W. Phillips Shively Pořadí knih (chronologicky)

The Craft of Political Research immerses readers not only in how political scientists work but also in how ideas produce research questions and guide the selection of research methods.Emphasizing the internal logic of research methods and the collaborative nature of the research process, this slender text explores the design behind interesting questions, problems in measurement and analysis, and key statistical methods. Brief and inexpensive to include in any course, The Craft of Political Research's elegant explanations inspire a big picture understanding of how political scientists explain political reality and encourage students to create their own inventive, original, and bold research work. Features include: Focuses on the big picture of how good research leads to good theories instead of just what research method to use. Provides concise and accessible coverage of key topics, including the nature of research, research design, sampling, statistical analysis, ethics, and more. Includes detailed examples of classic and contemporary political science research to give students models for their own original research.

In the last several years, new disputes have erupted over the use of group averages from census areas or voting districts to draw inferences about individual social behavior. Social scientists, policy analysts, and historians often have little choice about using this kind of data, but statistical analysis of them is fraught with pitfalls. The recent debates have led to a new menu of choices for the applied researcher. This volume explains why older methods like ecological regression so often fail, and it gives the most comprehensive treatment available of the promising new techniques for cross-level inference.Experts in statistical analysis of aggregate data, Christopher H. Achen and W. Philips Shively contend that cross-level inference makes unusually strong demands on substantive knowledge, so that no one method, such as Goodman's ecological regression, will fit all situations. Criticizing Goodman's model and some recent attempts to replace it, the authors argue for a range of alternate techniques, including estensions of cross-tabular, regression analysis, and unobservable variable estimators.

Organized topically, this text offers a concise introduction to political science. It uses extended examples of appropriate countries and has a strong underlying theme - the contrasting purpose of political institutions as a means to acquire power versus their use as a means of public choice.