This course is in an introduction to political science research methods, but not a statistics class. The goal is to provide you with the tools necessary to construct your own research design and understand analyses carried out by others. Think of this class as an ‘appetizer sampler’ on a restaurant menu: it contains a little bit of most of political science’s specialties, but none of the items on this syllabus are explored in enough detail for you to conduct your own research. Yet you will learn enough to design your own research project.
We will engage in a mix of instruction and hands-on training: in addition to lectures (mostly on Tuesdays) we will use many of the Thursday sessions for designing a collaborative research project on the efficiency of new environmental policy instruments (NEPIs). Each student will review existing research on a particular group of such policy instruments and all of these individual contributions will feed into the design of a collaborative project on this issue. You can select the policy instrument you will research from a list available during the first course session on 30 January.
Readings
There are two books for this course:
· Baglione, Lisa A. (2007). Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
· Janet Buttolph Johnson and H. T. Reynolds (2004). Political Science Research Methods, 5th Edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Additional readings will be posted on Blackboard as PDF documents. You need the free Acrobat Reader to read these files. If you do not have this software yet, you can download it from: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. All readings are mandatory – none of the readings on this syllabus are optional.
Grading
- 3 Tests (@ 15% each) = 45% of overall grade
- Research paper (10% after completion of the literature review; 5% for the colloquium draft; 15% for the completed paper) =30% of overall grade
- Presentation and handout during research colloquium = 10% of overall grade
- Unannounced quizzes = 5% of overall grade
- Class Participation (attendance is necessary but not sufficient!) = 10% of overall grade
Exams
There will be three half-hour tests, but no midterm or final exam. These tests will examine your knowledge and comprehension of the issues covered in the prior course segment (research design, data collection, statistics). These are in-class, closed-books, and closed-notes.
Research Design
The aim of your research design is twofold: first, you review existing research and methodology applied in studying NEPIs; second, your research contributes to designing a larger project on the efficiency of NEPIs in general.
You will develop your research design in three steps:
- Review of the relevant literature (due 3/18).
Scientific discoveries build on previous discoveries. Reviewing the existing literature in the field provides you with a better idea of what others have found out about your topic; how you may want to design your own research in light of pre-existing scholarship; and which theoretical approaches you may choose. This can be a lengthy research process, start early! Expect to summarize your findings in up to 5 pages.
2. Colloquium presentation (due 3/24)
You will present your findings in our research colloquium on 3/24 (see below). After this colloquium, we should have a good idea of the various approaches applied in studying the efficiency of NEPIs. The colloquium discussions will generate much useful input for your individual research designs as well as for the collaborative effort. You should have a polished version of your literature review available for the colloquium so that these can be shared among everyone.
3. Revisions and final submission (due 5/8)
Most likely you will receive much helpful input during the colloquium. Incorporate these ideas into final design. Your research design needs to include a review of the literature, discussion of your theoretical approach, and a detailed methodology section in which you propose how best to study the efficiency of your particular family of NEPIs. Start this process immediately after the colloquium, since this will require substantial additional research.
There is no set length requirement, but a good research paper is focused and detailed at the same time. As a rule of thumb, a paper should be no longer than 10,000 words – a limit set by many journals in the field. Some journals even limit submissions to 7,500 words. It is good to get used to these limitations early on, even if it is unlikely that your paper in this class will be of journal-quality.
Please follow the APSA style guide for political science (see for example: http://dept.lamar.edu/polisci/DRURY/drury.html and http://www.csuchico.edu/~kcfount/guides/APSA.pdf).
Your grade will be determined primarily by the content of your paper assignments; nevertheless you are expected to submit well-written work that has been thoroughly proof-read for grammar, punctuation, and style. Sloppy or poorly written work may result in a penalty. If you need assistance with the writing assignments, please contact the The Writing Center (http://www.gwu.edu/~gwriter/). If English is not your primary language, find a native speaker to look over your assignments.
New Environmental Policy Instruments (NEPIs) have gained much popularity in recent environmental governance research. Volumes such as Jordan, Wurzel, and Zito’s (2003) New Instruments of Environmental Governance? National Experiences and Prospects and Choosing Environmental Policy: Comparing Instruments and Outcomes in the United States and Europe edited by Harrington, Morgenstern, and Sterner (2004) have brought the debate about non-traditional policy instruments to the mainstream - even outside of Europe with its long-established Dutch-German governance research agenda. The scholarship on these instruments is now at a critical juncture: after theorizing, experimentation and initial stock-taking (i.e. what is applied where - for example, the Jordan, Wurzel, and Zito volume), a second generation of analysis has compared different approaches to regulation (i.e. instrument X performs poorly in regulating pollutant Y in polity Z), the most recent example of which is the Harrington, Morgenstern, and Sterner volume.
However, what is missing from this research program is a more systematic analysis of the efficiency and appropriateness of traditional and new policy instruments. As Vig and Faure noted recently: “There is still a surprising lack of information on the effectiveness of different policy instruments.” Future research needs to assess when and under which conditions a certain instrument or mix of instruments can be expected to deliver an efficient solution to a policy problem. As an intermediate - yet not less important - step the question of “which instruments can be expected to perform worst under given condition?” needs to be answered. In moving beyond the particulars (i.e. market-based instruments in SO2 regulation or carbon-taxes in climate politics), an assessment is needed that identifies institutional factors, characteristics of the regulatory subjects, and aspects of the area to be regulated which impact the efficiency of certain regulatory instruments. Such research needs to identify in a more abstract fashion the structural conditions under which certain policy instruments can provide an efficient solution to a policy problem, or under which these same instruments can be expected to perform worst.
We will summarize and assess the current scholarship on environmental policy instruments and develop a research agenda for identifying the structural determinants for instrument efficiency. In a third step, this project will provide such an assessment based on a meta-analysis of the existing scholarship guided by the question: “Which problem structures and institutional features render this policy instrument particularly effective or ineffective in this context?” The goal of this research is to identify the structural conditions under which certain policy instruments can provide an efficient solution to a policy problem or which instruments can be expected to perform worst under given conditions. Identifying these conditions will not only make it possible to take the scholarship on New Environmental Policy Instruments a step further by analyzing efficiency but it will also make it possible to apply the lessons learnt from the environmental policy arena to other policy issues.
Colloquium
Each student will present his/her research in our research colloquium on 24 March. The purpose of this workshop is to share the literature reviews done to help everyone gain a broad perspective beyond their own individual research. In a 10-minute presentation, you present your research; following individual presentations, we will engage in roundtable discussions on the presented findings. It takes time and a lot of practice to become a good presenter – so better start now!
Quizzes
I do not like giving announced quizzes, but when I have the impression that there is insufficient preparation or when students are not on time, I will give short quizzes testing everyone’s knowledge of the reading immediately at the beginning of class. There will be no opportunity to make these up if you are late to class or absent. However, they will not affect your grade if you have a documented and approved excuse (see below).
Class Participation
You are expected to come prepared and on time to class every time. This includes especially the colloquium on 24 March: this is an all-day event, do not schedule any other commitments for this day (the presentation cannot be made up and you cannot receive feedback needed for your research design in any other manner). If you need to miss a class for any reason you are expected to acquire the missed material yourself. If you intend to be absent from class in observance of a religious holiday, you need to inform me of that by 2/6. Any other absences need to be discussed with the instructor as soon as possible – in any case BEFORE class. You are expected to document the reason for missing class. Only a documented excuse, approved by me will have no consequences for your grade. There will be no make-up for missed quizzes, but missed quizzes will not affect the grades of those students with documented and approved excuses.
Miscellaneous
Office hours and location are as listed at the top of this syllabus. The best way to contact me is by email.
Please make yourself familiar with the University’s Code of Academic Integrity (http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html). There will be zero tolerance for plagiarism and cheating. Please note that the Code stipulates that you cannot submit work prepared for another course – if you want to re-use research done in previous courses, discuss details with me before you start on the paper. If you are not sure about how to represent another person’s work in an assignment, contact me for advice before submitting. The code specifies that the minimum sanction for plagiarism is an F on the particular assignment; repeated offenses carry an F for the class as the minimum penalty. Please do not try me on this, I do not want to fail anyone.
Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss specific needs by 9/11. Please contact the Disability Support Services office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center, Suite 242, to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/.
If you are having any problems at anytime during the semester regarding this class or your ability to participate, please contact me as soon as possible.
This syllabus is subject to change. The most recent version can be found on Blackboard. When in doubt, always refer to the one on Blackboard.
Semester outline
January 16 - 25, 2007 No classes
January 30, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Introduction to the course and its requirements. Selection of a NEPI for your research design (see syllabus for more information).
Reading: Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 1 (Introduction)
Baglione Writing a Research Paper in Political Science. Read the entire book (it is not that long) before our first class meeting. This book will be very helpful when you work on your research papers, but you need to familiarize yourself with the contents asap.
Assignments: Access the course resources on Blackboard and complete the survey posted online (you will also need to download the reading for Thursday). Choose a topic and question from the list provided in class you would like to write a research paper for. Start researching your topic
February 1, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
Hands-on Research: writing a literature review. A review of the existing literature is a key component of a research design. Researching the literature shows you what has already been written on the subject and provides you with an idea of the theoretical and methodological approaches taken by other researchers.
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 5 (Conducting a Literature Review)
John W. Cresswell (2003): Research Design - Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Second Edition. Chapter 2: Review of the Literature, p. 27-48 (on Blackboard).
Assignment: Review of the relevant literature (due 3/18).
Scientific discoveries build on previous discoveries. Reviewing the existing literature in the field provides you with a better idea of what others have found out about your topic; how you may want to design your own research in light of pre-existing scholarship; and which theoretical approaches you may choose. This can be a lengthy research process, start early! Expect to summarize your findings in up to 5 pages.
February 6, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Studying Politics Scientifically
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 2 (Studying Politics Scientifically)
February 8, 2007 No class
February 13, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Research Design
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 3 (Research Design)
February 15, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
The Efficiency of New Environmental Policy Instruments. Introduction to the research topic in this course
Reading:Thomas Sterner (2003): Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resource Management. Washington, DC: RFF Press, pp. 1-14 (on Blackboard).
Jonathan Golub (1998): New Instruments for Environmental Policy in the EU: Introduction and Overview. In: Jonathan Golub (ed.): New Instruments for Environmental Policy in the EU. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 1-29 (on Blackboard).
Bruno Dente (1995): Introduction: The Globalization of Environmental Policy and the Search for New Instruments. In: Bruno Dente (ed.): Environmental Policy in Search of New Instruments. Dodrecht: Kluwer, pp. 1-20 (on Blackboard).
February 20, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, and Variables
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 4 (Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, and Variables)
February 22, 2007 Thursday Different location: Gelman Library B06!!!
Hands-on Research: use of the library and databases. A library expert will show us how to make best use of the library’s resources, including research in databases.
Reading: Laurence F. Jones and Edward C. Olson (1996): Political Science Research: A Handbook of Scope and Methods. Chapter 2: The Problem: Essence of the Research Project, p.22-29 (on Blackboard).
Johnson & Reynolds, Chapter 5 (Conducting a Literature Review)
February 27, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 6 (The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement)
March 1, 2007 No class
March 6, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Making Empirical Observations: Direct and Indirect Observation
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 7 (Making Empirical Observations: Direct and Indirect Observation)
March 8, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
The Efficiency of New Environmental Policy Instruments - How to assess effectiveness
Reading: Winston Harrington, Richard D. Morgenstern, and Thomas Sterner (2004): Overview: Comparing Instrument Choices. In: Winston Harrington and Richard D. Morgenstern (eds.): Choosing Environmental Policy: Comparing Instruments and Outcomes in the United States and Europe. Washington, DC: RFF Press, p. 1-22 (on Blackboard).
Dieter Helm (2006): Regulatory Reform, Capture, and the Regulatory Burden. Oxford Review of Economic Policy 22(2), pp. 169-85 (on Blackboard).
Assignment: Remember to complete the literature review (due 3/18).
March 13 - 15, 2007 Spring Break
March 20, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Document Analysis: Using the Written Record
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 8 (Document Analysis: Using the Written Record)
Assignment: Finish your Colloquium presentation (due 3/24).
You will present your findings in our research colloquium on 3/24. After this colloquium, we should have a good idea of the various approaches applied in studying the efficiency of NEPIs. The colloquium discussions will generate much useful input for your individual research designs as well as for the collaborative effort. You should have a polished version of your literature review available for the colloquium so that these can be shared among everyone.
March 22, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
Hands-on Research: Using Context Analysis Tools
Reading: TBA
March 24, 2007 SATURDAY!
Research Colloquium
March 27, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Sampling
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 9 (Sampling)
Assignment: Revisions and final submission of your research design (due 5/8)
Most likely you will receive much helpful input during the colloquium. Incorporate these ideas into final design. Your research design needs to include a review of the literature, discussion of your theoretical approach, and a detailed methodology section in which you propose how best to study the efficiency of your particular family of NEPIs. Start this process immediately after the colloquium, since this will require substantial additional research.
March 29, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
The Efficiency of New Environmental Policy Instruments - How to move from the specific to the general?
Reading: Cary Coglianese (2002): Empirical Analysis and Adminstrative Law. University of Illinois Law Review 2002, 1111-37 (on Blackboard).
April 3, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Elite Interviewing and Survey Research
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 10 (Elite Interviewing and Survey Research)
April 5, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
The Efficiency of New Environmental Policy Instruments - How to integrate diverging approaches and methodologies
Reading: TBA
April 10, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Univariate Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 11 (Univariate Data Analysis and Descriptive Statistics)
April 12, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
The Efficiency of New Environmental Policy Instruments
Reading: TBA
April 17, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Measuring Relationships and Testing Hypotheses: Bivariate Data Analysis
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 12 (Measuring Relationships and Testing Hypotheses: Bivariate Data Analysis)
April 19, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
Searching for Complete Explanations and Causal Knowledge: Multivariate Analysis
Reading: Johnsons & Reynolds, Chapter 13 (Searching for Complete Explanations and Causal Knowledge: Multivariate Analysis)
April 24, 2007 Tuesday ACAD 331
Reading and Interpreting Research Carried out by Others
Reading: TBA
April 26, 2007 Thursday ACAD 331
Evaluation and De-Briefing
Assignment: Remember to finish your research design (due 5/8)
May 1, 2007 If required: Make-up class day