POLS 3650 Lecture 1: Pols 3650 l-1
Pols 3650 (L-1)
INTRODUCTION
What will we talk about?
• This class continues of POLS 3180
o Particularly important: theory causation, measurement, sampling, survey research
o Main focus is on quantitative methods of data analysis
o What do the data you collected tell you about your research question?
o Reason to focus on quantitative methods:
• Advantages: replicable (same findings), reliable, and systematic (represent a larger
population)
• Misunderstood: people often cheat with numbers!
Is it going to be difficult?
• Not a math class: no calculations for the sake of doing calculations
• Little assumed background knowledge
• But:
o Keep up
o Beware of jargon
Requirements
• Tutorial attendance and participation (15%)
• Paper 1 (15%)
• Paper 2 (20%)
• Online quizzes (15%)
• Final exam (35%)
Contact information
Office hours Monday 2:30-4:30
Mackinnon 509
For tutorial
• Bring a storage device
Course is divided into sections not weeks