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Introducing American Government Students to Data Analysis
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 May 2020
Extract
“The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Although this adage may apply to many aspects of politics, it certainly does not apply to the methodology used in studying this field. As a midcareer student returning to complete a Ph.D., two incidents brought the changes that have occurred in methodology to my immediate attention. First, I was not able to find one of my old research sources in the periodical section of the library. I soon discovered that the Midwest Journal of Political Science is now the American Journal of Political Science. Once I found the journal, I discovered that I could not understand at least one half of the articles in it. Fortunately, I was in a graduate program that required statistics courses and computerized data analysis for all students. After one statistics course and mastering the use of statistical packages for computers, a new approach to the study of politics became available to me.
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- Research Article
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- Copyright © American Political Science Association 1986
References
Notes
1 Data sets on the American states and on nation states can be purchased from the ICPSR at the University of Michigan. Most college libraries also subscribe to a service that lists data sets that are available, their purchase price, and the source from which they can be purchased.
2 An excellent compilation of statistical software available for micro computers and a summary of their contents can be found in the January 22, 1985 issue of PC Week.
3 This topic is extensively covered in Jacob, Herbert and Weissberg, Robert, Elementary Political Analysis, 2nd edition, New York: McGraw Hill, 1975.Google Scholar
4 The texts that have proved most helpful in providing background material on statistics are: Bowen, Bruce and Weisberg, Herbert, An Introduction to Data Analysis, San Francisco: Freeman, 1980Google Scholar; Cole, Richard, Introduction to Political Inquiry, New York: McMillan, 1980Google Scholar; and White, Louise and Clark, Robert, Political Analysis: Techniques and Practice, Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1983.Google Scholar
5 Simplified versions of the SAS and SPSS manuals are available. For SAS Jane Helvig has compiled an Introductory Guide available from the SAS Institute in Cary, N.C. The simplified SPSS Manual can be obtained from the McGraw Hill Publishing Company.