STUDENTS CHOOSE ONE OF THE TWO OFFERED TRACKS: QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE
Information Session and Registration
In March there will be an online informative session for this course where teachers will be available for answering your questions. Students will receive the invitation by email. Registration via MyStudymap.
Working groups and locations:
LEIDEN
QUANTITATIVE #101 (L. Demarest): Tuesdays 11.15-13.00; lab sessions in pc-room on Fridays 09.15-11.00
Description Quantitative Track
The Methods in Political Science course aims to sharpen students’ knowledge of research designs and methods in order for them to successfully complete their Master thesis projects. The course also has a strong practical focus and guides students in applying specific methods to address their research questions by means of concrete exercises.
After an introductory meeting in the preceding block, students select a track to follow for the rest of the course programme.
The quantitative research methods track starts with a refresher on the use of linear (OLS) regression analysis. After this, we continue with logistic regression analysis, techniques for working with complex survey and country-level data (e.g., cluster correction, weights), and basic multilevel analysis (random intercept models). Students who want to participate in this track should have some prior experience with statistics (with a ‘rough’ understanding of OLS regression as the baseline requirement). The open source statistical software package R will be used.
SPOC Research Design in Political Science
Students are highly encouraged to follow the online SPOC course before starting Methods in Political Science. This online course can be accessed at any moment during semester 1; students who want to take this course on a voluntary basis in semester 2 can register for group 2 via MyStudymap using the catalogue number (6444RDPS) from 14 December 13:00h.
Entry requirement: Master student in one of the Political Science’s specialisations (both Leiden or Den Haag)
For more information regarding this course click here
There are no EC’s attached to this course.
Course objectives
Upon successful completion of the course:
Students will gain an understanding of different types of data collection methods for quantitative analysis
Students will learn how to apply some of the most common statistical analysis techniques in social sciences
Students will be able to accurately report on the results of statistical data analyses
Students will be able to work with R statistical software
Mode of instruction
2 sessions of 2h per week (for a period of 8 weeks): Lecture sessions focusing on understanding different statistical analysis techniques followed by practical sessions in a pc-room.
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 140 hours (5 EC)
4h per week are spent in class, for a period of 8 weeks (= 32 hours)
A substantial amount of course time is reserved for practice at home.
Assessment Method
- Several short assignments on the application of specific methods to be completed during the practical lab sessions in the pc-room.
Brightspace
Slides, teaching material, and exercises will be made available on Brightspace.
Timetable
See 'MyTimetable'