Political Science Research Methods

H.T. Reynolds is professor emeritus of political science at the University of
Delaware. He is the author of Governing America with David Volger, The Analysis of Nominal Data, 2nd Edition, and has published several articles on methodology.

Janet Buttolph Johnson is associate professor of political science and international relations at the University of Delaware, where she specializes in public policy, state and local politics, and environmental policy and politics.

Political Science Research Methods set the standard for being relevant, comprehensive, and ever-mindful of its student audience. With the seventh edition, the authors further refine their popular text to be more welcoming and more intuitive than ever-an ideal gateway to understanding not just the "how" but also the "why" behind research in the discipline.

Updates to this new edition include:

- new case studies of political science research in chapter 1-from causes of income inequality, to repression of human rights, to judicial decision making-that serve as touchpoints throughout the book;

- updated discussion in chapter 2 about the empirical approach to political science;

- a heavily revamped chapter 3 with clearer guidance on how to develop research questions along with steps for doing a literature review more appropriately placed earlier in the text;

- new extended case study on polling and the health care debate in chapter 7 on sampling;

- greater explanation of how to do content analysis in chapter 9 on document analysis;

- separate chapters for descriptive and inferential statistics step out instruction and increase accessibility; and

- a brand new annotated research article in chapter 16.

Bolded key terms, a glossary and explanatory charts, figures, and tables help aid students learning. "Helpful-hint" boxes give students nuts-and-bolts reminders they can refer to when conducting their own research.

'Well-structured and clearly written textbook that has been described as "very helpful" by students. Early chapters on finding good questions and basic research methodology are especially valuable to students writing final theses. Excellent use of examples of real research to illustrate recommendations' - Dr Patrick Theiner, Department of Political Science, Georg-August University of Göttingen

Introduction
The Empirical Approach to Political Science
Beginning the Research Process: Identifying a Topic, Developing Questions, and Reviewing the Literature
The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Hypotheses, Concepts, and Variables
The Building Blocks of Social Scientific Research: Measurement
Research Design: Making Causal Inferences
Sampling
Making Empirical Observations: Direct and Indirect Observation
Document Analysis: Using the Written Record
Survey Research and Interviewing
Making Sense of Data: First Steps
Statistical Inference
Investigating Relationships between Two Variables
Multivariate Analysis
The Research Report: An Annotated Example