POS-3713 - Mailer Fsu - Florida State University

POS-3713 (section 1)William BerryPolitical Science Research547 Bellamy BuildingFall 2011 Phone: 644-7321TR 2:00 – 3:15wberry@garnet.acns.fsu.eduWJB 2005Office Hours:Tues & Thur: 12:45 – 1:45,or by appointmentCourse Objective: This course is an introduction to social science research. You will learnfundamental strategies for systematic observation of the political world, and how suchobservations can be used to test hypotheses regarding political phenomena. An understanding ofthese strategies should help you understand research discussed in advanced political sciencecourses, and help you evaluate the validity of claims made to you as citizens (by politicians) andconsumers (by firms promoting their products).Assignments: Each student is expected to do all the readings assigned in the syllabus, completefive problem sets (on which they work individually, and without collaboration with others), takefour midterm exams and the final exam, and attend all class sessions. Students will find thatboth the reading and the lectures are important for an understanding of the topics of the course.Tentative dates for exams are listed in the daily schedule below.Required Reading: The following textbook is required to be read and should be available in theUniversity bookstore and Bill’s Books:Paul M. Kellstedt & Guy D. Whitten. 2009. The Fundamentals of Political Science Research,Cambridge University Press.One other article from a scholarly journal is assigned and can be downloaded at the course BBsite:Wright, Erikson and McIver, “Public Opinion and Policy Liberalism in the American States,”American Journal of Political Science, 1987: 980-1001.Grading Criteria: Evaluation mechanisms will be weighted as follows in computing students’final course grades: Five problem sets: 10% total; 2% for each of the five sets Four midterm exams: 66% total; 22% each for the best three scores on the four exams Cumulative final exam: 24%)1

The grading scale for each element of the course, and the course overall is as follows:A: 93-100; A-: 90-92;B+: 87-89; B: 83-86; B-: 80-82;C+: 77-79; C: 73-76; C-: 70-72;D+: 67-69; D: 63-66; D-: 60-62;F: 0-59When I compute a course grade, after averaging scores on individual class components, anyresulting value that is not an integer will be rounded (up or down) to the nearest integer. A scoreexactly between two integers (e.g., 72.500) will be rounded up.University Attendance Policy: Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in thefamily and other documented crises, call to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days,and official University activities. These absences will be accommodated in a way that does notarbitrarily penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given tostudents whose dependent children experience serious illness.Policy on Exams: All exams (midterm and final) will consist of multiple choice and true/falsequestions. You will mark all answers on a “bubble sheet” using a #2 pencil. Since pencilpoints sometimes break, you are responsible for bringing three sharpened pencils to eachexam.If you have an excused absence (see the definition in the above section) that requires you tomiss one of the midterm exams, or the final exam, notify me as soon as possible. Unless you arephysically unable to do so, you must notify me prior to the exam or you will receive a score ofzero. Having notified me, also contact the Office of the Dean of Students:Dean of Students4th Floor of the University Center- Building A, Suite 4100Ph.#: (850) 644-2428Email: kkincey@admin.fsu.eduHours: M-F, 8:00 am – 5:00 pmThis office will validate your circumstances and provide me with any documentation needed topermit a make-up of the exam.All make-up exams will be held during the University designated make-up exam block in finalsweek, i.e., 5:30-7:30 pm or 8:00-10:00 pm on Friday, December 16.To schedule a make-up exam you need to email me between December 5 and December 10 andlet me know that you wish to schedule a make-up for a specific exam. I will then contact all ofthe folks who need to make up a given exam and I will select the 5:30 or 8:00 pm start time forthat make-up. We will meet at my office: 547 Bellamy.Policy on Problem Sets: The problem sets will focus on technical skills—in particular, getting acomputer to calculate statistics. Problem sets will be posted on the BB site for the course when2

the course material necessary to do the problems has been completed. After posting, you will begiven five days to complete the assignment and submit your answers at the BB site. Since no“make-ups” will be permitted for problem sets, you are encouraged to do each assignment assoon as it becomes available so that an illness on the due date does not prevent you fromcompleting an assignment. Moreover, for some problem sets, delaying completion until the duedate will mean completing the problem set after an exam for which the problem set would beuseful preparation.Policy on Missed Class Lectures: Any student with an excused absence from a class session thatis documented by the Dean of Students (as described above) will be provided, upon request, withskeletal notes on any topics introduced in class that are not discussed thoroughly in coursereadings. Then the student can ask me questions about the notes by coming to my office duringoffice hours or by scheduling an appointment.Syllabus Change Policy: Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of theevaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to changewith advance notice.Academic Honor Policy: The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines theUniversity's expectations for the integrity of students' academic work, the procedures forresolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of studentsand faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the AcademicHonor Policy and for living up to their pledge to “...be honest and truthful and... [to] strive forpersonal and institutional integrity at Florida State University.” (Florida State UniversityAcademic Honor Policy, found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm.)Statement Concerning American Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities needing academicaccommodations should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student DisabilityResource Center (SDRC); and (2) bring a letter to the instructor from SDRC indicating that thestudent needs academic accommodations. This must be done within the first week of class.This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request. Formore information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the:Student Disability Resource Center874 Traditions Way108 Student Services BuildingFlorida State UniversityTallahassee, FL 32306-4167(850) 644-9566 (voice)(850) 644-8504 (TDD)sdrc@admin.fsu.eduhttp://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/3

COURSE TOPICS, READING ASSIGNMENTS AND PROBLEM SETS(WITH TENTATIVE DATES)Note: By 5:00 p.m. on the day prior to a class, all documents that students are expected tobring to class the next day will be posted at the course’s Blackboard site in the contentarea, “Stuff to Bring to Class.” The documents posted will typically include a lecture outline,questions to think about prior to the class, and/or figures or tables that will be referenced in thelecture. Any other important announcements relevant to the class session will be posted in thesame content area; students are expected to check this content area prior to each class and beaware of information posted there.Tues, Aug. 30Thur, Sept. 1illustrateTues, Sept. 6Thur, Sept. 8Tues, Sept. 13Thur, Sept. 15Tues, Sept. 20Thur, Sept. 22Tues, Sept. 27Thur, Sept. 29Course PreviewIntroduction to Political Science ResearchREAD: K&W, chapter 1, and Wright, Erikson and McIver article.(Note: this is a study I will draw on periodically topoints made in lectures. Do not be concerned that there areparts of this article that you may not understand; by the endof the semester, you should be able to understand nearly allanalyses. The one exception is the section on pp. 993-996on “LISREL Analysis.” This section relies on a statisticaltechnique, LISREL, that is beyond the scope of this class.However, by the end of the semester, you should be able tounderstand the logic of this section at a general level,despite the fact that you will not be able to understand thetechnical details.)Introduction to Social Science Research, cont’d.Theory BuildingREAD: K&W, chapter 2.Theory Building, cont’d.Explanation and CausalityREAD: K&W, chapter 3.Explanation and Causality, cont’d.FIRST MIDTERM EXAMResearch DesignREAD: K&W, chapter 4.Research Design, cont’d.4

Tues, Oct. 4Thur, Oct. 6Tues, Oct 11Thur, Oct 13Tues, Oct. 18Thur, Oct. 20Tues, Oct. 25Thur, Oct. 27Tues, Nov. 1Thur, Nov. 3Tues, Nov. 8Thur, Nov. 10Tues, Nov. 15Thur, Nov. 17Tues., Nov. 22Thur, Nov. 24MeasurementREAD: K&W, pages 104-108, & chapter 5.Measurement, cont’d.Descriptive StatisticsREAD: K&W, chapter 6.Descriptive Statistics, cont’d.Problem Set 1 made available at BB site by 5:00 pmSECOND MIDTERM EXAMStatistical InferenceREAD: K&W, chapter 7.Statistical Inference, cont’d.Bivariate Hypothesis TestingREAD: K&W, pages 134-145 of chapter 8.Bivariate Hypothesis Testing, cont’d.READ: K&W, pages 145-157 of chapter 8.Problem Set 2 made available at BB site by 5:00 pmBivariate Hypothesis Testing, cont’d.Bivariate Hypothesis Testing, cont’d.Problem Set 3 made available at BB site by 5:00 pmTHIRD MIDTERM EXAMBivariate RegressionREAD: K&W, chapter 9.Bivariate Regression, cont’d.Problem Set 4 made available at BB site by 5:00 pmMultiple Regression: The BasicsREAD: K&W, chapter 10.THANKSGIVING VACATION: NO CLASS5

Tues, Nov. 29Thur, Dec. 1Tues, Dec. 6Thur, Dec. 8Friday, Dec. 16Multiple Regression: The Basics, cont’d.Problem Set 5 made available at BB site by 5:00 pmMultiple Regression: ExtensionsREAD: K&W, chapter 11.Multiple Regression: Extensions, cont’d.FOURTH MIDTERM EXAMFINAL EXAM (3:00 – 5:00 p.m.)6