An APSA Pedagogical Partnership Grant Resource Collection
Building a Bridge for Better Political Science Research: How to Bring Better Methods Instruction to All Students
This American Political Science Association Pedagogical Partnership Project–Building a Bridge for Better Political Science Research: How to Bring Better Methods Instruction to All Students–was motivated by two important patterns. First, many students struggle in introductory research methods courses, particularly those who transfer from two-year colleges into political science majors at four-year institutions. Second, performance in these courses predicts success for political science majors overall, as these courses prepare students to read, and potentially produce, research that uses quantitative methods.
Our P4P project brought together faculty from political science departments at a range of two-year and four-year institutions. We collected data on student performance and held workshops to discuss different pedagogical approaches. The main outputs of the project are a series of pedagogical materials. We designed these materials to bring methods instruction into both methods-focused and substantive classes at both two-year and four-year institutions. They can be used as stand alone modules and are also meant to serve as examples for other such materials that could be produced and distributed.
APSA's Pedagogical Partnership Grant supported the development of this resource collection.
In this Collection:
- Key Concepts in Quantitative Analysis
- Working with Comparative Political Data
- Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Resource Set ONE
Key Concepts in Quantitative Analysis
Resource Set One includes three short animated videos explaining key quantitative analysis concepts. Each video could be incorporated into any political science course, including Scope and Methods, Introduction to American Government, Comparative Politics, or International Relations. Victor Adegboyega-Edun, an Assistant Professor of Web and Animation Technology at Hagerstown Community College, produced the videos.
Pick Me
“Pick Me” explains random sampling and how it allows us to generalize to a large population from a relatively small sample.
Dropout
"Dropout” shows the importance of examining all of the data and not focusing on exceptions.
Interactive Relationships
“Interactive Relationships” clearly and succinctly explains spurious, additive, and interactive relationships.
Resource Set Two
Working with Comparative Political Data
Resource Set Two features a breakdown of an active learning module asking students to compare political data across countries. While the module can be used in the Introduction to Comparative Politics course, the resource also highlights how methods instruction can be brought into substantive courses at two-year and four-year institutions. Corwin Parker, an Associate Professor of Geography at Frederick Community College, produced this video.
Country Comparison
“Country Comparison” shares an active learning module asking students to work with comparative political data.
Resource Set Three
Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Resource Set Three showcases an introductory lecture on statistical analysis. The lecture slides introduce basic concepts such as variables, theory, and hypotheses. They can be used in an introductory substantive course such as Introduction to American Politics or Introduction to Comparative Politics. Dr. Eric Schwartz, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Hagerstown Community College, created the lecture and lecture slides.
Where is the Science in Political Science?
"Where is the Science in Political Science" introduces basic statistical analysis concepts such as variables, theory, and hypotheses.