This text emphasizes active learning through the use of real data and a hands-on approach to SPSS. By placing coverage of the philosophy of science and the building blocks of research at the beginning, the structure of the text follows the actual process students would employ in their own research. Activities and exercises help students master research concepts and skills.

Empirical Political Analysis introduces students to the full range of qualitative and quantitative methods used in political science research. Organized around all of the stages of the research process, this comprehensive text surveys designing experiments, conducting research, evaluating results, and presenting findings. With exercises in the text and in a companion lab manual, Empirical Political Analysis gives students applied insights on the scopes and methods of political science research. Features: Offers comprehensive coverage of quantitative and qualitative research methods in political science, a hallmark since it first published over 25 years ago. Covers the research process from start to finish—hypothesis formation, literature review, research design, data gathering, data analysis, and research report writing. Includes in-depth examples of political science research to give discipline-specific instruction on political analysis. Features a “Practical Research Ethics” box in every chapter to make students aware of common ethical dilemmas and potential solutions to them. Written by political scientists who actively publish in subfields ranging from comparative politics to environmental policy to political communications to voting behavior. Includes learning goals, key terms, and research examples to help students engage and explore the most important concepts.

Students can easily misstep when they first begin to do research. Leanne C. Powner’s new title Empirical Research and Writing: A Student′s Practical Guide provides valuable advice and guidance on conducting and writing about empirical research. Chapter by chapter, students are guided through the key steps in the research process. Written in a lively and engaging manner and with a dose of humor, this practical text shows students exactly how to choose a research topic, conduct a literature review, make research design decisions, collect and analyze data, and then write up and present the results. The book′s approachable style and just-in-time information delivery make it a text students will want to read, and its wide-ranging and surprisingly sophisticated coverage will make it an important resource for their later coursework.

This is an immensely helpful book for students starting their own research... an excellent introduction to the comparative method giving an authoritative overview over the research process - Klaus Armingeon, University of Bern Doing Research in Political Science is the book for mastering the comparative method in all the social sciences - Jan-Erik Lane, University of Geneva This book has established itself as a concise and well-readable text on comparative methods and statistics in political science I...strongly recommend it. - Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Philipps-University Marburg This thoroughly revised edition of the popular textbook offers an accessible but comprehensive introduction to comparative research methods and statistics for students of political science. Clearly organized around three parts, the text introduces the main theories and methodologies used in the discipline. Part 1 frames the comparative approach within the methodological framework of the political and social sciences. Part 2 introduces basic descriptive and inferential statistical methods as well as more advanced multivariate methods used in quantitative political analysis. Part 3 applies the methods and techniques of Parts 1 & 2 to research questions drawn from contemporary themes and issues in political science. Incorporating practice exercises, ideas for further reading and summary questions throughout, Doing Research in Political Science provides an invaluable step-by-step guide for students and researchers in political science, comparative politics and empirical political analysis.

Provides a framework to demonstrate how to unify formal, theoretical and empirical analysis through various interdisciplinary examples.

Empirical Political Analysis introduces readers to the foundations of social science research. Organized around the stages of the research process, this textbook prepares readers to conduct both quantitative and qualitative research, from the formation of theory through the design of research projects, to the collection of data and the analysis of results. It offers a clear and concise presentation of basic concepts and tools that can be applied in a wide range of research settings and highlights ethical conduct in the research process. It will help you both to achieve sound results in your own research and to critically evaluate research presented by others. Key features: Offers comprehensive coverage of quantitative and qualitative research methods in political science – this book is one of the key texts in the field of political research methods since it was first published over 25 years ago. Covers the research process from start to finish—hypothesis formation, literature review, research design, data gathering, data analysis, and research report writing. Includes in-depth examples of political science research to give discipline-specific instruction on political analysis. Features a "Practical Research Ethics" box in every chapter to make students aware of common ethical dilemmas and potential solutions to them. Includes learning goals, key terms, and research examples to help students engage and explore the most important concepts. New to this edition: Updated and international case studies. New material on understanding research design – what constitutes a sound research design and how this contributes to being able to justify research findings.

The era of digital communication provides endless opportunities for the collection and analysis of social data in novel ways. It also presents new and unanticipated challenges, as researchers are often inventing elements of their methodologies on the fly or studying a phenomenon or media platform for the first time. Research Exposed offers in-depth, behind-the-scenes accounts of doing empirical social science in this new paradigm. Through firsthand descriptions of innovative research projects, it shares lessons learned from over a dozen scholars’ cutting-edge work. These candid accounts describe what can go wrong when pioneering new genres of research and how such difficulties can be overcome, giving both big-picture reflection and actionable advice. The chapters discuss a variety of methods, ranging from the completely novel to the use of more traditional approaches in the digital context, and cover research questions relevant to a range of disciplines, including sociology, political science, communication, information studies, and anthropology. By focusing attention on the concrete details seldom discussed in final project write-ups or traditional research guides, Research Exposed helps equip junior and senior scholars alike with essential information that is all too often left with no outlet for sharing. It offers important insights into how empirical social science research can be both innovative and rigorous when dealing with the opportunities and challenges presented by digital media.

This comprehensive text is designed to help political science students learn what to research, why to research, and how to research. It integrates both the quantitative and qualitative approaches to research, including the most detailed coverage of qualitative methods currently available. The book provides specific instructions in the use of available statistical software programs such as Excel and SPSS. It covers such important topics as research design, specifying research problems, designing questionnaires and writing questions, designing and carrying out qualitative research, and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative research data. Copiously illustrated and thoroughly classroom tested, the book presents statistical methods in a conversational tone to help students surmount "math phobia."

This title equips students of politics and international relations with the analytical skills and resources to evaluate, understand and criticise research findings in political research, as well as the practical skills to carry out their own research.

Empirical Political Analysis introduces students to the full range of qualitative and quantitative methods used in political science research. Organized around all of the stages of the research process, this comprehensive text surveys designing experiments, conducting research, evaluating results, and presenting findings. With exercises in the text and in a companion lab manual, Empirical Political Analysis gives students applied insights on the scopes and methods of political science research. Features: Offers comprehensive coverage of quantitative and qualitative research methods in political science, a hallmark since it first published over 25 years ago. Covers the research process from start to finish—hypothesis formation, literature review, research design, data gathering, data analysis, and research report writing. Includes in-depth examples of political science research to give discipline-specific instruction on political analysis. Features a “Practical Research Ethics” box in every chapter to make students aware of common ethical dilemmas and potential solutions to them. Written by political scientists who actively publish in subfields ranging from comparative politics to environmental policy to political communications to voting behavior. Includes learning goals, key terms, and research examples to help students engage and explore the most important concepts.