This course is an introduction to the methods and techniques of research in contemporary political science. It is designed to improve students? ability to think critically about politics. More than in other courses, the emphasis in this course is on building critical thinking skills rather than mastering specific facts and theories relevant to specific topics. The most important of these skills are inference and causal reasoning. Rather than simply accepting the answers of "experts" to fundamental questions of political life, students will learn how to critically evaluate previous answers offered by others. Much of this course is devoted to practical exercises in which cadets put various research methods to work to answer important questions relevant to the field of political science. The course covers the experimental method in the social sciences, quantitative analysis, case study research, surveys and interviewing, and the use of history as a source of data.
