COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST FOR POLI 443: APPLIED POLITICAL RESEARCH

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Course:            POLI 443                                              Semester: 1st (Sept) 2014

Instructor:       Prof. A. Essuman-Johnson                Course Title: Applied Political Research

Class Hours:    9:30 –11:20 am Mondays                 Lecture room: NNB 1

                          7:30 – 9:20 am Fridays                      Lecture room: JQB 23

Office:              Political Science Dept.                        Email: essumanj@ug.edu.gh

Office Hours:  10:00- 12:00 noon Fridays

 

Course Description

The course seeks to provide students with the statistical skills that enable them to analyze data for political analysis. The broad topics to be treated in the course of the semester would include (i) Descriptive statistics for univariate data analysis (ii) Measuring relationships, Testing Hypothesis and Bivariate data analysis and (iii) Multivariate data analysis. The course assumes students have passed POLI 344.The course will be examined as follows:

Continuous Assessment:         30%

End of Semester Exam:           70%

Total                                           100%

Texts

The required texts for this course include the following:

1.         Murray R. Spiegel (1972) Theory and Problems of Statistics (Schaum’s Outline Series) New York, McGraw Hill.

2.        Janet B Johnson & Richard A, Joslyn (1986) Political Science Research Methods, Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington.

Requirements and Grading

Students are expected to do all class assignments and hand them in for grading at the time to be stated at the time the assignment is handed out. The course would be examined 100% at the end of the semester.

Week 1 Monday Sept 8 & Friday Sept 12 Introduction: Discussion of course objective, class regulations, and miscellaneous issues.

SPSS Review

Week 2 Monday Sept 15 & Friday Sept 19

Introduction: Review basic knowledge of test of hypothesis: test for the normal distribution.

Week 3 Monday Sept 22 & Friday Sept 26

Contd. Test of hypothesis: test for the normal distribution.

Week 4 Monday Sept 2 & Friday Sept. 6

Test of hypothesis: test for the student t distribution.

Week 5 Monday Sept 29 & Friday Oct 3

Bivariate Data Analysis: Cross tabulations.

  Week 6 Monday Oct 6 & Friday Oct 10

Multivariate Data Analysis: Cross tabulations

Week 7 Monday Oct 13 & Friday Oct 17

Multivariate Data Analysis: Percentage Tables.

Week 8 Monday Oct 20 & Friday Oct. 24

Difference of Means Test

Week 9 Monday Oct 27 & Friday Oct. 11

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Week 10 Monday Oct 14 & Friday Oct. 31  

Multivariate Data Analysis: Linear Regression Analysis.

Week 11 Monday Nov 3 & Friday Nov.7

Contd. Multivariate Data Analysis: Multiple Regression Analysis

Week 12 Monday Nov 10 & Friday Nov. 14

Contd. Multivariate Data Analysis: Multiple Regression Analysis

Week 13 Monday Nov 17 & Friday Nov.21

Teaching ends.

Week 14 Monday Nov 24 & Friday Nov. 28

Revision session

Week 15 Monday Dec 1 - Dec. 20

End of semester exams.