Good Research

1
Good Research
2
How We Know Things

• Definitions
• Common Language
• Common Rules

3
How do we know things, part II

• Investment
• Authority
• Logic
• Faith
• Science

4
What is Science?

• An Activity
• A method
• Not content
• Social Science

5
Limits to Science

• Tentative Truth
• Recursive behavior
• Objective Reality?

6
What do we know?

• Shared Experience
• Precedent
• Trustworthiness

7
How we use what we know

• Normative Analysis
• Guiding Principles
• Big Questions

• Empirical Analysis
• Quantitative
• Qualitative

8
Reasoning Errors

• Overgeneralization
• Selective observation
• Inaccurate observation
• Illogical reasoning

9
History of Political Science
10
Traditional Political Science

• Historical
• Legal
• Institutional

11
Behavioral Political Science

• 1950s and 1960s
• Change in Scholars
• Change in Focus
• Empirical
• Hard Core

• Problems
• Wheres the Politics?
• Narrows our focus

12
Post-Behavioralism

• 1970s and 1980s
• Social Relevance
• Broader Perspective

13
Methods Revolution

• 1990s
• Computers
• Precision

14
Perestroika

• 1999-
• Post-Modern
• Multi-Perspective
• Multi-Method