EXAMPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS TO POLITICAL SCIENTISTS ASK AND ANSWER? HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO THE INR MAJOR? • We mostly focus on empirical questions, which raises the question of whether normative questions are ok? (What is political theory? What is applied research? • What’s the difference between various social sciences (which includes much of anthropology/history) and the humanities? Where does INR fit? • Why don’t we do much completely new phenomenon (vs. say anthropology)? Most political science seeks to make incremental improvements and is linked into an existing research path (efficiency and training, hiring and “disciplines,” publishing incentives, the research article format as an “institution”). • Is everything in political science about quantifiable evidence? Who does qualitative research (answer: all social science fields!)? • Why is most social science about cause and effect? (ROI, disciplinary norms, and the nature of science)? • Do we need to focus on obviously useful information? “basic” (aka pure or theoretical), academic, and applied research • Why do seek maximal generalization without “concept stretching”?

2. EXAMPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS What did you come up with? Let’s see who did their homework…. Some of the recurring big political science questions: • Who are the winners and losers in politics? • In IR, why do some states become so powerful, how do they replicate hegemony, and why does hegemony become unstable? • In American and comparative politics: Why has income inequality become greater over the last several decades? • Comparative and INR: How has the “Washington consensus” and international organizations impacted ideology about growth? • Does lower turnout equate to less generous redistributive policy? • What role does campaign finance and lobbying play in causing politicians to ignore policies and outcomes that hurt most of their voters?

3. EXAMPES OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS • Who votes and who doesn’t? • Subnational research: Why do some states in the US have such low turnout? • Comparative politics: How do things like the structure of an electoral system (e.g., PR vs. SMD), how competitive districts are, how often elections are, and voter registration rules impact who votes? • How is the decline in parties impacting voting? Which voters? • Human Rights: Is it enough to just build and deepen political democracy? • Is the judiciary political? • Do SC judges’ personal ideologies impact later decisions? • Who (among citizens) is most/less likely to change their views to align with an SC decision? With a judicial approach (i.e. activism)? • What is the most effective way to get Congress to interact in your favor with the bureaucracy and why? Lobbying (yes), $ (no) • What is the effect of negative advertising on voting? • How does the way that we talk about US foreign policy increase or decrease support for it (the efficacy of emphasizing sunk costs and sacrifice already made)

4. WHAT DO GOOD RESEARCH PROJECTS HAVE IN COMMON? • They make a contribution to something that matters, so that we learn more over time. • Academic research is almost always centered on puzzles: • Seemingly very different situations, same outcomes: Democ in US and India • Shared situation or stimulus different outcomes: Healthcare in UK, Canada, and US • Look for anomalies: • Cases where an accepted theory doesn’t hold can help us to modify a theory (Why do religious districts elect fewer women?) • Select a question where you don’t like the answer that someone else has given because: • They were plain wrong (replication studies; or missing variable bias) • They were right but they forgot to consider important things • They probably were right, but things might have changed (why don’t women run for political office?) • She is right about x; he is right about y, What about xy? Religious women and politics or conservative millennials