Quantitative Empirical Methods of Political Science

Course Overview

This course offers an introduction to the methods political scientists use to construct, to estimate, and to evaluate systematically empirical representations of theoretical propositions about politics. The course emphasizes the formulation of positive political theories; the derivation of hypotheses from, and the specification of empirical models of, those theories; and the use of data to test those hypotheses and estimate those empirical models. No background in statistics is required. We will use and discuss statistical concepts, reasoning, and methods, but the course instruction will include all the mathematics and statistics needed, from the ground up. Problem sets (approximately 10 total, weekly, and 5% each), class & section participation (15%), & a take-home final (35%) comprise the course’s graded exercises. Lecture notes and other course materials will be provided before class sessions; students should have read those and bring them to class. Everyone is expected to come prepared for, and to participate in, all class & section sessions.