Each year, tens of thousands of students who are interested in politics go through a rite of passage: they take a course in research methods. Many find the subject to be boring or confusing, and with good reason. Most of the standard books on research methods fail to highlight the most important concepts and questions. Instead, they brim with dry technical definitions and focus heavily on statistical analysis, slighting other valuable methods. This approach not only dulls potential enjoyment of the course, but prevents students from mastering the skills they need to engage more directly and meaningfully with a wide variety of research.
With wit and practical wisdom, Christopher Howard draws on more than a decade of experience teaching research methods to transform a typically dreary subject and teach budding political scientists the critical skills they need to read published research more effectively and produce better research of their own. The first part of the book is devoted to asking three fundamental questions in political science: What happened? Why? Who cares? In the second section, Howard demonstrates how to answer these questions by choosing an appropriate research design, selecting cases, and working with numbers and written documents as evidence. Drawing on examples from American and comparative politics, international relations, and public policy, Thinking Like a Political Scientist highlights the most common challenges that political scientists routinely face, and each chapter concludes with exercises so that students can practice dealing with those challenges.
Each year, tens of thousands of students who are interested in politics go through a rite of passage: they take a course in research methods. Many find the subject to be boring or confusing, and with good reason. Most of the standard books on research methods fail to highlight the most important concepts and questions. Instead, they brim with dry technical definitions and focus heavily on statistical analysis, slighting other valuable methods. This approach not only dulls potential enjoyment of the course, but prevents students from mastering the skills they need to engage more directly and meaningfully with a wide variety of research.
With wit and practical wisdom, Christopher Howard draws on more than a decade of experience teaching research methods to transform a typically dreary subject and teach budding political scientists the critical skills they need to read published research more effectively and produce better research of their own. The first part of the book is devoted to asking three fundamental questions in political science: What happened? Why? Who cares? In the second section, Howard demonstrates how to answer these questions by choosing an appropriate research design, selecting cases, and working with numbers and written documents as evidence. Drawing on examples from American and comparative politics, international relations, and public policy, Thinking Like a Political Scientist highlights the most common challenges that political scientists routinely face, and each chapter concludes with exercises so that students can practice dealing with those challenges.
Christopher Howard is the Pamela C. Harriman Professor of Government and Public Policy at the College of William and Mary. He is the author of two books, The Welfare State Nobody Knows and The Hidden Welfare State, and the coeditor of The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Social Policy.
"In Thinking like a Political Scientist: A Practical Guide to
Research Methods, Christopher
Howard makes a compelling case for transforming how research
methods are taught to undergraduate students of political science.
Through its accessible, easy-to-follow approach, this
new guide equips and encourages the next generation of political
scientists to undertake research
that has the potential to directly impact pressing political
issues"-- "London School of Economics Review of Books"
"Howard has filled an important void in the discipline with this
valuable alternative to the traditional approach to teaching
undergraduate research methods. Thinking Like a Political Scientist
is engaging and relevant, as it takes students through what
political scientists actually do--develop and test theories that
explain political phenomena. This book will be immensely helpful
for students--and their instructors--who want to emphasize
research."
--Sarah Poggione, Ohio University
"Thinking Like a Political Scientist is a remarkably clear and
well-written book. Drawing on more than a decade of experience
teaching research methods, Howard moves seamlessly from one lesson
to the next, developing the basic components of political science
research in a compelling and intuitive way. Among the book's many
virtues are its extraordinarily rich and wide-ranging examples that
enliven the lessons."--Daniel Galvin, Northwestern University
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