Every methods course needs to provide students with careful explanations and step-by-step guidance on research design and techniques. But how many illustrations are you offering of particular methods in actual research situations? David Rochefort answers this need with a volume of political science readings that helps students take their knowledge of abstract concepts and integrate it into the broader context of social science research and analysis.

A reliable source for high quality, yet concise, empirical studies that draws from all sub-fields of political science, PS offers the perfect material to supplement your current text. Rochefort introduces each selection with a substantial headnote to give students context for the type of research and statistical analysis the article utilizes. He then provides a set of questions at the end of each reading that focus on four topics:

• Why was this research needed?
• How was this research done?
• What are the findings?
• What does it mean?

Rochefort also showcases an “Author’s Retrospective” that gives scholars an opportunity to speak directly to students about what they want readers to learn from their article, as well as how their perspective on their research has changed since the time of its original publication.

An introduction and conclusion speak to the demands of learning statistics “in action” and a Topical Guide in the front of the book points students to readings that focus on particular skills and techniques, covering both research methods (questionnaire design and original data collection, for instance) and quantitative techniques (confidence intervals, graphing, crosstabulation, and regression, to name a few).

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Preface
Topical Guide
Introduction: Going from Knowledge to Practice: Learning How to Apply Statistics in Political Science Research

1. The State of Undergraduate Research Methods Education, Cameron G. Thies and Robert E. Hogan

2. When Osama Became Saddam: Origins and Consequences of the Change in America’s Public Enemy #1, Scott L. Althaus and Devon M. Largio

3. Domestic Obstacles to International Affairs: The State Department Under Fire at Home, Steven W. Hook

4. The Real Invisible Hand: Presidential Appointees in the Administration of George W. Bush, G. Calvin Mackenzie

5. Interviewing Political Elites: Lessons From Russia, Sharon Werning Rivera, Polina M. Kozyreva, and Eduard G. Sarovskii

6. The Size and Composition of the Anti-Nazi Opposition in Germany, Gabriel A. Almond with Wolfgang Krauss

7. The End of the Cold War, Attitude Change, and the Politics of Defense Spending, Bruce Russett, Thomas Hartley, and Shoon Murray

8. Traditional Versus Technology-Aided Instruction: The Effects of Visual Stimulus in the Classroom, Donald L. Jordan and Peter M. Sanchez

9. How Americans Responded: A Study of Public Reaction to 9/11/01, Michael Traugott et al.

10. “The Most Liberal Senator”? Analyzing and Interpreting Congressional Roll Calls, Joshua D. Clinton, Simon Jackman, and Doug Rivers

11. Political Views From Below: A Survey of Beijing Residents, Yang Zhong, Jie Chen, and John M. Scheb II

12. Untangled Web: Internet Use During the 1998 Election, David A. Dulio, Donald L. Goff, and James A. Thurber

13. Tuning in, Tuning Out: The Strange Disappearance of Social Capital in America, Robert D. Putnam

14. Choosing Canada? The 1995 Quebec Sovereignty Referendum, Harold D. Clarke and Allan Kornberg

15. Forecasting Presidential Nominations or,My Model Worked Just Fine, Thank You, William G.Mayer

16. Monica Lewinsky’s Contribution to Political Science, John R. Zaller

17. Zog for Albania, Edward for Estonia, and Monarchs for All the Rest? The Royal Road to Prosperity, Democracy, and World Peace, Jeremy D. Mayer and Lee Sigelman

18.Mixing and Matching: The Effect on Student Performance of Teaching Assistants of the Same Gender, Daniel M. Butler and Ray Christensen

19. Moral Issues and Voter Decision Making in the 2004 Presidential Election, P. Sunshine Hillygus and Todd G. Shields

20. Cooperation Through Threats: The Northern Ireland Case, Steven J. Brams and Jeffrey M. Togman

Conclusion: Putting It All Together: Empirical Political Science Research as a Rhetorical Form

“Political scientists who teach statistics know that students thrive on examples—particularly political science examples. Rochefort's reader provides professors with interesting and current cases that illustrate theories and methods in a convenient package. Having such a book is a boon to instructors teaching statistics courses.”

- Richard Herrera, Arizona State University

“David Rochefort's volume makes me want to teach research methods again! Teaching methodology to undergraduates is a challenge because students must connect abstract concepts and issues about a wide range of issues such as measurement, question wording, response rates, and sample sizes to the real world. This book makes an important contribution to undergraduate research methods courses by demonstrating how to conduct research in an approachable and accessible way. The chapters demonstrate how to frame research questions, identify appropriate methods, and interpret results. The reflections by the authors at the end of each chapter are particularly useful, for they place the research in context in a student-friendly format, examining both the significance and limitation of the findings.”

- Robert B. Hackey, Providence College

“This book will be extremely useful in my methods courses. The articles are well-organized and cover the topics at the center of what I teach.”

- James Rogers, Texas A&M University

“Many undergraduate students of political science crave the ‘political’ and fear the ‘science.’ Through the use of current articles published by prominent political scientists, Quantitative Methods in Practice makes transparent the connections between theory and praxis and between outcomes and meaning. The research examples in this text engender a broad sub-disciplinary reach, thus anchoring students’ diverse political interests in social scientific inquiry. The practical, applied nature of this text fills a niche in any statistics and research methods course.”

- Elizabeth A. Shanahan, Montana State University

"The book is just what I need to provide examples of empirical research that undergraduates can begin to understand. In that sense, it will be a useful supplement to a methods text. A bonus is the 'afterword' provided by many of the authors of the articles, talking about their research. That additional viewpoint, I believe, will give my students a greater appreciation for the whole research enterprise."

- Mark S. Hyde, Providence College

David A. Rochefort is Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Northeastern University. Since joining the department in 1982, he has taught courses in quantitative techniques at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as courses in public policy analysis, leadership, and social problem fiction. He received the university's Excellence in Teaching Award in 1998, and has also held visiting appointments at Brown University, University of Montreal, University of Toronto, and Rutgers University.