Senior Seminar Exam

Essay Question 1: Experiment with ethical and moral issues

Stanford Prison Experiment

Q: Why was it scandalous?

A:

• Guards became abusive, prisoners internalized roles
  
  

• Researcher did nothing to stop it
  
  

• Ended by outsider (his girlfriend)
  
  

• Shows power of roles + authority

• Milgram Experiment

  Q: Why was it controversial?

  A:

  • Participants thought shocks were real
    
    

  • High obedience to authority
    
    

  • Led to changes in ethical standards
    
    

Essay Question 2: famous political theory: democratic peace theory

Q: What is Democratic Peace Theory?

A:

• Democracies rarely/never go to war with each other
  
  

• Two explanations:
  
  

  • Normative: democracies value negotiation
    
    

  • Institutional: leaders are constrained by voters, media
    
    

• Influenced Woodrow Wilson → League of Nations
  
  

Important because it has been supported over time

Short Answer 1: Polling

Q: Main problems with polling?

A:

• Hard to get participation
  
  

• Time consuming
  
  

• People don’t take it seriously
  
  

• Incentives (paying people) can bias results
  
  

• Hard to get good sample size
  
  

• People lie:
  
  

  • Income
    
    

  • Political beliefs
    
    

• Example: people may secretly vote conservative but won’t tell pollsters
  
  

Short Answer 2: Correlation and Causation

Q: What is correlation?

A:

• Two variables move together
  
  

• Does NOT mean one causes the other
  
  

Q: What is causation?

A:

• One variable directly causes another
  
  

Q: Example?

A:

• Ice cream sales ↑ → crime ↑
  
  

• Actually both caused by summer (third variable)
  
  

Short Answer 3: Liberal v Conservative

Q: Why is ideology hard to measure?

A:

• Subjective → depends on perspective
  
  

• Metrics can be criticized
  
  

• Politicians may:
  
  

  • Lie
    
    

  • Refuse to answer

How do we measure ideology?

• Surveys (ex: Project Vote Smart)
  
  

• Voting records (DW-NOMINATE)
  
  

• Donations (who they financially support)
  
  

Key Concept:

• We measure actions (votes), not true beliefs

Nominal

Categories (no order)

Ordinal?

Ranked order

Discrete

Fixed values (finite)

Continuous

Infinite range (ex: GDP)

 Independent Variable

Cause

Dependent Variable (DV)

Effect

Random error

• Accidental

• Careless answering
  

Non-random error

• Intentional

• Example: lying about prison history
  
  

What is canvassing?

• Going door-to-door
  
  

Asking questions or persuading voters

What is deep canvassing?

• Long conversations to change opinions
  
  

• Example:
  
  

  • Michael LaCour study
    
    

  • Claimed repeated conversations changed views on gay marriage
    
    

  • Controversial (possibly fake / funding issues)
    
    

 What is a natural experiment?

• No manipulation
  
  

• Observing real-world events

What is groupthink?

• Pressure to conform
  
  

• Avoid disagreement
  
  

Leads to bad decisions

What is the “end problem”?

• Small sample → unreliable conclusions

• Example: Only 50 elections studied