Political Science and Scientific Methods in Studying Politics

Grigsby 2

Political Science

An academic and research discipline that deals with the theory and practice of

politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political

behavior.

Historical Developments

• Beginnings traced to Ancient Greece• Socrates• Plato• Aristotle

• Academic Field in U.S.• Columbia University 1880

• First political science department• American Political Science Association

• Formed in 1903

Subfields

• Comparative Politics• American Politics• International Relations• Public Policy• Political Research Methods• Political theory• Specialized Groups

Focus of Research

• Normative issues• Issues involving value

judgments and ethics

• Empirical investigations• Observable and factual

• Both Normative and Empirical

Analytical Approaches

• Traditionalism• Behavioralism• Postbehavioralism

TraditionalismThe analysis of the formal,

legal, and official side of political life.

• Try to understand politics by examining• Laws• Governmental offices• Constitutions• Other official offices associated with

politics

BehavioralismThe empirical analysis of

the actual behavior of politically involved individuals and groups

Charles Merriam 1874-1953• Developed after WWII• Based on the works of Charles Merriam in the

1920s• Stresses the importance of empirical

analysis• Collection of data based on observation• What is, rather than what should be

Postbehavioralism

Political Science should be relevant, as well as empirically reliable

David Easton

• An alternative to both traditionalism and behavioralism (1969)

• Information produced by political science has ethical implications.

Methodology

• Scientific Method• The collection of data• Analysis of data• Testing of assertions

• Science’s explanations are necessarily incomplete and tentative• Always subject to falsification

Steps Involved

• Formulate an hypothesis• Operationalize concepts• Identify independent and dependent

variables• Clarify measurement criteria• Distinguish between causation and

correlation• Develop scientific theories

Formulating the Hypothesis

A statement proposing a specific relationship between phenomena.

• “Is voting in U.S. elections related to age?”

• “U.S. citizens 18-24 years of age will vote in lower numbers than will U.S. citizens 45-55 years of age.”

Operationalize Concepts

Concepts must be defined precisely to allow for empirical testing.

• “Young people will vote less than older people in the U.S.”

• “U.S. citizens 18-24 years of age will vote in lower numbers than will U.S. citizens 45-55 years of age.”

Identify VariablesThe phenomena linked

together in a hypothesis.

• Independent variables• Those that affect something• Example: Age

• Dependent variables• Those that are being affected• Example: Voting

Clarifying Measurement Criteria

Specifying what is taken as an indicator of the variable.

• An indicator is evidence• How would we obtain evidence

regarding our variable of voting?

Causation and Correlation

• Causation:• One variable absolutely causing or creating

the other. • Being age 20 absolutely determines whether

someone will vote.

• Correlation:• Changes in one variable appear when

there are changes in another variable. • Lower voting appears with younger age groups.

Scientific Theories

• Seek to offer explanations about why and how correlations occur.

• Seek to predict. • Having found a relationship between age and

voting, the political scientist might theorize:• Relationship is related to different mobility patterns

among groups. • Most interesting aspect of science.

Francis Bacon - 1600s

• Science can free us from various “idols” (errors, misconceptions, and distorted views). • Idols of marketplace• Idols of the tribe• Idols of the den• Idols of the theater

Idols of the Marketplace

• Errors based on misunderstanding and faulty communication.

• Errors related to our inexact use of language.

Idols of the Tribe

• Errors related to the flaws of human nature

• Errors caused by the human tendency to be:• Quick to judge• Superficial in our assessments

Idols of the Den

• Errors caused by our inability to seebeyond our own particular surroundings

• Errors related to our near-sightedness and tendency to view our way of life as the standard for judging all others.

Idols of the Theater

• Errors based on our beliefs in dogmatic teachings.

• Errors caused by believing in systems of thought characterized by inflexibility closed off to questioning and critical analysis.

Research Strategies

• Case Studies• Survey Research• Experiments and Quasi-Experiments• Indirect Quantitative Analysis

Case Studies

An investigation of a specific phenomenon or entity.

• Strength:• Allows for in-depth study

• Weakness:• Information may not apply to other cases

Survey ResearchQuestionnaires and/or

interviews to gather data.

• Strengths:• Large amounts of information can be gathered

and assessed• Information more general than in case studies

• Weaknesses:• Wording, sampling, and other problems• Lacks up-close, in-depth details of a case study

ExperimentsInvestigation of a

hypothesis by using a test group and a control group.

• Strength:• Experimental conditions allow researchers to

carefully test hypotheses. • Weaknesses:

• Participants may alter behavior • Many questions cannot be tested by experiments

Quasi-Experiments

• Field experiments• Like experiments, but

unable to have true control group

Indirect Quantitative Analysis

The analysis of data already compiled by others

• Strength: • Researcher builds on findings of others

• Weakness:• Often difficult to compare findings for

different purposes.

Limitations of Science

• Human bias• Human behavior is often

unique• How do we know

findings are correct?

• Do we ignore important questions?• Science in conflict with ethics?

One Nation, Underprivileged

Rank 2: Below the Line

War on Poverty

“It will not be a short or easy struggle, no single weapon or

strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won. The richest nation on

earth can afford to win it. We cannot afford to lose it.” Lyndon B. Johnson

Poverty Defined

A lack of those necessities that “the

custom of the country renders it indecent for

creditable people, even of the lowest

order, to be without.”Adam Smith

U.S. Poverty

• U.S. level of poverty is one of the highest in the industrialized world

• Age group most at risk is children

“It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”

~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta