Tuesday and Thursday,
Allen 1005
Instructor: Dave Peterson
Office: 2037
Phone: 845-6783
Email: dave@polisci.tamu.edu
Office hours: Tuesday
The best way to get a hold of me is through email. Please keep in mind that I am unlikely to
check my email much later than
Description: In this class we are going to be studying how to think scientifically about politics. I assume you all have some interest in government and politics. This course is intended to teach you how one can formulate questions and hypotheses about politics and then test them rigorously. We will seek to understand how one formulates questions in a scientific manner, what types of data should one use, and how to go about testing our theories, rather than simply making uninformed arguments. A central element to this is statistics. You will be expected to learn why statistics are powerful tools for understanding the world (political and otherwise) and what are appropriate and inappropriate uses of statistics. What you learn in this course will help you read and understand things in your other political sciences courses and help you be an informed participant in political debates and discussions.
Student Responsibilities: Students should come to class having read the material assigned for that day. You will be evaluated based on a research project, a mid term, an oral presentation and an editorial paper. I WILL NOT– repeat, NOT negotiate over the due dates for assignments. Under very rare circumstances, I will consider changing grads given on exams or papers. However, any request for a re-evaluation must 1) be in writing (typed), justifying why you believe you deserve a better grade and 2) turned in to me in one of the two class session immediately following the assignment is returned. Be warned: if your request is reasonable, the assignment will be re-evaluated. This may cause your grade to go up, but it may cause it to go down.
Assignments
There are 4 parts to your grade:
Your grade will be based on the five things mentioned above.
· Homework: 30%
· Final Data Project: 30%
· Exam: 30%
· Presentation: 10%
Note on attendance and participation: I expect that you will attend class and participate in discussions. At the same time, I am realistic. You are all adults, and you are here to learn. If you feel you need to miss a class for some reason that is your prerogative. While I do not assign points for participation, when it comes time to assign final grades, I will keep the amount you participated in mind. Those who demonstrate that they understand the material and have learned something in this class may have their grades improved. Basically, I will not punish you for not being involved in class, but I will reward you if you are prepared and participate.
Topics and Assigned
|
January 16 |
|
Introduction - |
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|||||
|
January 18 |
|
What is meant by theory? |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
January 23, 25, |
|
Research Design |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
January 30 |
|
Formal Theory |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
February 1 & 6 |
|
Measurement |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
February 8 & 13 |
|
Descriptive statistics |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
February 15 &20 |
|
Sampling & inference |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
-
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
February 22 |
|
Review Day |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
February 27 |
|
EXAM! |
|||
|
|
|||||
|
March 6, 8, & 20 |
|
Cross tabulations |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|||
|
March 22 & 27 |
|
Tests of significance |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
March 29– April 12 |
|
Regression |
|||
|
|
|
- |
|
||
|
|
|||||
|
April 17 – April 26 |
|
Presentations |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||||
I expect that all students will conduct themselves in a manner that is
consistent with the Aggie Code. Any
lying or cheating in this class will be handled in accordance with Texas A&M policy.
The
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal anti-discrimination statute
that provides comprehensive civil rights protection for persons with
disabilities. Among other things, this
legislation requires that all students with disabilities be guaranteed a
learning environment that provides for reasonable accommodation of their
disabilities. If you believe you have a
disability requiring an accommodation, please contact the Department of Student
Life, Services for Students with Disabilities in Room 126 of the
Course Materials/Copyright Statements
The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By “handouts,” I mean all materials generated for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi, quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class materials review sheets, and additional problem sets. Because these are copyrighted, you do not have the right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission.
Plagiarism Statement
As commonly defined, plagiarism
consists of passing off as one’s own the ideas, words, writings, etc., which
belong to another. In accordance with
the definition, you are committing plagiarism if you copy the work of another
person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the permission of the
person. Plagiarism is one of the worst
academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys the trust among colleagues without
which research cannot be safely communicated.
If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the
latest issue of the Texas A&M University Student
Rules, under the section “Scholastic Dishonesty.”