POL S 500 A: Political Research Design and Analysis

This is a first course in research design for conducting research in the field of political science.  Students will learn the fundamentals of the scientific method and, through effective research design, how to improve causal inference and the measurement of political phenomena.  Topics include the fundamental problem of causal inference, experimental & quasi-experimental research, historical case analysis, regression discontinuity designs, matching and instrumental variable techniques, as well as research ethics and transparency.  A primary goal of the course is for students to understand the most common ways political scientists seek to discover causal relationships and be able to evaluate the advantages & disadvantages of alternative techniques.