{"product_id":"9781032414966-craft-of-political-research","title":"The Craft of Political Research","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Craft of Political Research\u003c\/em\u003e is a non-technical introduction to research design and analysis in political science, emphasizing the choices we make when we design a research project and analyze its results. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Craft of Political Research\u003c\/i\u003e is a nontechnical introduction to research design and analysis in political science, emphasizing the choices we make when we design a research project and analyze its results. The book’s approach centers on asking an interesting research question, then designing inquiry to eliminate as many alternative explanations as possible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow do we develop theory, and what constitutes a good research question? How do we operationalize measures and gather evidence to answer a question? How do we analyze our data? Students are introduced to such topics as multidimensional concepts, levels of measurement, validity, reliability, random and non-random measurement error, sampling, case selection, causality, experimental and quasi-experimental design, statistical inference, and regression and correlation analysis. Throughout, the emphasis is on understanding the “back story” of analysis—\u003ci\u003ewhy\u003c\/i\u003e do we measure in a particular way, \u003ci\u003ewhy\u003c\/i\u003e do we choose one design as against another, \u003ci\u003ewhy\u003c\/i\u003e do we conduct our analysis as we do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEmphasizing the internal logic of research methods, the greatest strength of the book is its clarity and the broad range of political science examples provided. It works at a conceptual level, seeking an understanding of the principles that underlie techniques and the reasons why we choose them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew to this edition:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew and revised examples from the US, UK, Canada, Latin America, and Africa among others, and updated international data from organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeparate chapters on causality and research design, with more discussion of each component of the political science research process\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew section on indexes and scales that reviews ways to improve reliability and validity of measures by combining several variables\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew sections reviewing collection of publicly available data including downloadable sources of quantitative data\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew material on internet surveys and other contemporary techniques used in political science research.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55316045431158,"sku":"9781032414966","price":93.33,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/stand_36652994.jpg?v=1760629196","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9781032414966-craft-of-political-research","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}