HU Credits: 5

Degree/Cycle: 2nd degree (Master)

Responsible Department: Political Science

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Pazit Ben-Nun Bloom

Coordinator Email: pazit.bennun@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: בתיאום מראש

Teaching Staff:
Prof. Pazit Ben-Nun bloom,
Ms. Ilona Hilel Goldner,
Ms. Paz Yaacov

Course/Module description:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with useful tools for engaging in empirical research in political science.
This course is intended for graduate students in political science and IR. Prerequisites: admission to the graduate program and BA level research methods classes.

Course/Module aims:
The purpose of this course is to provide students with useful tools for engaging in empirical research in political science. Much of this course will involve learning statistical procedures and applying them to political data. To understand the routines that the computer performs, and to correctly interpret the results given the method's assumptions, yet a tolerance for algebra will be a necessity.
Students should have taken BA-level research methods and statistics classes and understand the basics of research design, data management, and bivariate statistics. Please review your BA notes and/or textbooks.
The following handbook and web sources are available to help you learn and use Stata:
• Hamilton, L.C. (2012). Statistics with STATA (Version 12). Duxbury Press.
http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
Plan an empirical research project appropriate for the Masters level, including formulating a testable research question and hypotheses, carry out conceptualization, operationalization and validation of variables.
Apply six commonly used statistical methods.
Apply hypotheses testing.
Report findings of statistical analyses.
Embrace methodological pluralism toward quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding political data.

Attendance requirements(%):
80

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Lectures, lab sessions

Course/Module Content:
Introduction; course overview
The scientific method
Measurement validity
Measurement reliability and scaling
Hypotheses testing
Bivariate statistics
Statistical control using crosstabs
Empirical qualitative analysis
Exploratory content analysis - grounded theory
Confirmatory content analysis
Computer-based content analysis
Comparative case studies: case selection, selection bias
Questionnaire construction
Bivariate regression
Ordinary Least Squares
Multivariate regression
Regression application and presentation
Overview of regression assumptions
Regression assumptions, violation, diagnostics, correction I – Multicollinearity, Heteroscedasticity
Regression assumptions, violation, diagnostics, correction II - Dummy variables
Regression assumptions, violation, diagnostics, correction III – Interactions I
Regression assumptions, violation, diagnostics, correction IV – Interactions II
Interactions presentation; mathematical transformations
Intro to logistic regression
Logistic regression interpretation and presentation
Intro to experimental methods

Required Reading:
Adcock, R., Collier, D. (2001). Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research. American Political Science Review, 95(3): 529-546.
Pardos-Prado, S., Cano, F. (2011). Education and Media Exposure across Systemic Levels of Conflict. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Online First.
Ben-Nun Bloom, P., Arikan, G. (2011). A two-edged sword: The differential effect of religious belief and religious social context on attitudes towards democracy. Political Behavior. 34(2):249-276
Ben-Nun Bloom, P., Levitan, L. (2011). We’re Closer than I Thought: Heterogeneity of Social Networks, Source Morality and Political Persuasion. Political Psychology, 32(4):643-665.
Brambor, T., Clark, W., Golder, M. (2006). Understanding Interaction Models Improving Empirical Analyses. Political Analysis. 14:63–82.
Collier, D., Mahoney, J. (1996). Insights and Pitfalls: Selection Bias in Qualitative Research, World Politics, 49(1):56-91.
Geddes, B. (1990). How the Cases you Choose Affect the Answer you Get: Selection Bias in Comparative Politics. Political Analysis, 2:131-150.
Gerring, J. (2004). What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for? American Political Science Review, 98(2):341-354.
Hamilton, L.C. (2012). Statistics with STATA (Version 12). Duxbury Press.
Hazan, R. (1999). Constituency Interests without Constituencies: The Geographical Impact of Candidate Selection on Party Organization and Legislative Behavior in the 14th Israeli Knesset, 1996-1999. Political Geography. 18(7): 791-811.
Huddy, L., Feldman, S., Taber, C., Lahav, G. (2005). Threat, Anxiety, and Support of Anti-Terrorism Policies. American Journal of Political Science. 49(3):593-608.
Kaarbo, J., Beasley, R.K. (1999). A Practical Guide to the Comparative Case Study Method. Political Psychology 20:369–391.
King, G., Keohane, R.O., Verba, S. (1994). Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Chapter 1 “The science in social science”, pp. 3-33.
Laver, M., K. Benoit, J. Garry. )2003(. Extracting Policy Positions from Political Texts Using Words as Data. American Political Science Review 97: 311-331.
Maor, M., Gilad, S., Ben-Nun Bloom, P. (2013). Organizational Reputation, Regulatory Talk and Strategic Silence. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 23(3):581-608.
Mazar, N., Amir, O., Ariely, D. (2008). The Dishonesty of honest people: A theory of self-concept maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research. 45 (6): 633-644.
Nir, L. (2005). Ambivalent Social Networks and Their Consequences for Participation. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 17:422-442.
Political Psychology, 18(1): 45-69.
Schonhardt-Bailey, C. )2005(. Measuring Ideas More Effectively: An Analysis of Bush and Kerry’s National Security Speeches. PS: Political Science and Politics 38: 701-711.
Schwitzgebel, E., Cushman, F. (2012). Expertise in Moral Reasoning? Order Effects on Moral Judgment in Professional Philosophers and Non Philosophers. Mind and Language. 27: 135-153.
Sheafer, T., Shenhav S.R., Goldstein, K. (2011). Voting for our Story: A Narrative Model of Electoral Choice in Multiparty Systems. Comparative Political Studies, 44(3):313-338.
Shenhav S.R. (2005). Concise Narratives: A Structural Analysis of Political Discourse. Discourse Studies, 7(3): 313-335.
Studenmund, A.H. (2006). Using Econometrics: A Practical Guide, 5th Edition. Addison Wesley Longman.
Thomas, D. (2006). A General Inductive Approach for Qualitative Data Analysis. American Journal of Evaluation. 27(2): 237-246.
Tiedens, L.Z. (1997). Optimism and Revolt of the Oppressed: A Comparison of Two Polish Jewish Ghettos of World War II.
Wald, K.D., Martinez, M.D. (2001). Jewish Religiosity and Political Attitudes in the United States and Israel. Political Behavior, 23(4):377-397.
Young, L., Soroka, S. (2012). Affective News: The Automated New Coding of Sentiment in Political Texts. Political Communication. 29(2): 205-231.

איזנבך, ר. (2001). סטטיסטיקה ללא סטטיסטיקאים.
באואר, מ.ו. (2011). ניתוח תוכן קלסי: סקירה. מחקר איכותני, או"פ. פרק 8.
באואר, מ.ו., ארטס, ב. (2011). בניית קורפוס: עיקרון מנחה לאיסוף נתונים איכותניים. מחקר איכותני- שיטות לניתוח טקסט תמונה וצליל, או"פ. פרק 2.
בר-טל, ד. (1999). הסכסוך הערבי-ישראלי כבלתי נשלט והשתקפותו בספרי הלימוד הישראליים. מגמות, לט(4), 491-445.
גדליה, ע., הרצוג, ח., שמיר, מ. (2010). ציפיית הבחירות? הממד המגדרי בבחירות 2009. בתוך- אריאן, א., שמיר, מ. (עורכים), הבחירות בישראל – 2009, עמ' 231-265.
הרמן, ת. יוכטמן-יער, א. (1997). היש מנדט לשלום? דעת הקהל בישראל והתהליך המדיני. בתוך- כספי, ד. (עורך). תקשורת ודמוקרטיה בישראל, 191-222.
יובצ'לוביץ, ס., באואר, מ.ו. (2011). הראיון הנרטיבי. מחקר איכותני- שיטות לניתוח טקסט תמונה וצליל, או"פ. פרק 4.
נחמיאס ונחמיאס, (1982). שיטות מחקר במדעי החברה.
פרס, י., שמר, ש. (1984). הגורם העדתי בבחירות לכנסת העשירית. מגמות, כ"ח, עמ' 316-331.
צפתי, י., שפר, ת., וימן, ג. (2010). המלחמה על סדר היום: המערכה בעזה ומערכת הבחירות 2009 בתקשורת. בתוך- א. אריאן ומ. שמיר (עורכים), הבחירות בישראל–2009, 301-332.
קלה, א. (2011). ניתוח בסיוע מחשב: קידוד ומיפתוח. מחקר איכותני, או"פ. פרק 16
רהט, ג. (2010). התוצאות הפוליטיות של שיטות בחירת המועמדים לכנסת השמונה עשרה. בתוך- א. אריאן, א.,שמיר, מ. (עורכים), הבחירות בישראל – 2009, 267-298.
שמיר, מ., אריאן, א. (2002). הימנעות והצבעה בבחירות 2001. בתוך- א. אריאן ומ. שמיר (עורכים), הבחירות בישראל – 2001, 29-55.
שמיר, מ., ונטורה, ר., אריאן, א., קדר, א. (2008). קדימה במערכת מפלגתית מתרופפת. בתוך- א. אריאן ומ. שמיר (עורכים), הבחירות בישראל – 2006, 25-61.

Additional Reading Material:
N/A

Grading Scheme :
Submission assignments during the semester: Exercises / Essays / Audits / Reports / Forum / Simulation / others 90 %
Mid-terms exams 10 %

Additional information:
Reading, attendance, discussion.
See moodle for most current version of the syllabus.