Kenneth
D. Wald
Distinguished Professor
303 Anderson Hall
(352) 273-2391 or 392-0262
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Graduate Seminars
POS 6208 Empirical Political Research
This seminar is intended to equip students with the skills to conduct empirical research projects on social and political subjects. The skills emphasized include criticism/evaluation of research, problem and hypothesis formulation, concept development, measurement, data analysis and computer-based statistical analysis. The culmination of the course will be an original empirical research paper on some aspect of social or political behavior that interests you.
POS
6292
Religion and Politics
Once considered an archaic force, destined to wither away as nations underwent rapid economic development, religion has instead gained renewed interest as a factor in contemporary political life. This seminar introduces the major social scientific theories of religion and applies them to understanding the interaction between religion and political life. The focus is on the explanatory value of such theories in understanding mass political behavior. The course is intended primarily as a review of relevant literature.
POS 6757 Survey Research
Since its development in
the 1930s and 1940s, survey research has become a major
tool of investigation for academic researchers,
journalists, social
analysts, government agencies, political practitioners,
market
researchers, and others. The course is intended to provide
students
with a solid grounding in the design of surveys,
paying
particularly close attention to the potential pitfalls
inherent in this
method of data collection. During the semester, we address
the
question of when and why to undertake surveys,
explore the issues that arise in the administration and
analysis of
surveys, and consider how best to communicate survey data
and issues.
The principal focus of the seminar is on recognizing and
dealing with
potential threats to the validity of surveys that arise
from what is
called non-sampling error. The
seminar will also consider the use of new survey modes
and the growth of survey research as a global
phenomenon.
At the end of the semester, you should be a more
sophisticated consumer
of surveys and also have the capacity to contribute
intelligently to
survey design and interpretation.
