{"product_id":"understanding-political-science-research-methods","title":"Understanding Political Science Research Methods","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis text starts by explaining the fundamental goal of good political science researchthe ability to answer interesting and important questions by generating valid inferences about political phenomena. Before the text even discusses the process of developing a research question  the authors introduce the reader to what it means to make an inference and the different challenges that social scientists face when confronting this task. Only with this ultimate goal in mind will students be able to ask appropriate questions  conduct fruitful literature reviews  select and execute the proper research design  and critically evaluate the work of others. The authors primary goal is to teach students to critically evaluate their own research designs and others and analyze the extent to which they overcome the classic challenges to making inference: internal and external validity concerns  omitted variable bias  endogeneity  measurement  sampling  and case selection errors  and poor research questions or theory. As such  students will not only be better able to conduct political science research  but they will also be more savvy consumers of the constant flow of causal assertions that they confront in scholarship  in the media  and in conversations with others. Three themes run through Barakso  Sabet  and Schaffners text: minimizing classic research problems to making valid inferences  effective presentation of research results  and the nonlinear nature of the research process. Throughout their academic years and later in their professional careers  students will need to effectively convey various bits of information. Presentation skills gleaned from this text will benefit students for a lifetime  whether they continue in academia or in a professional career. Several distinctive features make this book noteworthy: A common set of examples threaded throughout the text give students a common ground across chapters and expose them to a broad range of subfields in the discipline. Box features throughout the book illustrate the nonlinear  \"non-textbook\" reality of research  demonstrate the often false inferences and poor social science in the way the popular press covers politics  and encourage students to think about ethical issues at various stages of the research process.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44947029983285,"sku":"ByrdShop_0415895200","price":63.56,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/understanding-political-science-research-methods","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}