Much of the work you’ll do as a graduate student in political science or public administration is about research: how to use and evaluate others’ research and to produce your own research.  In order to help you hit the ground running (or at least walking), the political science and public administration faculty have set up this orientation and research methods bootcamp.

You’ll begin with this online portion of the course which includes readings, videos, and self-directed questions. It should take you 3-4 hours to complete this portion of the course.  There will also be supplemental and “for more information” content for you to reference throughout your time in the graduate program.  The face-to-face portion of the course will take place at orientation in late August.  For some of you, this information will largely be a review of what you already know.  For others, much of this information will be new.  For all of you, this course provides good information you can build on in your graduate courses and you can use it as a reference as you progress through your program.

In this online section of the course, you will learn:

– The definition of social science and social science research
– How to ask good research questions
– How to use data to answer research questions
– How to begin thinking about social justice and equity in the study of politics and policy