Political Science

SAGE Research Methods contains research methods, cases, datasets, and videos. All of these interfaces can be individually searched:

Political Science and International Relations research looks into systems of government and analyses political activity and behavior. To this end, researchers will often work with policy documents, as well as exploring the beliefs and attitudes of political actors. This might involve research like large-scale national or international surveys conducted by polling organisations or elite interviews with heads of government. Researchers will often look to compare data across nations using comparative research. For an introduction to doing research into Political Science and International Relations, try Doing Research in Political Science, Second Edition, by Paul Pennings, Hans Keman, & Jan Kleinnijenhuis.

Video: Researching Presidential Activism Using Mixed Methods

Dr. Philipp Koeker describes the benefits and challenges of using mixed-methods research. His study investigated how and why Eastern European presidents use their veto powers, mixing statistical analysis and elite interviews.

Video: Political Surveys: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Dina Smeltz of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs discusses her professional experience in survey research. She highlights best practices for survey design and details the day-to-day activities that go on at the think tank where she works.

Case: The Practice of Elite Interviewing in Politicised Policy Areas

This case study takes as its focus the deployment of the elite interview method in politicised policy areas. It draws upon the experiences garnered from two research projects – one focusing upon terrorism and the other on sex trafficking – to consider the realities of interviewing experts with recognised knowledge and power in fields that are characterised by contestation.

Dataset: Learn About Logistic Regression in R With Data From the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (2012)

This dataset is designed for teaching logistic regression. The dataset is a subset of data derived from the 2012 Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES), and the example presents an analysis of whether survey respondents say Yes or No when asked whether they support granting legal status to all illegal immigrants who have held jobs and paid taxes in the U.S. for at least three years and have not been convicted of any felony crimes. The dataset file is accompanied by a teaching guide, a student guide, and a how-to guide for R.