PLSC 210 Introduction to Political Analysis [GEQR]

An introduction to techniques for using data to test a wide range of theories regarding how the political world operates. Focus is on building skill in using quantitative and qualitative techniques to understand political phenomena ranging from individual voting behavior to international cooperation and conflict.

Credit 3 hrs May not be repeated for additional credit
Grade Mode Normal (A-F) Course Rotation Fall, Winter, and Summer

Prerequisites -
Restriction by Major -
Restriction by Class -

Additional Information - General Education credit is only available to students who meet QR Choice requirements

Rationale for Quantitative Reasoning - This course meets the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) requirement of the general education curriculum for students who have a quantitative score of 23 or above on the ACT. The course introduces students to social science statistics and teaches them how to use statistics to analyze and address the real-world problems that they will confront as participants in the global community. Through the use of case studies, students are exposed to both experimental and quasiexperimental techniques for making sense of the political world. The course then concentrates largely on quantitative techniques, reading examples of how researchers use statistical analysis to test causal hypotheses on political science models. Students are given an opportunity to practice this learning at the end of the course through a final paper assignment, which gives them a political dataset, access to a statistical program (such as SPSS) and requires them to do their own independent testing of hypotheses and write-up of the results.

Equivalent Course(s) -
Course History -
Approved for GEQR 6/2006, effective Summer 2006

Political Science, Quantitative Reasoning (GEQR)

Winter 2025 Course Sections

Fall 2024 Course Sections