POLITICAL SCIENCE 5360

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS - AN INTRODUCTION

Harold D. Clarke Office Hours:

3.808 Green Building Tues 1PM-3 PM
Telephone: 972-883-4891; Fax: 972-883-6878 Thurs 2 PM-3 PM
E-MAIL: hclarke@utdallas.edu

This course is designed to introduce students to the collection and analysis of quantitative social
science data. Students will learn how to use statistical packages such as SPSS, R and EVIEWS as tools
for data management and analysis. During the course several data analysis exercises will be assigned.
Students are strongly encouraged to do these exercises to enhance their understanding of various
techniques and to prepare for the two term tests. Exercises will be discussed in class the week after they
are assigned, and students are required to bring the results of their work (computer output and
accompanying commentaries) to class. Twice during the semester (without prior notification), exercises
will be collected and graded.

TEXTS

Recommended:

Fox, John. An R and S-PLUS Companion to Applied Regression. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,
2002.
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. Applied Regression: An Introduction. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1980.
Norusis, Marija J. SPSS 11.0 Guide to Data Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 2002.
Ostrom, C. W. Time Series Analysis: Regression Techniques. 2nd Edition. Beverly Hills and London, Sage
Publications, 1990.
Verzani, John. Using R for Introductory Statistics. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall, 2005.
Herbert F. Weisberg, Jon A. Krosnick and Bruce D. Bowen. An Introduction to Survey Research, Polling,
and Data Analysis. 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications, 1996.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Two Graded Class Exercises (10% each) - 20%

1st Test - 30%
2nd Test - 30%
Data Analysis Paper - 20%

Note: Data analysis papers must be submitted on or before the last regular class meeting; late papers will
not be accepted. Papers must be typed (word processed), double-spaced, approximately 10 pages in
length. Details on the structure and content of the paper will provided in class.

TOPICS

1. Introduction to Political Science 5319

Introduction to PC Computing
Introduction to SPSS
Accessing Data Archives – The New World of Web Archives

2. Data Collection: Survey Research – An Overview

 2
Reading: Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, chs. 1-7

3. Data Analysis: An Overview

Reading: Norusis, chs. 1, 2, 3
Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, ch. 8

4. SPSS -- Data Management and Transformations

Measurement
Describing Single Variables
Reading: Norusis, chs. 4, 5
Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, ch. 9

5. Describing Bivariate Relationships

Reading: Norusis, ch. 6, 7, 8, 19
Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, chs. 11, ch. 12, pp. 260-77, ch. 13

6. Statistical Inference - From Samples to Populations

Reading: Norusis, chs. 10, 11
Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, ch. 3; ch. 10; ch. 12, pp. 277-281.

7. 1st Test – 2.5 hours – open-book

8. Regression Analysis – Introduction

R - It's Free!
Reading: Norusis, ch. 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
Weisberg, Krosnick and Bowen, ch. 14.

9. Regression Analysis - Selected Topics

Reading: Lewis-Beck, ch. 3.

10. Regression Analysis of Time Series Data - A Basic Introduction

Introduction to EVIEWS
Reading: Ostrom, selected sections, assigned in class

11. Analyzing Limited Dependent Variables – Introduction

Reading: various possibilities, assigned in class

12. 2nd Test – take home - details announced in class