updated:2022.05.02

Undergraduate Sample Research Topics

However, all three research perspectives share the belief that political science research should produce explanations that improve and deepen our understanding of complex political processes. Political science may overlap with topics of study that are the traditional focuses of other social sciences—for example, when sociological norms or psychological biases are connected to political phenomena. In these cases, political science may either inherit their methods of study or develop a contrasting approach. For example, Lisa Wedeen has argued that political science’s approach to the idea of culture, originating with Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba and exemplified by authors like Samuel P. Huntington, could benefit from aligning more closely with the study of culture in anthropology. In turn, methodologies that are developed within political science may influence how researchers in other fields, like public health, conceive of and approach political processes and policies.

Setting out to construct a technically detailed definition of the discipline per se, Goodnow contended, was not as productive an enterprise as determining what the discipline should have as its focus of research. He pointed to what he termed the “dangerous” possibility of defining the discipline in too limited https://essayreply.com/essay-structure/body-paragraphs/topic-sentence/bridge/ or too expansive a manner (p. 35). He proceeded to characterize political science’s scope as the investigation of states. Political scientists were neither the first nor the exclusive researchers of states, Goodnow explained, but were, rather, unique in targeting the state as a primary subject for analysis.

Introduction

Students frequently get carried away, and the paper ends up being written about something that has nothing to do with the chosen subject. To avoid such an outcome, everyone should begin by composing an outline. Unless the professor requires submitting a proposal with a well-developed full-sentence outline, it is primarily Ariadne’s thread for a student to stay on topic. Also, many databases have a citation generator next to every book/article; it allows students to copy and paste a properly composed bibliography entry for every item they chose to reference. The process of referencing may appear minuscule as compared to writing a research paper. However, most professors’ grading rubrics show that proper citing is worth many points. The Online Writing Web at Purdue University is the best website to revise one’s referencing skills.

If you are using statistical methods (e.g., regression analysis) or formal modeling (e.g., game theory) to analyze your data, then your paper will consist principally of justifying your choice of method, specifying your variables, and presenting and interpreting your results. Students performing quantitative analysis will need to think carefully about how best to present their findings (e.g., graphs, tables, charts, etc.). Such students could profit from reviewing Edward Tufte’s classic book The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, particularly Tufte’s discussions of “chartjunk.” Political Science research papers can easily become overly complex and weak if there are too many ideas scattered across assignment. In order to remedy such situation, choose suitable political science research topics that not only meet initial requirements, but suit author’s personal interest and skills.

Corruption in Political System

Or the review might focus on the fundraising impact of the Internet on a particular political party. A methodological scope will influence either the types of documents in the review or the way in which these documents are discussed. Empirical political science methods include the use of field experiments, surveys and survey experiments, case studies, process tracing, historical and institutional analysis, ethnography, participant observation, and interview research. Program evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies, and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency.

Do not over “quote.” If you only quote from every single author you found, then you are not showing any original thinking or analysis. Use quotes to highlight a particular passage or thought that exemplifies the research, theory or topic you are researching. Political scientists also use and develop theoretical tools like game theory and agent-based models to study a host of political systems example of a political science research paper and situations. JSTOR. Full-text scholarly journals, going back many years, but usually not recent years’ issues. It also demands the demonstration of different skills, including steps for to writing a research paper. Students in the Department of Political Science at Western Michigan University will want to review these sample research topics when selecting their own research topic.

A Quickstart Guide to Writing a Political Science Research Paper

In both the public and private sectors, stakeholders often want to know whether the programs they are funding, implementing, voting for, receiving, or objecting to are producing the intended effect. The late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed a takeoff in the use of deductive, game-theoretic formal modelling techniques aimed at generating a more analytical corpus of knowledge in the discipline. This period saw a surge of research that borrowed theory and methods from economics to study political institutions, such as the United States Congress, as well as political behavior, such as voting.

In the inaugural issue of Political Science Quarterly, Munroe Smith defined political science as “the science of the state. Taken in this sense, it includes the organization and functions of the state, and the relation of states one to another.” An examination of Woodrow Wilson’s address to the seventh annual APSA meeting offers a second opportunity for scrutinizing more carefully traditionalism’s breadth, a breadth critiqued as “unscientific” by later advocates of behavioralism. Although better known as the 28th president of the United States, Wilson also served as president of APSA and, in this latter capacity, argued against a narrow, specialized conception of Controlling Idea in Essays political science. In fact, at one point in his address, he went so far as to assert that he disliked the name political science, which, he claimed, implied that human interactions should be studied objectively and narrowly. He argued for the designation politics rather than political science as a more suitable name for the study of the state and “statesmanship” (pp. 10-11). Although Wilson supported a scientific approach, if by science one meant accuracy and thoroughness in one’s study of political life, he argued that such study should include an examination of literature, art, and poetry and should seek to inspire “vision” and “sympathy” (pp. 2, 10, 11).

How to Choose Political Science Research Paper Topics

For example, a literature review that focuses on continuing research about the emergence of German economic power after the fall of the Soviet example of a political science research paper Union. The most common piece of writing in political sciences are research papers, which investigate an original research question.

There are several different types, and understanding this is helpful for choosing a research topic. McClosky found greater degrees of consensus for democratic procedures among influentials than among the public at large.