The Craft of Political Research - Softcover

Shively, W. Phillips

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9780136029489: The Craft of Political Research

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0136029485 ISBN 13: 9780136029489

Publisher: Taylor & Francis, 2008

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This highly accessible book provides a basic introduction to the nature of research questions and methods of empirical research in political science. It describes the cooperative process, as well as the logic of empirical measurement and analysis of observations, in the conception and pursuit of a research project. Emphasizing the design of interesting research questions and basic problems of measurement and data analysis, the book relies more on intuitive understanding than on formal development.

W. Phillips Shively wrote this book in 1970, when he was an assistant professor at Yale University. In teaching a number of sections of Introduction to Research to undergraduates there, he had found that the students benefited from an introduction that emphasized the internal logic of research methods and the collective, cooperative nature of the research process. He could not find a book that presented things in this way at a sufficiently elementary level to be readily accessible by undergraduates. And so he wrote The Craft of Political Research.

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From the Publisher:

This introduction to the conception and pursuit of a research project emphasizes the design of interesting research questions and basic problems of measurement and data analysis.

From the Back Cover:

This accessible book introduces the cooperative process as well as the logic of empirical measurement and analysis of observations in the conception and pursuit of a political research project. Emphasizing design and basic problems of measurement and data analysis, it relies more on intuitive understanding than on formal development. Written in a clear and engaging style, this book considers the ethics of research focusing solely on politics. The fourth edition of The Craft of Political Research has been revised to include an introduction to logit analysis; a new section on regression to the mean; updated examples with a special emphasis on Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work; an analysis of the concept of "power;" a discussion of the direction of causality; and a section on polling and tests of statistical significance. An essential reference book for any professional in politics at any level.

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