Reading Political Science
Courses in the Government Department will often assign both articles and book chapters. Articles, in particular, can be difficult to navigate since they usually include more cutting edge methods and tend to be written with a more specialized audience in mind. In this unit, you will learn about how to approach empirical pieces in the field using a three step model (Why? What? Results?).
Why?
This is central to understanding political science articles. Why is the author going to so much trouble to write the piece? Good research starts with a good question that motivates the author to work on the article. And, a good question comes out of a great puzzle. Political scientists frame their puzzles in a variety of ways, using previous research, statistics, cases (or anecdotes about the relevant topic), and, in some cases, analysis. Don’t get too hung up on those differences! A puzzle, at its core, is a tension between what is expected and what is observed (that complicates the expectation).
Be sure to walk away from the abstract and introduction of a piece knowing the answers to the questions below:
What is the author suggesting or implying we might expect about the topic?
Bear in mind, expectations are not usually explicitly stated; but, they can be immensely helpful to clarify in your own mind. For example, the introduction of this piece starts off by making the claim that survey experiments are widely used in the discipline, going on to show that, actually, there are severe limitations in their design. The implicit expectation here, which is helpful to know, is that, if they are so widely used, then perhaps they are very effective or useful. This helps contextualize the complication or observation a little better — actually, they are not that effective.
What is the observation or complication?
This part usually follows a tension word like: however, while, yet, or but. Look out for those little words!
What is the research question?
Again, this may not always be explicitly stated. But, it is good to get into the habit of formulating it in your own mind. The question follows on the heels of the puzzle: what question or problem does the puzzle raise to which the author’s argument or finding provides a solution?
TEST YOURSELF VIA QUIZ #1
Read the following passage and then take the video quiz to the right! Good luck!!
What?
There are two ‘Whats’ to think about when reading a political science article. The first one relates to the piece’s theoretical framework. What is the theory? The second relates to the test. What is the test?
To figure out the theory, you’ll want to look at the literature review. Literature reviews vary widely in structure. Keep in mind that most literature reviews are organized via subheadings (i.e., sections). Understanding why the author organized these sections in a particular way is crucial to understanding the piece’s theoretical framework. Be sure to walk away from the literature review knowing the answers to the following questions:
What is the dependent variable? (i.e., what is trying to be explained?)
What is the independent variable? (i.e., what is the key explanatory factor being considered by the author?)
What are/is the mechanism(s)? (i.e., what are the causal pathways through which the independent variable affects the dependent variable?)
What is the test that is being set up?
Empirical work in political science TESTS theories. An author may actually have a section in their literature review that details all the hypotheses that the piece goes on to test. If that’s the case, great! You know exactly what the test or tests are (so carefully read those hypotheses!). But, not all pieces will have such a section. This does not mean that a test is not happening. It is. You just have to look more carefully and make sure you can formulate what the test is in your own mind before moving on to the next section of the piece. The video below explains more.
What is the test? Cont’d…
While the literature review will provide information on the theoretical or conceptual test, the methods section of a piece will get into the details of how the test was conducted. This is a section that can be particularly difficult to understand if you don’t have the necessary training in methods. There are some key pieces of information to focus on, which should help you even if you struggle through this section:
What’s the type of method being used?
Is it experimental (lab, survey, or field)? This piece provides a great overview.
Is it observational? This short video explains the difference between experimental and observational inquiry.
Is it qualitative? See here for more on this.
Focus on pulling out information on:
the sample, including descriptive statistics
sources of data
the model (for e.g., OLS or something else?)
how to interpret estimates
If a survey, whether experimental or not, try your best to get a sense of what a respondent saw. Supplementary information can be a good source for this if you are having a hard time imagining what participants who took the survey actually saw.
Results?
These are the findings of a piece (REMEMBER — the findings present the author’s answer or solution to the question/puzzle motivating the piece, see earlier). For this, it is useful to focus on figures and plots, if in the text. Figures and plots may not always be straightforward to understand! You are in good company, even among political scientists, if you come across a plot or figure and have no idea what you are supposed to take away from it. But, fear not!
There are some helpful tips in the video below (starting at the 30:00 mark) on how to leverage what is in the text to understand plots and figures; in short, look in the text for a specific example of what to pull out from a given plot or figure. This video also reviews the entire content on this page using a couple empirical pieces (orient yourselves to this piece and this piece). Having trouble accessing the articles via those links? Get the Harvard Bookmarklet here (it makes accessing articles using your Harvard PIN easy).
How to Read An Academic Article
This video has it all. It’s long, but it’s worth it.
Slides here to follow along.