Writing a Research Paper in Political Science: A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods

214 Pages·2015·9.05 MB·English

by  Lisa A. Baglione

Writing a Research Paper
in Political Science~
A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and Methods
Third Edition
Lisa A. Baglione
Saint Joseph'sU niversity
Los AngelesI London I New Delhi
SingaporeI WashingtonD C I Boston
&iii
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Writing a research paper in political science: a practical guide to
SAGEP ubMcattoAnss ia-PacifiPc ie.L td. inquiry, structure, and methods/Lisa A. Baglione. - 3rd ed.
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1. Political science-Authorship. 2. Political science-Research.
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About the Author
Dr. Lisa A. Baglione is professor and chair of the political science department
at Saint Joseph's University. Her major fields of study are international relations
and comparative politics. Dr. Baglione has published works exploring post
settlement peace building; the arms control decision-making process in the
United States, the Soviet Union, and Russia; and the research paper-writing
process and has coauthored articles on the transformation of the Russian polity
and economy in the early postcommunist period. Currently, she is researching
the determinants of contemporary Russian foreign policy. At Saint Joseph's,
Dr. Baglione teaches two courses-Writing in International Relations and
Sophomore Seminar in Political Science-in which she develops and tests the
ideas, advice, and techniques offered in this work.
To JackM oran
The consummate teacher-researcher-friend
Contents
Preface xiii
1. So You Have to Write a ResearchP aper 1
What Is a Research Paper? A Few Helpful Metaphors 3
What Research Paper Writing Entails 6
Blueprint of the Book 7
2. Getting Started: Finding a ResearchQ uestion 15
Characteristics of a Good Question 15
Find Something Interesting 16
Determining Why Your TopicI s Important 24
If Possible,I dentifying a Puzzle 26
Starting Wordsf or Questions 26
Types of Researcha nd Questions 30
Usingt he Advice to GenerateQ uestions 31
Stating Your Question Conciselya nd Directly 35
Practical Summary 3 7
Recipe 1: The Research Question 38
Exercises 39
3. Learning Proper Citation Forms, Finding the
Scholarly Debate, and Summarizing and Classifying
Arguments: The Annotated Bibliography 41
What Are Bibliographies, and
Why Do We Bother with Them? 42
Plagiarism versus Paraphrasing 45
Annotating the Bibliography 48
Identifying the Key Conceptual Issues 49
Searching for Sources 50
Identifying Similar Arguments and
Grouping Your Sources 58
One Last Word of Advice: Generic Schools of Thought 60
Writing the Annotated Bibliography 61
The Beginningso f Gabriela'sA B 65
Practical Summary 69
Recipe 2: Annotated Bibliography 70
Exercises 71
vii
Iv m CONTENTS
4. Making Sense of the Scholarly Answers to Your
Research Question: Writing the Literature Review 75
Preparing for and Understanding the Literature Review 76
The Fundamentals of the Literature Review 77
Writing the Literature Review 79
Practical Summary 88
Recipe 3: Literature Review 89
Exercises 91
5. Effectively Distilling Your Argument:
The Thesis, Model, and Hypothesis 93
The Thesis 93
The Model 94
The Hypothesis 98
Applying These Insights 102
Practical Summary 104
Recipe 4: Model and Hypothesis Section 104
Exercises 106
6. Revising and Editing Your Work:
The Writing-Thinking Spiral 109
Practical Summary 115
Recipe 5: Revising and Editing 116
Exercises 119
7. Making Your Plan and Protecting
Yourself from Criticism;_Ih ~ Research Design 121
Research Design: The Medical Science Analogy 122
Writing the Research Design 126
ChoosingC ases 126
ConceptD elineationa nd Measurement:
OperationalD efinitionsa nd Operationalization 134
IdentifyingD ata Sources 139
Strategiefso r Uncoveringa nd, at Times, CreatingD ata 140
Methodology 141
Finishing Touches on the Research Design 143
Practical Summary 148
Recipe 6: Research Design 148
Exercises 151
8. Evaluating the Argument:
The Analysis and Assessment Section 155
Qualitative Analysis 156
Quantitative Analysis 163
Contents ix!
Practical Summary 170
Recipe 7: Analysis and Assessment 171
Exercises 173
9. Bringingt he Paper Together in Three Essential
Ways: The Conclusion,I ntroduction, and Title 175
Considering the Significance and Limitations
of Your Findings: The Conclusion 176
Writing a Good Introduction 181
A Last Element in Attracting
Readers: Developing an Appealing Title 185
Are You Done? The Joy (and Continued Responsibilities)
of Finalizing Your Draft 187
Practical Summary 188
Recipe 8: Conclusion, Introduction, and Title 188
Exercises 189
Bibliography 191
Index 197
List of Features
Figure
Figure 8.1: Level of Media Access
and Strength of the MENA Uprisings 168
Tables
Table 1.1: Research Paper: Tasks to Be Accomplished, Sections, and
Suggested Calendar 8
Table 2.1: Finding a Topic: Students with Clear Passions,
Activities, Interests, or Aspirations 18
Table 2.2: Finding a Topic: Using a Favorite Course 20
Table 2.3: Finding a Topic: Using Various Techniques to
Find a Topic That Is Interesting to Multiple Audiences 23
Table 2.4: Generating Questions and Identifying Their Type 32
Table 3.1: Questions, Concepts, and Hunches 50
Table 3.2: Beginning Your Annotated
Bibliography: Gabriela's Basics 63
Table 3.3 Identifying the Key Factors or Short Answers 64
Table 5.1: Models and Variable Values 101
Table 7.1: Understanding Variation
by Looking at Questions with Built-in Puzzles 127
Table 7.2: Understanding "Good" Samples
by Considering Variation and Control (in Two Steps) 129
Table 7.3: Controlling for Competing Explanations 145
Table 8.1: Freedom House Media Rankings,
Algeria and Egypt, 2009 to 2011 159
Table 8.2: Summary of Independent
Variable Values in Algeria and Egypt 161
Table 8.3: Party Affiliation and Support for Immigration Reform 165
Table 8.4: Model Summary 167
Table 8.5: Analysis of Variance, Media Access and Protest Levels 169
Boxes
Box 3.1: Paraphrasing and Plagiarism: Knowing the Difference 47
Box 3.2: Results from a Library of
Congress Online Catalog Search 52
Box 3.3: Learning More from Two Library Records 54
Box 3.4: Learning from the Permalink 56
xi
j xii LISTO FF EATURES
Recipes
Rtcipe 1: The Research Question 38
Recipe 2: Annotated Bibliography 70
Recipe 3: Literature Review 89
Recipe 4: Model and Hypothesis Section 104
Recipe 5: Revising and Editing 116
Recipe 6: Research Design 148
Recipe 7: Analysis and Assessment 171
Recipe 8: Conclusion, Introduction, and Title 188
Preface
As I write this preface, I am preparing to speak at a memorial service for my
dear friend, Jack Moran, the long-time head tutor at Cornell-in
Washington's (C IW) internship and public policy program for undergraduates.
My commitment to the importance of teaching research paper writing and this
book originated in my experiences there and are very much a result of my
interactions with Jack. For those of you who notice that the dedication of this
edition is different from the previous one, the reason is not related to any
change in my status but as a way to honor my friend, who taught me so much
as a graduate student and who, over the ensuing two-plus decades, engaged in
numerous conversations with me about teaching research methods and how to
engage students in the research process. I was not an early believer that requir
ing political science undergraduates to undertake a journal-style research
article was a good idea. The instructors who are picking up this book likely
have heard these criticisms and more: such an endeavor puts students under
too much pressure, is too specialized when a liberal arts education is not
intended to produce academics, and is too much work for faculty and students
alike. In my time at Cornell and then with even more fervor as a faculty mem
ber at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, I became a convert, and Jack
was central to helping me arrive at that transformation. I firmly believe that
learning how to conduct research and effectively communicate ideas in the
form of an academic paper not only teaches students invaluable writing,
research, logical, and analytic skills but, perhaps most compelling, empowers
them to become critical consumers of information and, therefore, better citi
zens in a democracy. Today Americans and people in liberal polities the world
over must assess arguments, weigh evidence, and consider the appropriateness
of cases, data, and comparisons as they decide whose policy positions appear
best suited to contemporary challenges and whose inclinations and worldviews
seem capable of handling unforeseen opportunities and dangers.1
Jack Moran was the consummate teacher, who knew how to expertly
guide students through the research process and, over his career, oversaw more
than a thousand undergraduate public policy theses, ranging in length from
about 60 to 100 pages. Weekly, he would meet individually with his students
after having read their drafts, intellectually poking and prodding them to
sharpen their ideas, encouraging, laughing, and challenging them to do their
best. He shaped so many students and gave them an unbelievable experience
that was more than an intellectual one, because Jack was not just a teacher but
a mentor. He lived in the CIW complex with these students, and he gave them
his all. Also remarkable about Jack was how much time and energy he spent
on the graduate students who were teaching at CIW. For this program to
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