Course:
Political Science – American Politics – Experiments in Political Behavior
Course Description:
This course explores the use of experiments to make causal (evidence-based) claims in American political behavior research. The course begins with the foundational methodology of different types of experiments (including field, lab, and survey experiments) where students will develop the skills to critically analyze experimental designs. Topics in this part of the course include the importance of randomization, internal and external validity, strengths and weaknesses of each method, and interpretation of results. The remainder of the course focuses on innovative experimental designs that allow us to investigate political behavior research questions such as how political attitudes can vary with physiological traits, the effects of the media and political advertisements on political opinions and voting, the effects of non-political events on voters’ evaluations of the government, the effects of partisanship on non-political decisions and evaluations, and more.
Assignment Instructions:
Research Summary
A 5-page (minimum), double-spaced essay that answers the questions outlined below. You will first need to pick an academic research article from the list of options provided below by their of course subsequently attached files on which to write your research summary. Once you pick your article, make sure to answer the following questions. Please use section labels, like the ones below, to separate your essay.
Option 1: “Separated by Politics? Disentangling the Dimensions of Discrimination”
Option 2: “Can Conservatives Be Persuaded? Framing Effects on Support for Universal Basic Income in the US”
Option 3: “Learning From News on Different Media Platforms: An Eye-Tracking Experiment”
Option 4: “Organizations, Credibility, and the Psychology of Collective Action”
Introduction: (10 points)
In this section, provide a brief overview of the article. What is the research question the paper is trying to answer? What was the paper’s theoretical argument? What is the hypothesis? Provide a brief summary of the results.
Theoretical Background and Argument: (20 points)
In this section, provide a summary of the paper’s theoretical background and improvements. What previous literature is used to motivate the paper? What is the paper’s contribution to the literature (theoretical argument)? What is the hypothesis that the authors are intending to test?
Research Design and Methods: (20 points)
In this section, provide a summary of the paper’s research design and methodology. Who participated in the experiment? How were they selected? What kind of method did the paper employ (for example: survey experiment, laboratory experiment, field experiment)? What methods did the authors use to analyze the data that was collected (for example: regression, ANOVA, t-tests, etc.)?
Results: (10 points)
In this section, provide a brief summary of the results and possible implications for this study. What did the authors find? Were their hypotheses supported? What does this mean for future research?
Critical Discussion: (30 points)
In this section, provide your own input on the quality of the paper. What are the strengths of the research design? What are some possible drawbacks or flaws in the research design? Is the research design high in internal validity (are there any confounding variables that could be causing the relationship between X and Y)? Is the research design high in external validity (can we extend the results of this paper to other time periods or populations)? Is there a better way to test their hypotheses if we had unlimited resources? How would you design a better experiment to answer the question? How accessible is the paper for a general audience (is it easy to understand or does it require a lot of technical knowledge)?
Grammar and Formatting: (10 points)
Grammar and formatting will account for 10% of your grade on this assignment. Please include an appropriate title page with your name and the title of your paper and start your essay on the next page. Use section titles as outlined above and make sure to proofread your paper for grammatical errors and general readability.
