Collateral Materials for Students
Graduate Students -- below you will find the course listings for IR and Political Methodology for the coming academic year (AY 2007/2008), followed by some additional collateral that you may find useful (such as previous comprehensive examination questions.)
Academic Year 2007/8 Graduate Classes at UW
| click for brief descriptions | International Relations | Political Methodology |
|---|---|---|
| Fall Quarter 2007 | 500: Research Design | |
| Winter Quarter 2008 | 501: Introduction to Statistical Inference |
|
| Spring Quarter 2008 |
International Relations:
Fall Quarter 2007
POLS 521 -- International Relations I: Theory and Method. Part one of the course course in the field of international relations. Reviews contemporary theory,research, and methodology in the study of world politics.
Professor Jonathan Mercer.POLS 528 -- Advanced International Relations Theory. This Course introduces students to advanced readings in IR theory. It has three goals: 1) to deepen understanding of the contending theoretical approaches in IR; 2) to cover some contemporary IR debates; and 3) to encourage critical and constructive thinking about the varied theoretical approaches in IR. The course is designed for Ph.D. students in political science and assumes a background in IR theory (POLS 521). Prerequisite: POL S 521.
Professor Elizabeth L. Kier
Winter Quarter 2008
POLS 527 -- Special Topics in International Relations Research: International Political Economy of Development. Covers the emergence and development of the modern world system, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, development debates of the 1950s, dependency and post dependency, East Asian experience including the 1997 crisis. Also covers debates on the impact of property rights protection, social capital, democracy, colonialism, aid, and FDI on development.
Professor Aseem Prakash.POLS 527 -- Special Topics in International Relations Research: Political Conflict. This course will survey the theoretical and empirical literatures which deal with the onset, duration, and termination of international and civil conflicts.Prerequisite: POLS 521 and POLS 500. Professor Michael D. Ward.
Spring Quarter 2008
POLS 522 -- International Political Economy: I. This course deals with the political economy of the global system, with respect to both state and non-state actors. Specifically, we study the political economy of trade, capital (foreign direct investment, MNCs, portfolio capital), development,regional integration, and the changing international division of labor. These issues will be examined from a variety of theoretical perspectives, including neoclassical economics (liberal), structural theories (Marxism and dependency), and realism.
Professor James A. Caporaso.POLS 525 -- International Law -- Policy. Inputs of international law into the decisional process in foreign policy. Effect of policy on law. Relevant roles of individuals and institutions in routine and crisis situations.
Professor Karen T. Litfin.
Political Methodology : (be sure to check the CSSS courses as well.)
Fall Quarter 2007
POLS 500 -- Political Research Design: Introduction to research design, data collection, and writing of research proposals.This course introduces students to empirical analysis in political science. Students are provided with a “hands on” understanding of methodological issues so that they can become both intelligent consumers of political research and, more importantly, competent producers of empirically based knowledge.
Professor Anthony Gill.
Winter Quarter 2008
POLS 501 -- Introduction to Empirical Research in Political Science: Political Science 501 is intended to provide a foundational understanding of introductory statistical analysis. The format of the classroom instruction will be primarily lecture, given the nature of the material. I have four goals for the course: a) that each student come to understand exactly what statistical tools can and cannot do for us as social scientists; b) that students whose analytical approach will be less dependent on quantitative analysis understand how these tools might support their endeavors; c) that each student be able to move from a question to a testable hypothesis to an appropriate design using these tools and have a firm grasp of the issues and techniques relevant to data identification and collection; and d) that students are armed with the statistical tools necessary for measuring these phenomena and testing hypotheses.
Professor Gary Segura.POLS 510 -- Maximum Likelihood Methods for the Social Sciences: Theory and practice of likelihood inference for social science models, spanning binary, nominal, ordinal, count, and continuous random variables. Estimation, interpretation, and presentation of results will also be emphasized. Offered jointly with CS&SS 510. Prerequisite: POLS 503.
Professor Michael D. Ward.POLS 559 -- Special Topics in Political Methodology: This course will cover survey and experimental research methods. Prerequisite: POLS 501.
Professor Bethany Albertson.
Spring Quarter 2008
POLS 502 -- Qualitative Research Methods. Qualitative Research Methods Introduction to
qualitative methods in political science, emphasizing the design of qualitative studies (as opposed to the collection of qualitative data). Some of the topics covered include comparative case studies, case selection, within-case analysis, causal mechanisms, process-tracing, and counterfactual reasoning.Prerequisite: POL S 501.
Professor Elizabeth Kier.POLS 503 --Applied Regression Analysis Theory and practice of liinear regression, including exploratory data analysis, statistical inference for regression, dummy variable regression, analysis of variance, properties of the least squares estimator, unusual and influential data, diagnosis, heuristics, and presentation of regression results.
Professor TBD.
Ph. D. Comprehensive Examinations
- Reading List for International Relations; This is the official list that supplements the readings which are assigned in our graduate seminars in international relations. But, you should also be reading in the important journals (including, but not limited to the American Political Science Review, International Studies Quarterly, International Studies Review, International Organization, World Politics, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Politial Geography, American Economic Review, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and your own eclectic collection of journals that may help you to learn about international relations) and recent books as well. After all, this is your field of study.
- Past Examinations
- Strategies
Writing Papers
Political Methodology Ph.D. Track at UW