W. Phillips Shively
624-4395
1460 Social Sciences
shively@polisci.umn.edu
Office Hours: Tues. 2:30 - 3:30, Thurs, 9:00 - 11:15, Also by appointment or happenstance.
The purpose of this seminar is to get you started on your honors project, both by giving you some context on doing research in the social sciences, and by giving you some tools and some practical training in research methods.
Reading materials are on reserve in Wilson Library, and are also in a box for this class in the Political Science Reading Room, 1246E Social Sciences.
Written assignments culminate in your research design, plus the first parts of your thesis. The design should 1) state the question you're asking; 2) show why we should be interested in it (this section should include a succinct review of the directly related published literature relevant to the question); 3) the sorts of evidence and arguments by which you intend to provide answer(s) to the question; and 4) description of how you will gather the evidence. You will present your proposals orally to the seminar at the end of the fall quarter; your advisers are invited to attend these presentations.
Grading will reflect the merit of your written work, your generosity and creativity in seminar discussions, and the oral presentation of your proposal. The grade for this fall seminar will not be recorded until you have completed the thesis.
Seminar meetings and assignments:
Sept. 24, 29: Choosing a topic
Individual discussions with the instructor about thesis topics you may be considering; general discussion about posing questions for research.
Readings:
Chs. 1-2 of W. P. Shively, The Craft of Political Research, 4th ed., pp. 1-26 (9/29)
John Sullivan, "The Sources of Tolerance", in W. P. Shively The Research Process in Political Science, chs 1A (read, don't study) and 1B, pp.7-46 (9/29)
Oct. 1-8: Research design
Readings:
Ch. 6 of W. P. Shively, The Craft of Political Research, 4th ed., pp. 71-93 (10/1)
Ch. 1 of Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba, Designing Social Inquiry, pp.
3-33 (10/1)
Campbell and Ross, "The Connecticut Crackdown on Speeding", 3 Law and Society Review (August 1968), pp. 33-53 (10/6)
Terence Ball, "The Feminist and his Father - A True Detective Story", in Shively The Research Process in Political Science, ch. 3 pp. 89-110 (10/6)
Written Assignment:
Topic summaries (c. 2 pp.), due 10/6. At this point you may still turn in ideas on more than one topic. Please bring one copy for every student in the class (there are fifteen) plus one for the professor.
Oct. 13-22: Gathering evidence
Two of these classes (dates TBA) will be held as sessions at the library, being introduced to the research tools there.
Readings:
Robert Putnam, Making Democracy Work, ch. 3, pp. 63-82 (10/13)
Richard Fenno, Home Style: House Members in their Districts, appendix: "Notes on Method: Participant Observation" (10/13)
Written Assignments:
1) A draft presentation of your research question, including telling the reader why he or she should find it interesting, and showing how it fits with and will contribute to the published research on the question. (3-8 pp.) Due 10/15
2) Initial draft of the first part of your research design, telling what sorts of argument and evidence you will use to answer your research question, and why these should be good ways to resolve the question. (3-8 pp.) Due 10/20
3) Interview critique (2-3 pp.), due 10/22
Oct. 27,29: Guest Speakers
Written Assignments:
1) Revised draft of your research question and its justification. Due 10/27
2) Initial draft of the second part of your research design, explaining how you will gather the evidence you need.(3-8 pp.) Due 10/29
Nov. 3-5: Individual Meetings with the Instructor
Written Assignments:
1) Revised draft of the first part of your research design Due 11/3
2) Revised draft of the second part of your research design Due 11/5
Nov. 10-12: Writing and Presenting Evidence
Readings:
William Zinsser, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction, pp 3-54, 111-141. (11/10)
George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language", in Collected Essays (11/10)
Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative information (A whole book, but a pretty quick read. You shouldn't spend more than a few hours on it.) (11/12)
Nov. 17-24, Dec. 1: Formal Presentations
Please be sure to invite your thesis advisor to your presentation.
Written assignments:
1) Thesis proposal. Due 11/17.
2) First draft of "Chapter 1" of your thesis, laying out your research question, justifying it, and addressing questions of research design that need to be discussed. (I've put quotation marks around this, because if you and your advisor have a different way of introducing your thesis, that's fine. What I want is to see the first draft of the introduction, which sets up your thesis for the reader.) Due 12/1
Dec. 3: Strategies for Completing the Thesis
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