or SPSS for political analysis. "And I
always encourage students to follow
along on their computer as they're
reading the book," Edwards added.
But numbers and statistics can be
daunting for many students, especially
for those who hoped political science
might be a math-free zone. Edwards
suggests showing students that the
material is already a part of their life,
just in different forms. "Start with what
students are most familiar with, for
example, how their grade is calculated,
and use that as a springboard to
move it to another context that they're
less familiar with. That helps to make
students confi dent in what they're
learning and helps them better
understand the idea of a model, or the
idea of an equation."
Which begs the question, why use a
bespoke political analysis book at all
when there are good data analysis
books out there?
"Frankly, some work on pure data
analysis or a book on statistical
analysis is very useful," Edwards says.
"And I think most students should
take a statistics class, in addition to
a political science research methods
class. But I also think that learning
data analysis in an applied setting,
with specifi c relatable problems and
a certain body of relevant data and a
certain body of pertinent research, is
more comprehensible." For example,
a political analysis class will often
offer an example with thousands of
observations in a data set, as opposed
the six observations you might see in
an intro stats class.
In another real-world concern, Edwards
says the new edition of Essentials
includes a new section on research
methods that covers issues such as
how to ethically work with human
subjects, ethical obligations to the
public at large, as well as to the
academic community that covers
problems like P-hacking or post hoc
theorizing. "I think everyone needs
to have a frank conversation in their
classes with students about how to use
these powerful tools appropriately."
The Essentials of Political
Analysis, Sixth Edition
Philip H. Pollock III and
Barry C. Edwards
See page 10 for details.
Learning data in an
applied setting is more
comprehensible.
Political Analysis
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