Hello, dear friend, you can consult us at any time if you have any questions, add WeChat: daixieit

Quantitative Political Analysis

PLSC 309

Fall 2021

Course Goals and Objectives

The purpose of this course is to teach students quantitative analysis as practiced in political science. This course does not assume any prior knowledge of statistics. Our focus will be on statistics, sta-tistical computing using R, and data visualization using R.

Introductory quantitative methods courses have three primary goals:

1) Reading comprehension. That is, to make professional research in political science, which is more often than not quantitative, comprehensible to students.

2) To build the skills necessary to do quantitative political science research.

3) To adequately prepare students to take more advanced courses in quantitative analysis, which is often necessary for #2.

In pursuit of these goals, this course will be focused on building a firm comprehension of introduc-tory statistics, and fluency in the R programming language. Both of these are highly transferable competencies, relevant to any other field that requires competency in statistics, as well as to many jobs.

To build this comprehension and these skills this course utilizes readings, lectures, and problem-based learning and at certain points a flipped classroom in order to give students the maximum opportunity given the time constraints of the course to learn the material.

Because this is political science course, we will be focused on political science data and problems. However, again, you will find these are the same foundational skills and competencies required for reading comprehension and research in any quantitative field (keeping in mind that there is always much more to learn than one course can possibly offer), and to any job requiring a quantitative skillset and fluency in a programming language like R.

1 Required Course Materials

** available at campus book store Kellstedt, Paul M. and Guy D. Whitten. 2018. The Fundamentals of Political Science Research (Third Edition). Cambridge University Press.

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Attendance - 10%

Every student has the ability not only to pass, but to do very well in an introduction to quantitative methods course. Be warned, however, that these courses are cumulative in ways most political science courses are not. Each step into more complicated territory assumes familiarity with pre-vious steps. It is not possible to comprehend something at the end of this course without tackling everything that came before it. Even if you have covered some or all of the actual math we are doing in school, and you have certainly acquired the skills to tackle this course in school, missing classes in a course like this is usually associated with serious drops in grades for students.

To incentivize you to avoid running into unnecessary problems associated with missing class, I will award students with no more than one unexcused absence 10/10 for attendance. Every unex-cused absence beyond the first one will result the loss of 1 percent of your final grade.

In-class assignments - 20%

Students will routinely be asked to submit work completed in class labs and exercises. This work will be graded, and will be collectively worth 20% of the final grade. The amount of work to be submitted will vary according to our progress through the material, but each assignment will be equally weighted in the calculation of your final grade for this component.

In other words, not all labs will be graded, and I will not warn you that a lab we are working on will be submitted ahead of time. This, again, is to provide you with the incentive to be present physically and intellectually in class, and to reward those of you who are.

In-Class Tests - 70%

Students will take 5 in-class tests throughout the semester. The first 4 tests will each be worth 15% of the final grade, and the 5th will be worth 10% (to comply with university guidelines, because it will be held in the last week of classes).

These tests will assess your knowledge of material both assigned in readings and taught in class. These tests may consist of multiple choice answers, problem solving and statistics with pen, paper and a calculator, and/or using R to answer questions.

You will not be tested on material we have not covered thoroughly. But you will be tested on material we have covered thoroughly!

Reading Schedule (*approximate, subject to change)

Week 1 - Introduction to the course

K and W chapter 1 (1-24)

It is recommended that you read, on your own time throughout the week:

K and W chapters 2-4

Week 2 - Measuring concepts of interest

K and W chapter 5 (104-124)

Weeks 3-4 - Introduction to R and RStudio, central tendency, dispersion, rank statistics, univariate visualization, Test 1

K and W chapter 6 (125-141)

Week 5-6 - The central limit theorem, probability and probability distributions - the normal distribution, confidence intervals, statistical significance, test 2

K and W chapter 7

Week 7 and 8 - Bivariate hypothesis tests, test 3

K and W chapter 8

Bivariate hypothesis tests:

Tabular analysis and Chi2 test

Differences between groups, t-test, visualizing differences between groups

Extending the t-test, ANOVA (tentative)

Correlation, scatterplots

Week 9-11 - Bivariate OLS Regression, test 4

K and W chapter 9

Basic principles

Estimating the slope and intercept

Visualizing bivariate regression

Hypothesis tests on slope estimate (confidence intervals)

Hypothesis tests on slope estimate (p value)

Estimating explained variation (Residuals and R squared)

Hypothesis test on the regression model (F test) (*tentative)

Week 12-15 - Multiple Regression, test 5

K and W chapter 10-11

Adding a second independent variable

Adding more variables (logic of control in observational statistics)

Adding a binary categorical independent variable

Adding a multiple category independent variable

Interaction effects

Regression Diagnostics

Review and looking forward

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University community are expected to act in accordance with this principle. Consistent with this expectation, the University’s Code of Conduct states that all students should act with personal integrity, respect other students’ dignity, rights and property, and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their efforts.

Academic integrity includes a commitment by all members of the University community not to engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and compromise the worth of work completed by others.

Information on procedures related to academic adjustments identified by the Office of Dis-ability Services

Penn State welcomes students with disabilities into the University’s educational programs. Every Penn State campus has an office for students with disabilities. Student Disability Resources (SDR) website provides contact information for every Penn State campus (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/disability-coordinator). For further information, please visit Student Disability Resources website (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/).

In order to receive consideration for reasonable accommodations, you must contact the appro-priate disability services office at the campus where you are officially enrolled, participate in an intake interview, and provide documentation: See documentation guidelines (http://equity.psu.edu/sdr/guidelines). If the documentation supports your request for reasonable accommodations, your campus disability services office will provide you with an accommodation letter. Please share this letter with your instructors and discuss the accommodations with them as early as possible. You must follow this process for every semester that you request accommoda-tions.

Information on available Counseling & Psychological Services

Many students at Penn State face personal challenges or have psychological needs that may in-terfere with their academic progress, social development, or emotional wellbeing. The university offers a variety of confidential services to help you through difficult times, including individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, consultations, online chats, and mental health screen-ings. These services are provided by staff who welcome all students and embrace a philosophy respectful of clients’ cultural and religious backgrounds, and sensitive to differences in race, abil-ity, gender identity and sexual orientation.

Counseling and Psychological Services at University Park (CAPS) (http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/counseling/): 814-863-0395

Counseling and Psychological Services at Commonwealth Campuses (http://senate.psu.edu/faculty/counseling-services-at-commonwealth-campuses/)

Penn State Crisis Line (24 hours/7 days/week): 877-229-6400 Crisis Text Line (24 hours/7 days/week): Text LIONS to 741741

Reporting Educational Equity Concerns through the Report Bias site

Penn State University has adopted a “Protocol for Responding to Bias Motivated Incidents (http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/reports/protocol-for-responding-to-bias-motivated-incidents)” that is grounded in the policy that the “University is committed to creating an educational environment which is free from intolerance directed toward individuals or groups and strives to create and main-tain an environment that fosters respect for others.” That policy is embedded within an institution traditionally committed to academic freedom (https://guru.psu.edu/policies/OHR/hr64.html) Bias motivated incidents include conduct that is defined in University Policy AD 91: Discrimination and Harassment, and Related Inappropriate Conduct (https://guru.psu.edu/policies/ad91.html). Stu-dents, faculty, or staff who experience or witness a possible bias motivated incident are urged to report the incident immediately by doing one of the following:

Submit a report via the Report Bias webpage (http://equity.psu.edu/reportbias/) Contact one of the following offices:

University Police Services, University Park: 814-863-1111

Multicultural Resource Center, Diversity Advocate for Students: 814-865-1773

Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity: 814-865-5906

Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs: 814-865-0909

Affirmative Action Office: 814-863-0471

Dialing 911 in cases where physical injury has occurred or is imminent