Chapter Two Political Science and Scientific Methods Chapter Themes I Political science includes normative and/or empirical analysis II Political science has consisted of practitioners subscribing to traditionalism, behavioralism, and postbehavioralism over the years III Political scientists using the scientific method to collect and analyze data tend to practice epistemological empiricism and follow a data collection/analysis method which is based on hypothesis formation, operational definitions, identification of independent and dependent variables, identification of clear indicators, distinguishing between causation and correlation, and developing scientific theories IV Political scientists have various options when selecting an actual research approach These options include case studies, survey research, experiments, quasi-experiments, and quantitative analysis As the chapter points out, each research approach has certain benefits as well as limitations V Science has various limitations: human behavior may turn out to be unique; it is difficult to be purely empirical and thus difficult to know that scientific findings are correct; the pursuit of science does not guarantee that all important questions are actually studied; science may contradict its own logic; and science may come into conflict with ethics Questions for Class Discussion or Organized Debates Think of two ways you could study American politics from the standpoint of traditionalism and two ways you could study it from the perspective of behavioralism Which would give you a more useful portrait of American politics, and why? What important aspects of American politics would not be revealed if you confined your analysis to traditionalism and, similarly, what would be missed in you analysis if you limited yourself to hehavioralism? Could it have been the case that Prof Zimbardo was an outstanding professor, but not an ethical professor? Or, you consider him to have been ethical? ? Do you think Senator Coburn could point to the Zimbardo experiment to support his claim that some academic fields (the social sciences, for instance, that include psychology as well as political science) are less worthy of federal support than others? Assess carefully how you would construct answers to these questions Demonstrate the limits of survey research by intentionally writing a survey to produce answers you want to produce Is this difficult? Administer your survey to a groups of classmates and see if you succeeded in shaping the results form respondents How could you have written the survey in a more neutral fashion, that is, in a fashion which did not shape the responses? One question raised in this chapter involves the ethical limitations of science Consider the following: Is there any question you would not study as a scientist because you believed the study of this question would lead you to engage in data collection or analysis practices that are unethical? Had you been a scientist in the Tuskegee or the Cincinnati studies, would you have made any decisions contrary to those made by the scientists involved? If so, how and why? If not, why not? Exam Questions: Essay Which of the following scholars you think you will be more likely to remember five years after taking this course—Stanford Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo or British philosopher Francis Bacon? What is most memorable about Zimbardo? About Bacon? Upon graduating from a university, you are hired as a consultant to produce a factual, overview of Country X’s political situation for a client How you proceed to accomplish this task? Write an essay in which you explain whether you would choose to your research by means of a case study, survey research, indirect quantitative analysis, an experiment, or a quasi-experiment Which research would make the most sense, why, and what problems would you have to resolve? Exam Questions: Multiple Choice (correct answers are underlined) Political scientist A sets out to study a country by conducting research on its laws and institutions and hopes to obtain normative insights on how to improve these laws and institutions Political scientist B wants to study the same country but focuses on collecting empirical data on the voting behavior of its citizens and has no interest in including normative questions in her research project Which of the following is true? a Political Scientist A is a traditionalist and Political Scientist B is a behavioralist b Political Scientist A is a behavioralist and Political Scientist B is a traditionalist c Both Political Scientist A and B are behavioralists d Both Political Scientist A and B are traditionalists When one compares the testimony of scientists at the Scopes trial of the 1920s and the creationism trials of the 1980s, one finds a the definition of science was unchanged b scientists enjoyed greater degrees of credibility/authority in the 1920s than in the 1980s c both a and b d neither a nor b Postbehavioralism argues that behavioralism is, in and of itself, a value statement a true b false The branch of philosophy that studies that which constitutes truth is known as a indicators b epistemology c operationalism d none of the above A(n) _ is a definition so precise that it allows for empirical testing a normative statement b b correlation c operational definition d Baconian idol A variable that is being affected is known as a an independent variable b dependent variable c a causation variable d both a and b Does the existence of correlation necessarily imply also the existence of causation? a yes b no Studies of the U.S civil rights process, which focused on an analysis of a single phenomenon such as the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, exemplified the use of a quantitative analysis b a case study c survey research d both b a c _ generally provides greater breadth than a case study and produces findings which can be tested for statistical significance a An experiment on an individual b A quasi-experiment on an individual c Survey research d none of the above 10 In survey research, patterns are always identical to groups a true b false 11 A random sample is one in which a 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 each person in the population to be studies has an equal change of being selected in the sample being studied b every person in the population to be studied is also included in the sample selected for study c patterns but not groups are present d sample members are asked closed questions A control group a is also known as a test group b in an experiment is a group that is not exposed to a variable c is also known as a Hawthorne Effect group d both a and b If researchers conducting an experiment accidentally communicate their expectations about the experiment to the subjects in the experiment, this is known as a the Rosenthal effect b the double-blind effect c the Hawthorne effect d the variable effect Dr Marion Sims a conducted medical experiments on slave women in the U.S south prior to the Civil War b is regarded as one of the founders of gynecological medicine c both a and b d neither a nor b Thomas Kuhn’s work has suggested that a science has often tried to come up with exceptions to explain away inconvenient facts b science has not used paradigms c survey research is the best way of collecting data d operational definitions are not useful when doing scientific research Patrick Caddell has suggested that negative campaign advertising is correlated with a lowering voter turnout in elections b producing a high number of “don’t know” responses when conducting survey research c resolving the Rosenthal effect d increasing level of trust in government In the Tuskegee study, a subjects were exposed to radiation b the effects of syphilis were observed c the study was terminated by the researchers when penicillin was found to be an effective treatment for syphilis d both b an c Francis Bacon a opposed science and the scientific method as hostile to religion b wrote of various idols from which science could free humanity c both a and b d neither a nor b In terms of survey research, which of the following is true? a The order of questions in a survey can affect how people answer the questions in a survey b Low levels of information can affect survey responses c both a and b d neither a nor b The Zimbardo study a Collected DNA samples from infants born in U.S hospitals without parental knowledge or consent b was one in which some members of the study acted so aggressively toward others that the study was terminated prior to its planned time for completion c is often cited by anti-war advocates to argue that human nature appears to be thoroughly peaceful and lacking in impulses toward violence d Was funded by the U.S government and involved exposing cancer patients to high doses of radiation Internet Projects Examine the Center for Science in the Public Interest at http://www.cspinet.org Identify two examples of recent campaigns/activities/publications in which this organization is trying to use scientific knowledge to serve the public interest Do you find the Center’s arguments convincing? Why or why not? At http://www.aaas.org, the American Association for the Advancement of Science provides news releases and updates on a variety of scientific issues Analyze two postings/press releases/new updates from this page Do these postings, press releases/or news updates raise any ethical questions about the scientific process or the findings of science? Explain The American Political Science Association maintains an Internet page at http://www.apsanet.org What kind of information does the Association make available at this site? Discuss three findings about Political Science in the U.S that you can identify at apsanet.org ... are behavioralists d Both Political Scientist A and B are traditionalists When one compares the testimony of scientists at the Scopes trial of the 1920s and the creationism trials of the 1980s,... operationalism d none of the above A(n) _ is a definition so precise that it allows for empirical testing a normative statement b b correlation c operational definition d Baconian idol A variable... c _ generally provides greater breadth than a case study and produces findings which can be tested for statistical significance a An experiment on an individual b A quasi-experiment on an