GOV 350K • Statistical Analysis in Politcal Science
11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Upper-division standing required. This course introduces basic concepts and methods of statistics. Unlike the typical elementary statistical courses you may have taken, the emphasis here will be on applications in political science. The objective of this course is to help students acquire the literacy for understanding political science literatures based on the scientific approach, as well as to prepare interested students for more advanced methods courses. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability and probability distributions, sampling, sampling distribution, point estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance, contingency tables, correlation, and simple regression. Computing will be an integral part of this course. You will use SPSS to analyze data from Gallup Survey, General Social Survey, and/or National Election Study in homework assignments. In particular, you will be asked to replicate results reported in journal articles and book chapters. You are also encouraged to develop and work out your own research problems.
Homework Assignments (5-7 sets): 30% In-Class Midterm Exam: 25% In-Class Final Exam: 30% Instructor Discretion (Attendance, Participation, etc.): 15%
1. T. H. Wonnacott and R. J. Wannacott. 1990. Introductory Statistics, 5th Ed. Wiley. (Or 4th Ed., Introductory Statistics for Buisness and Economics, 1990, which is the same as the 5th Ed.) 2. S. B. Green and N. J. Salkind, 2005. Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data, 4th Ed. Prentice Hall.