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

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

                                                           UNIVERSITY OF GHANA

Instructor:       Prof. A. Essuman-Johnson

Course:            POLI 443                                              Semester:        1st (August) 2016

Course Title:    Applied Political Research                  Office:             Political Science Dept.

Class Hours:    15:30 –17:20 pm Tuesdays                 Lecture room: JQB 14 (Group A)

                        17:30 – 19:20 pm Thursdays               Lecture room: JQB 19 (Group B)

Office Hours:   10:00- 12:00 noon Fridays                  Email:  aessuman-johnson@ug.edu.gh

 

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:

Interim 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 Tuesday Aug 23 & Thursday Aug 25

Introduction: Discussion of course objective, class regulations, and miscellaneous issues.

SPSS Review

Week 2 Tuesday Aug 30 & Thursday Sept 1

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

Week 3 Tuesday Sept 6 & Thursday Sept 8

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

Week 4  Tuesday Sept 13 & Thursday Sept. 15

Test of hypothesis: test for the student t distribution.

Week 5 Tuesday Sept 20 & Thursday Sept 22

Bivariate Data Analysis: Cross tabulations.

 

Week 6 Tuesday Sept 27 & Thursday Sept 29

Multivariate Data Analysis: Cross tabulations

Week 7 Tuesday Oct 4 & Thursday Oct 6

Multivariate Data Analysis: Percentage Tables.

Week 8 Tuesday Oct 11 & Thurday Oct. 13

Difference of Means Test

Week 9 Tuesday Oct 18 & Thursday Oct. 20

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

 

Week 10 Tuesday Oct 25 & Thursday Oct. 27

Multivariate Data Analysis: Linear Regression Analysis.

Week 11 Tuesday Nov 1 & Thursday Nov.3

Contd. Multivariate Data Analysis: Multiple Regression Analysis

Week 12 Tuesday Nov 8 & Thursday Nov. 10

Contd. Multivariate Data Analysis: Multiple Regression Analysis

Week 13 Tuesday Nov 15 & Thursday Nov.17

Teaching ends.

Week 14 Tuesday Nov 22 & Thursday Nov. 24

Revision session

Week 15 Monday Nov 28 - Dec. 18

End of semester exams.