen from those available), intense interview responses are typically open-ended (no response categories) and can be very detailed. Thus, researchers have more flexibility when conducting an intense interview than they would if they were administering a questionnaire; however, their results are typically not quantifiable.

Just as quantitative methods have their detractors, so too do qualitative methods. Some of the biggest criticisms of qualitative methods are outlined in this section. First, some critics argue that qualitative methods focus too much on particular individuals, sometimes at the expense of seeing the bigger picture, and they fail to make their results generalizable to a larger population. Second, critics note that the quality of the results and analysis that are produced are highly dependent on the skill of the researcher. It is necessary for the researcher to have remained unbiased and provide a clear assessment of the subjects under study, or the results are essentially meaningless. Third, it is very time-consuming to conduct qualitative research studies. The amount of time spent conducting interviews and making observations is just the beginning. After these take place, the researchers still have to figure out a way to analyze the vast amounts of information that they have collected to produce results.

As can be seen from the information provided throughout this article, there has been a raging decades-long debate as to whether qualitative or quantitative research is better. Many scholars focus on qualitative versus quantitative techniques, automatically framing these methods and approaches in opposition to each other. Although it may appear that qualitative and quantitative data exist in opposition to each other, this is not necessarily the case. As King, Keohane, and Verba (1994) argue, “The two traditions appear quite different; indeed they sometimes seem to be at war. Our view is that these differences are mainly ones of style and specific technique. The same underlying logic provides the framework for each research approach” (p. 3). As a result, research does not typically fit into one particular category or another.

Additionally, King et al. (1994) note that we live in a world that changes rapidly, and to fully understand the changes that occur around us, it is necessary to be able to take into account information that can be quantified, as well as information that cannot. Furthermore, since social science requires comparison, it is important to examine both quantitative differences (such as which phenomena are more or less alike in degree) and qualitative differences (such as which phenomena are more or less alike in kind).

In recent years, scholars have been focusing a lot more on triangulation. Triangulation is essentially the idea that more than one research technique can be used to examine a research question to further verify the findings. Triangulation can help improve confidence about the results produced from a study. Quantitative and qualitative research can frequently be integrated, creating mixed-methods research that can depict a clearer picture of a social science phenomenon than one single method on its own.

Another way that quantitative and qualitative methods can exist together is by coding qualitative data into quantitative data. Just about any type of qualitative data can be assigned meaningful numerical values that can be manipulated to help condense the information and gain a different and more generalizable understanding of the data. One frequently used example is open-ended questions. Although more detailed insight is gained from an open-ended question than a categorical question, open-ended questions can typically be broken down into simple numerical categories allowing for a quantitative analysis of the data.

The Research Network on Gender Politics and the State (RNGS) serves as another good example. The researchers in RNGS had been conducting a crossnational, longitudinal, qualitative research project that explored changes in public policy processes dating back to the 1960s. Starting in 2000, however, the researchers began to code their vast qualitative data into a large quantitative data file. By using quantitative coding, additional useful information may be garnered, and a new form of data analysis is possible. As can be seen here, sometimes the line between quantitative and qualitative analysis may not be so clear after all.

On the other hand, quantitative data is inherently based on qualitative judgment because it is impossible to interpret numbers without understanding the assumptions underlying the numbers. When a person provides a numerical response to a survey question, for instance, many assumptions and judgments are present. For instance, if a person, when asked, “How satisfied are you with your life?” responds, “Very satisfied” (denoted by a value of 1), a variety of other questions could be asked. What does satisfaction mean to this respondent? Was he or she thinking only of the economic climate? Job? Family? Relationships? How does he or she define satisfaction, and how does this differ from how the next person defines satisfaction? Did the respondent even pay attention to or think about the question, or was he or she just offering quick responses? When and in what context was this question presented? The list goes on. As can be seen from this brief example, what appeared to be a simple numerical piece of information actually involved numerous judgments about the meaning of each response.

Quantitative and qualitative analysis are two general approaches to the analysis of data. Both seek to explain trends but have different means of doing this. Additionally, quantitative and qualitative research methods are each based on a basic set of assumptions. Both forms of research carefully follow each step in the research process, from formulating a research question to reporting the results of the data analysis. However, the order and ways in which this process is completed differ between quantitative and qualitative methods because of the different goals that researchers using these methods have for their studies. Essentially, though, at some level, quantitative and qualitative data are inseparable and do not exist in complete opposition to each other. Thus, it is almost self-defeating to claim that one method is better than the other. There are times when one is more appropriate to use in a given situation than another, but often, they can both be used together, whether at the same time or in different stages. As research progresses through the 21st century, it is highly probable that more scholars will use mixed-methods approaches.

References:

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Areas of Research

American Politics

The field of American Politics at Stanford includes the study of Congress, the bureaucracy, interest groups, the Presidency, voting, public opinion and participation, race and ethnicity; includes, among other perspectives, rational choice, historical, and behavioral perspectives; and encompasses, among other methods, quantitative analysis of aggregate data, qualitative fieldwork, survey research and randomized experiments.

See list of American Politics faculty

Comparative Politics

The field of Comparative Politics at Stanford includes area studies, comparative political economy, the study of ethnic conflict, and institutions. Our faculty are experts in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

See list of Comparative Politics faculty

International Relations

International Relations at Stanford comprises the study of all manner of global and regional political problems, including armed conflict in its various manifestations; the politics of international trade, finance, and the environment; nuclear weapons, WMD proliferation, and the threat of terrorism; and the design and functioning of international institutions and international law. Methods of analysis are diverse, tailored to the problem and empirical opportunities.

See list of International Relations faculty

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Political Methodology

The field of Political Methodology includes training in statistics, econometrics and formal theory; reviewing and developing new methods for the scientific study of politics; has particular emphases in Bayesian statistical inference, causal inference, computationally-intensive approaches to statistical inference, the design and analysis of experiments, game theory, the graphical display of quantitative information, sampling for survey-based research, the analysis of spatial data, the statistical analysis of text.

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Political Theory

Political Theory at Stanford approaches the study of justice, legitimacy, and power by conjoining normative theory (reflection on political values), positive theory (study of how values can be achieved by institutions), and the intellectual history of political thought (from Plato to Rawls). Among the topics with which our faculty and students are concerned are democracy, equality, rule of law, global justice, international relations, realism and idealism, education, deliberation, institutional innovation, and the organization of knowledge.

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Transforming the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses.

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Celebrating 75 Years! Learn More >>

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Decoding the Mind: Basic Science Revolutionizes Treatment of Mental Illnesses

By Linda Brady, Margaret Grabb, Susan Koester, Yael Mandelblat-Cerf, David Panchision, Jonathan Pevsner, Ashlee Van’t-Veer, and Aleksandra Vicentic on behalf of the NIMH Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science

March 21, 2024 • 75th Anniversary

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For 75 years, NIMH has transformed the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research—bringing hope to millions of people. This Director’s Message, guest written by NIMH’s Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science , is part of an anniversary series celebrating this momentous milestone.

The Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science (DNBBS) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports research on basic neuroscience, genetics, and basic behavioral science. These are foundational pillars in the quest to decode the human mind and unravel the complexities of mental illnesses.

At NIMH, we are committed to supporting and conducting genomics research as a priority research area . As the institute celebrates its 75th Anniversary , we are spotlighting DNBBS-supported efforts connecting genes to cells to circuits to behavior that have led to a wealth of discoveries and knowledge that can improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses.

Making gene discoveries

Illustration of a human head showing a brain and DNA.

Medical conditions often run in families. For instance, if someone in your immediate family has high blood pressure, you are more likely to have it too. It is the same with mental disorders—often they run in families. NIMH is supporting research into human genetics to better understand why this occurs. This research has already led to the discovery of hundreds of gene variants that make us more or less likely to develop a mental disorder.

There are two types of genetic variation: common and rare. Common variation refers to DNA changes often seen in the general population, whereas rare variation is DNA changes found in only a small proportion of the population. Individually, most common gene variants have only a minor impact on the risk for a mental disorder. Instead, most disorders result from many common gene variants that, together, contribute to the risk for and severity of that disorder.

NIMH is committed to uncovering the role of genes in mental disorders with the aim of improving the lives of people who experience them. One of the many ways NIMH contributes to the discovery of common gene variants is by supporting the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) . The consortium of almost 1,000 scientists across the globe, including ones in the NIMH Intramural Research Program and others conducting NIMH-supported research, is one of the largest and most innovative biological investigations in psychiatry.

Global collaborations such as the PGC are critical to amassing the immense sample sizes needed to identify common gene variants. Data from the consortium’s almost one million participants have already led to transformative insights about genetic contributors to mental illnesses and the genetic relationships of these illnesses to each other. To date, studies conducted as part of the consortium have uncovered common variation in over a dozen mental illnesses.

In contrast to common gene variants, rare gene variants are very uncommon in the general population. When they do occur, they often have a major impact on the occurrence of an illness, particularly when they disrupt gene function or regulation. Rare variants involving mutations in a single gene have been linked to several mental disorders, often through NIMH-supported research. For instance, a recent NIMH-funded study found that rare variation in 10 genes substantially increased the risk for schizophrenia. However, it is important to note that genetics is not destiny; even rare variants only raise the risk for mental disorders, but many other factors, including your environment and experiences, play important roles as well.

Because of the strong interest among researchers and the public in understanding how genes translate to changes in the brain and behavior, NIMH has developed a list of human genes associated with mental illnesses. These genes were identified through rare variation studies and are meant to serve as a resource for the research community. The list currently focuses on rare variants, but NIMH plans to continue expanding it as evidence accumulates for additional gene variants (rare or common).

Moreover, mental illnesses are a significant public health burden worldwide . For this reason, NIMH investments in genomics research extend across the globe. NIMH has established the Ancestral Populations Network (APN) to make genomics studies more diverse and shed light on how genetic variation contributes to mental disorders across populations. APN currently includes seven projects with more than 100 researchers across 25 sites worldwide.

World map showing the location of projects in the Ancestral Populations Network: USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, India, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea.

Connecting biology to behavior

While hundreds of individual genes have been linked to mental illnesses, the function of most of these genes in the brain remains poorly understood. But high-tech advances and the increased availability of computational tools are enabling researchers to begin unraveling the intricate roles played by genes.

In addition to identifying genetic variation that raises the risk for mental illnesses, NIMH supports research that will help us understand how genes contribute to human behavior. This information is critical to discovering approaches to diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent or cure mental illnesses.

An NIMH-funded project called the PsychENCODE consortium focuses on understanding how genes impact brain function. PsychENCODE is furthering knowledge of how gene risk maps onto brain function and dysfunction by cataloging genomic elements in the human brain and studying the actions of different cell types. The PsychENCODE dataset currently includes multidimensional genetic data from the postmortem brains of thousands of people with and without mental disorders.

Findings from the first phase of PsychENCODE were published as a series of 11 papers examining functional genomics in the developing and adult brains and in mental disorders. A second batch of PsychENCODE papers will be published later this year. These findings help clarify the complex relationships between gene variants and the biological processes they influence.

PsychENCODE and other NIMH-supported projects are committed to sharing biospecimens quickly and openly to help speed research and discovery.

Facilitating these efforts is the NIMH Repository and Genomics Resource (NRGR) , where samples are stored and shared. NRGR includes hundreds of thousands of samples, such as DNA, RNA, and cell lines, from people with and without mental disorders, along with demographic and diagnostic information.

Another NIMH initiative to connect risk genes to brain function is Scalable and Systematic Neurobiology of Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Disorder Risk Genes (SSPsyGene) . This initiative uses cutting-edge techniques to characterize the biological functions of 250 mental health risk genes—within the cells where they are expressed—to better understand how those genes contribute to mental illnesses. By systematically characterizing the biological functions of risk genes in cells, SSPsyGene will empower researchers to learn about biological pathways that may serve as new targets for treatment.

Genes also affect behavior by providing the blueprint for neurons, the basic units of the nervous system. Neurons communicate with each other via circuits in the brain, which enables us to process, integrate, and convey information. NIMH supports many initiatives to study the foundational role of neural networks and brain circuits in shaping diverse mental health-related behaviors like mood, learning, memory, and motivation.

For instance, studies supported through a basic-to-translational science initiative at NIMH focus on modifying neural activity to improve cognitive, emotional, and social processing . Similarly, another new funding opportunity encourages studies in humans and animals examining how emotional and social cues are represented across brain circuits to help address a core deficit in many mental disorders. These studies will increase understanding of the biological mechanisms that support behavior throughout life and offer interventions to improve these functions in healthy and clinical populations.

Developing treatments and therapeutics

The gene discovery and biology-to-behavior programs described here will lay the foundation for delivering novel therapeutics. To be prepared to rapidly implement findings from this research, NIMH supports several initiatives to identify behavioral and biological markers for use in clinical studies and increase our ability to translate research into practice.

Through its therapeutics discovery research programs , NIMH advances early stage discovery and development studies in humans and early efficacy trials for mental disorders. Taking these efforts a step further, NIMH supports the National Cooperative Drug Discovery/Development Groups for the Treatment of Mental Disorders , which encourage public–private partnerships to accelerate the discovery and development of novel therapeutics and new biomarkers for use in human trials. Moreover, NIMH is one of several institutes and centers in the NIH Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Network , launched to enable neuroscientists in academia and biotechnology companies to develop new drugs for nervous system disorders.

Graphic showing advancing pathway from exploratory and hit-to lead to lead optimization to scale up and manufacturing to IND enabling, to Phase 1 clinical trial and with exit outcomes of external funding and partnerships, other grants, and attrition.

For the treatments of tomorrow, NIMH is building a new research program called Pre-Clinical Research on Gene Therapies for Rare Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders , which encourages early stage research to optimize gene therapies to treat disorders with prominent cognitive, social, or affective impairment. In parallel, NIMH’s Planning Grants for Natural History Studies of Rare Genetic Neurodevelopmental Disorders encourage the analysis of pre-existing data from people with rare disorders to learn about disease progression and enable future clinical trials with these populations.

NIMH's Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science supports many different research projects that help us learn about genes and gene functions, how the brain develops and works, and impacts on behavior. By investing in basic neuroscience, genetics, and behavioral research, we're trying to find new targets for treatment and develop better therapies for mental disorders. We're hopeful these efforts will lead to new ways to treat and prevent mental illnesses in the near future and, ultimately, improve the lives of people in this country and across the globe.

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Scientists close in on a pain-free method for controlling type 1 diabetes

by Vittoria D'Alessio, Horizon: The EU Research & Innovation Magazine

Lee Calladine pricks his skin with a needle up to eight times a day to give himself an injection of insulin—the hormone that keeps his type 1 diabetes in check. Without insulin, his blood-sugar levels would become dangerously high and eventually fatal.

Calladine, aged 54, has been diabetic for 25 years and the insulin top-up routine is so familiar to him that he's long past feeling squeamish about piercing his skin . Still, the practice is burdensome.

"I have to rotate where I do my injections," said Calladine, who lives in the UK city of Portsmouth and works as an event coordinator for the Diabetes Research & Wellness Foundation. "If you inject the same place too often, you damage the tissue and get a lump. And if you then inject into that lump, the insulin won't get absorbed."

While a cure for type 1 diabetes is the holy grail , another game changer for Calladine and millions of other people like him around the world would be the ability to deliver insulin without needles or syringes.

That's where Professor David Fernandez Rivas, a bioengineer at the University of Twente in the Netherlands, believes he can help.

Fernandez Rivas leads a research project to develop a method to deposit liquids into skin and other soft materials using compression rather than needles.

The technique is known as BuBble Gun, which is also the name given to the five-year project that will run until the end of 2024. Fernandez Rivas invented the BuBble Gun with his research team, which is now refining the technology in the hopes of turning it into a reality.

Speedy squeeze

While electronic pumps that release insulin into the body throughout the day do exist, they are imperfect and still require a cannula needle to be inserted at the connection point.

With BuBble Gun, a laser beam is directed at the fluid medicine in a glass cartridge, heating it until it boils and creates a bubble. This bubble grows until it squeezes the liquid at high velocity —30 to 100 meters a second—out of its tube and, in the case of a medicine, into the skin.

Rather than piercing the skin, the way a needle would, the drug is pushed between skin cells. This limits damage both to the skin and to the cells beneath it.

"The liquid effectively becomes the needle," said Fernandez Rivas, who moved to the Netherlands from Cuba in 2007 with a first degree in nuclear engineering and has been working in bioengineering and green technology ever since.

This approach could be a relief not just for 9 million people worldwide including Calladine who have type 1 diabetes but also for millions of others who have unrelated conditions that also require regular injections.

Other potential beneficiaries are the 25% of people who are scared of needles and who can, as a result, avoid certain medical interventions including vaccination.

"Removing pain and fear from the injection process will have a big impact on a lot of people with needle phobia," said Fernandez Rivas.

Tissue challenges

Most injections penetrate the body until they reach muscle. These are regarded as the simplest injections to administer and the dose gradually diffuses out of the muscle into the body's blood-circulation system.

Many drugs, however, can do the job just as well—or perhaps better—when delivered into the more superficial layers of skin.

Fernandez Rivas is confident that many vaccines, for instance, would work just as well when delivered between the layers of the skin . Currently, they tend to be injected into muscle.

This means BuBble Gun has potential uses beyond insulin delivery.

A key technical challenge tackled by the research team relates to skin depth, which varies depending on age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle. Smoking, for instance, makes the skin thinner.

As a result, the "gun" pressure needs to be adjusted to take these differences into consideration.

"You need the jet of fluid to penetrate the skin to just the right depth without splashback or seeping into nearby tissue or material, which would alter the dose unpredictably," said Fernandez Rivas.

The researchers are still working on precisely controlling the drug jet as it enters soft tissue.

Since 2018 , they've been conducting laboratory experiments on materials that simulate skin as well as on real skin tissue. Tests on human tissue have been in progress since 2022.

If all goes well, trials on healthy human volunteers will start later this year.

Planned prototype

The BuBle Gun team has created a startup company called FlowBeams . Through this, the researchers hope that a prototype of the gun will be ready to showcase to potential industry partners before 2025.

Fernandez Rivas foresees a time eventually when diabetes patients will be able to use a modified version that incorporates the microjet technology into a skin patch.

The patch would include a sensor that both tests blood-sugar levels on a continual basis and pushes insulin into the body as the need arises.

"Imagine how this would transform the life of an anxious parent who wakes up multiple times in the night to check their child with diabetes isn't having a blood-sugar swing in their sleep," Fernandez Rivas said.

EU diabetes research
EU health research and innovation

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COMMENTS

The Research Question
One of the most important stages in the research process is formulating a research question. Both the type of question, and its significance, are important factors. It is usually a good idea to discuss your ideas for research questions with your research advisor or class instructor. Ask questions, and consider asking analytical questions.
PDF A Guide to Developing and Writing Research Papers in Political Science
The Six Parts of a Research Paper. A research paper in political science typically has 6 parts: (1) Introduction, (2) Literature review, (3) Theory, (4) Research Design, (5) Analysis, and (6) Conclusion/ Discussion. While papers do vary in their construction, that variation usually finds a way to embrace these 6 parts.
Political Science Research Questions : Uncovering insightful and
In political science research, various types of research questions are explored to analyze and understand various aspects of political behavior, institutions, and processes. Each type of research question serves a specific purpose and contributes to the depth of knowledge within the field.
4. Asking Questions: How to Find and Formulate Research Questions
This chapter deals with the first step of the research process: the formulation of a well-crafted research question. It explains why political research should begin with a research question and how a research question structures the research process. It discusses the difference between a topic or general question, on the one hand, and a focused research question, on the other. It also ...
PDF GUIDE TO POLITICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
Read on for details about getting involved in political science research. Benefits of Research • Work on the cutting edge of Political Science, advance the ... search question is specific enough and some suggestions about methods to answer the question. There's no reason to be nervous about attending office hours, and if it makes you feel ...
Developing a Research Question
A research question is a statement that defines what is to be studied. It is the core of the research project, study, or literature review. Your research question focuses the study, determines the methodology, and guides all stages of inquiry, analysis, and reporting. Your research question should... Be focused ; Identify the problem you're ...
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al
76154. Josue Franco. Cuyamaca College. Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses ...
Introduction to Political Science Research Methods
Chapter 1- Introduction. Chapter 2- History and Development of the Empirical Study of Politics. Chapter 3- The Scientific Method. Chapter 4- Theories, Hypotheses, Variables, and Units. Chapter 5- Conceptualization, Operationalization, Measurement. Chapter 6- Elements of Research Design. Chapter 7- Qualitative Methods.
GV249: How to Identify a Research Question
Research questions can be descriptive - they ask 'what' questions, such as exploring the particular features of a political institution, idea etc. Research questions can also be causal. These are, arguably, the more interesting ones but also more difficult to conduct. They involve analysing the effect or mechanism behind two variables ...
POSC 325: Political Analysis: Research Question Development
It allows you to see what research has already been done. During the development phase, ask yourself open-ended questions to help formulate a list of potential research questions: Who: think in terms of demographics (gender, age, ethnicity, religious preference, special interest groups, etc) What: think about concepts/aspects, sociological and ...
PDF From Research Topic to Research Question distribute or post, copy
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND . THIS COURSE'S RESEARCH PROJECT. Research in political science can take many forms, but four types of research . questions are particularly prominent. questions ask how things . Normative . 2. This is part of the reason why we review the literature on our question in each research project we write. Do not copy, post ...
From Topic to Research Question
The table above illustrates how a research question develops from a broad topic to a focused research question. A concept map should help you identify a sub-topic and possible issues or problems. Use the resources shared in this guide as well as preliminary research to explore your topic further. Preliminary research will provide some context ...
The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and
The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations offers a comprehensive overview of research processes in social science - from the ideation and design of research projects, through the construction of theoretical arguments, to conceptualization, measurement, and data collection, and quantitative and qualitative empirical analysis - exposited through 65 ...
LibGuides: Political Science: Research Methods & Design
ISBN: 9781526459930. Publication Date: 2020-10-23. Writing in Political Science - Duke University Writing Studio. 4 page introduction to the basics of political science scholarly communication. Research Methods Knowledge Base. The Research Methods Knowledge Base is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical ...
10 Research Question Examples to Guide your Research Project
The first question asks for a ready-made solution, and is not focused or researchable. The second question is a clearer comparative question, but note that it may not be practically feasible. For a smaller research project or thesis, it could be narrowed down further to focus on the effectiveness of drunk driving laws in just one or two countries.
100+ Research Topics In Politics (+ Free Webinar)
Here, we'll explore a variety of politically-related research ideas across a range of disciplines, including political theory and philosophy, comparative politics, international relations, public administration and policy. NB - This is just the start…. The topic ideation and evaluation process has multiple steps.
PSCI 3300: Introduction to Political Research
Hypothesis in Political Science "A generalization predicting that a relationship exists between variables. Many generalizations about politics are a sort of folklore. ... type of research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested; (b) number of independent and dependent variables; (c) number of covariates; (d) scale of the measurement ...
PDF PS2325F: Research Design in Political Science
In the ﬁrst part of the course, students will learn about how to identify research questions and conduct literature reviews. In this same section, we will discuss questions related to research ethics and how such concerns can affect the kinds of questions one can ask and how other questions can be answered empiri-cally. Next, we will discuss ...
5 Analytic Methods for Political Science Research
Analytical research is an integral part of any political science research. Knowing the different methods through which political researchers are able to analyze their research is crucial for anyone looking to develop new insight. ... Ordinal data exists on a ranging scale, and is one of the most prevalent types of questions found in a ...
Find a Research Question
Comprehensive review of the literature in political science. Can help students identify major tends in the field as well as find general overviews of research in specific subject areas of politics. Elgar Research Handbooks Online. Large collection of handbooks on topics across political science and public policy.
Qualitative vs Quantitative Research
Simply defined, a research design is the plan of a study. It organizes observations in a manner that establishes a logical basis for causal inference. Essentially, the research design can be viewed as the blueprint for a study. There are three main types of research designs in political science: exploratory, descriptive, and explanatory.
Areas of Research
Political Methodology. The field of Political Methodology includes training in statistics, econometrics and formal theory; reviewing and developing new methods for the scientific study of politics; has particular emphases in Bayesian statistical inference, causal inference, computationally-intensive approaches to statistical inference, the design and analysis of experiments, game theory, the ...
100 Political Science Research Topics in 2024
Political Science Research Topics What we have here is analysis and an in-depth study of processes that relate to politics. A scientist can approach certain event and study cause-and-effect of an issue, study political leader personality or write reflection essay about police officers behavior that have bias towards African American teenagers or those that wear a hood.
Let us get numerical: explaining Political Science student preferences
This research is concerned with the fear that students would resist such a reorientation. Much of the pedagogic social-science research seeks ways to alleviate student math and statistics anxiety, an obstacle that would apply regardless of whether students receive such instruction in their field or indirectly through required cognate courses.
Superconductor Scientist Engaged in Research Misconduct, Probe Finds
A physicist who shot to fame with claims of the discovery of a room-temperature superconductor engaged in research misconduct, a committee tapped to examine his work has concluded.
Blueprint for mandating indoor air quality for public buildings in form
A group of international experts has presented a blueprint for national indoor quality standards for public buildings. The experts addressed setting standards for three key indoor pollutants ...
Climate change policies lose popularity when combined ...
Legislators love bundling things together. It lets them accomplish more with less hassle and attempt to make legislation more appealing to a broader group. But a new study suggests that this can ...
Decoding the Mind: Basic Science Revolutionizes Treatment of ...
The Division of Neuroscience and Basic Behavioral Science (DNBBS) at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports research on basic neuroscience, genetics, and basic behavioral science. These are foundational pillars in the quest to decode the human mind and unravel the complexities of mental illnesses. At NIMH, we are committed to supporting and conducting genomics research as a ...
Scientists close in on a pain-free method for controlling type 1 diabetes
A key technical challenge tackled by the research team relates to skin depth, which varies depending on age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle. Smoking, for instance, makes the skin thinner.
Study of different autism types finds shared mechanism ...
Nov. 24, 2020 — A research team has succeeded in experimentally evolving the common bacteria under pressure from a large number of individual antibiotics, and identified the mechanisms and ...