Course Description
Political behavior is a diverse field that employs a variety of
methods for understanding the attitudes, opinions, actions, and
inactions of individuals in society. This course will equip
students with the tools to measure human behavior, design and
implement public opinion surveys and experiments in political
science and beyond.
Athena Title
Analyzing Political Behavior
Prerequisite
POLS 1101 or POLS 1101E or POLS 1101H or POLS 1101S
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will understand a variety of measurement strategies used in behavioral research.
- Students will understand the different sampling strategies used in behavioral research and when each is most/least appropriate for their research.
- Students will know how to collect, manage, and analyze survey data.
- Students will understand the variety of ways in which experimentation can be employed in social science research.
- Students will work with a team of classmates to develop and implement an original opinion survey.
Topical Outline
- Introduction to Behavioral Analysis
- Measuring Political Behavior
- Designing Survey Research
- Collecting, Managing, and Analyzing Survey Data
- Experimental Research: Logic of Causal Inference
- Laboratory Experiments
- Survey Experiments
- Field Experiments
- "Natural Experiments"
- Presenting Results of Behavioral Analyses
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
