POL 230 - Quantitative Research Methods in Political Science (1)

In this course, we’ll learn how to turn the puzzles, events, and stories we encounter in the political world into quantitative political science research. We’ll build a foundation by carefully considering what types of questions we can and cannot answer with quantitative data, how we translate abstract concepts into data, and how that translation affects the conclusions that we draw. From there, we will move on to how we can think clearly with data, and avoid some of the most common problems that plague quantitative social science work. Some of the topics covered in this course include the potential outcomes framework, randomized experiments, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity designs, and difference in difference methods.

This course may count toward the International Relations and Comparative Government minor. Prerequisite: STA 201
(Social Science)