Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Acknowledgments to the Second Edition
- Acknowledgments to the First Edition
- 1 The Scientific Study of Politics
- 2 The Art of Theory Building
- 3 Evaluating Causal Relationships
- 4 Research Design
- 5 Getting to Know Your Data: Evaluating Measurement and Variations
- 6 Probability and Statistical Inference
- 7 Bivariate Hypothesis Testing
- 8 Bivariate Regression Models
- 9 Multiple Regression: The Basics
- 10 Multiple Regression Model Specification
- 11 Limited Dependent Variables and Time-Series Data
- 12 Putting It All Together to Produce Effective Research
- Appendix A Critical Values of Chi-Square
- Appendix B Critical Values of t
- Appendix C The Λ Link Function for Binomial Logit Models
- Appendix D The Φ Link Function for Binomial Probit Models
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - The Scientific Study of Politics
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Acknowledgments to the Second Edition
- Acknowledgments to the First Edition
- 1 The Scientific Study of Politics
- 2 The Art of Theory Building
- 3 Evaluating Causal Relationships
- 4 Research Design
- 5 Getting to Know Your Data: Evaluating Measurement and Variations
- 6 Probability and Statistical Inference
- 7 Bivariate Hypothesis Testing
- 8 Bivariate Regression Models
- 9 Multiple Regression: The Basics
- 10 Multiple Regression Model Specification
- 11 Limited Dependent Variables and Time-Series Data
- 12 Putting It All Together to Produce Effective Research
- Appendix A Critical Values of Chi-Square
- Appendix B Critical Values of t
- Appendix C The Λ Link Function for Binomial Logit Models
- Appendix D The Φ Link Function for Binomial Probit Models
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
OVERVIEW
Most political science students are interested in the substance of politics and not in its methodology. We begin with a discussion of the goals of this book and why a scientific approach to the study of politics is more interesting and desirable than a “just-the-facts” approach. In this chapter we provide an overview of what it means to study politics scientifically. We begin with an introduction to how we move from causal theories to scientific knowledge, and a key part of this process is thinking about the world in terms of models in which the concepts of interest become variables that are causally linked together by theories. We then introduce the goals and standards of political science research that will be our rules of the road to keep in mind throughout this book. The chapter concludes with a brief overview of the structure of this book.
Doubt is the beginning, not the end, of wisdom.
–Chinese proverbPOLITICAL SCIENCE?
“Which party do you support?” “When are you going to run for office?” These are questions that students often hear after announcing that they are taking courses in political science. Although many political scientists are avid partisans, and some political scientists have even run for elected offices or have advised elected officials, for the most part this is not the focus of modern political science. Instead, political science is about the scientific study of political phenomena. Perhaps like you, a great many of today's political scientists were attracted to this discipline as undergraduates because of intense interests in a particular issue or candidate.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Fundamentals of Political Science Research , pp. 1 - 23Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013