Understanding political phenomena and the study of politics requires a grounding in research design and data analysis.
Data are simply pieces of information that are used to describe the world.
To be informed consumers of this information, it is necessary to understand how data may be used and misused. Without that understanding, citizens and students are not well equipped to evaluate political or scholarly information. Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be better equipped to evaluate the popular and scholarly use of quantitative and qualitative information. The skills and materials presented here are useful not solely in reading political science research publications, but in more practical pursuits, like reading the paper, choosing a candidate, buying a house, and so on. This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of research methods used by political scientists and other social science researchers.