methods + analysis quiz

communique

official report about international meeting

manifest content

what was actually said

latent content

what was intended

expert polls

polls to get a PROFESSIONALS opinion on something

groupthink

the tendency of groups to make decisions because of a false sense of unity/support for the group leader

parochialism

when your knowledge and bias is limited because the only stuff you know is from the perspective of your own state of mind

globalization

the growing irrelevance of borders and an increase in the importance of international trade

scientific method

best way to determine lies form truth, a series of steps to test a hypothesis,

steps of scientific method

1. observe something

2. invent a tentative description (theory) that is consistent with what was observe

3. use theory to make a hypothesis

4. use experiments to test hypothesis + make necessary mods

5. repeat 3-4 until there are no discrepancies between theory, experiment, and the original observation

theory

explanation for something that happened

normative theory

the theory before you test it, you make it based off of common sense or basic logic

scientific theory

the theorya fter you test it, you make it based off of test results (what you create/get after step 5)

what does good theory have?

1. large explanatory power

2. parsimony

3. satisfying

4. clearly framed

5. falsifiable

6. important

7. prescriptive richness

if you do not have GOOD theory, do you have bad theory?

no, you just do not have GOOD theory YET

what is bad theory?

bad theory is UNSUPPORTED theory, not wrong, not right, just no evidence

large explanatory power

the theory can be applied to a large group of people, the larger test group the better (youll get more accurate results)

parsimony

stating from the simplest explanation and working towards the more complex (dont use fifteen words when you could use ten)

satisfying

the theory ahs to satisfy the curiosity that sparked the whole thing

clearly framed

be mindful and articulate with your wording, be clear and explicit (dont be using no metaphors)

falsifiable

in order to be able to prove a theory wrong, you have to be able to prove a theory right and vice versa. you can not know the outcome before asking the question and getting an answer

important

if you dont know what the word important means, i cant help you

prescriptive richness

are these findings useful, can you apply the findings in any way OUTSIDE of the study, what can the findings be used for? basically are the findings useful in any way

do we test theory?

NO. we test HYPOTHESIS, not theory

why do we not test theory?

a theory can not be proven or disproven, it isnt testable, but a hypothesis is

hypothesis formula

cause (education) + relationship/direction (increases/decreases) + effect (voter turnout) = hypothesis

can a hypothesis be proven or disproven

NO, a hypothesis can only be supported or rejected (either you find support under xyz conditions or you dont)

resource theory of political participation

basically says the more resources someone has, the more likely an individual is to understand the importance of political participation and the consequences of NOT participating in politics

what are the resources in the RTPP

income, leisure time, education, social networks (4)

what is political participation in the RTPP

voting, petitions, boycotting, protests, demonstrations (5)

how many possible hypotheses can be made from the RTPP

20 (5*4)

what are international relations theories absed on?

the scientific method and norms in society

what is the purpose of IR theories

settling foreign policy debates, allow analysists and decision makers to transform loads of unanswered questions into a logical construction, educate specific situations and decision making

can scientific theories be biased?

yes, much like prophecies were in the past

methods

tools we use to answer questions and act on theory

positivist

use of math to answer questions (very quantitative and statistic heavy)

interpretive

use of qualitative research to answer questions (focus groups, interviews, content analysis)

case studies

use of a singular, isolated incident/thing to answer questions

cross methods studies

use of the power of a methodology to answer questions (mixed of positive and interpretive)

what makes methods useful?

DATA

list of data sources

government and NGO reports, eyewitness sources, communications, intelligence, surveys, experimental methods

government and NGO reports

governments and NGOs frequently report data on defense, economics, commerce, tourism, population, etc. (america has the periodic pubs, china has the CCP white papers)

eyewitness reports

government officials, investigative journalists, NGO reps, personal testimonies, witness accounts, refugee stories

communications

official documents, communique, content analysis, government documents (freedom of information act), speeches, interviews, etc.

intelligence

any information about the interests, intentions, capabilities, and actions of foreign states

does all intelligence influence decision making?

no, not all intelligence is useful to everyone, or even useful period (information must be filtered)

what are some issues with intelligence

the sheer multiplicity of intelligence signals poses problems since there is no one conclusion amongst all of it

where does intelligence come from (what are the sources)?

government officials, political parties, private citizens,

surveys

like a questionnaire, polls, etc.

what are the most important/valued surveys?

expert polls and focus groups

experimental methods

scholars/scientists will put participants in controlled conditions as a game

what do most experiments study in the IR sphere?

conflict and resolution analysis

prisoners dilemma

basically when two people, typically criminals or people being interviewed (interrogated) and they are pit against each other (person a and person b are being interrogated separately. teh detective of a says b is ratting them out. detective of b says a is ratting them out. chaos and betrayal ensues)

analysis

breaking something complex down into smaller parts to understand the essential functions and relations

what d you need to analyze?

1. critical thinking

2. virtues

3. awareness of bias

4. facts and opinions

5. parochialism

critical thinking

thinking in terms of causation (cause/effect)

virtues

curiosity, doubt, intellectual, honesty (values)

awareness of bias

be aware of bias so as not to skew results

facts and opinions

you need to be able to tell the difference between the two

opinoin

you hear something once and agree

informed opinion

you hear something, do research on it, and create an opinion based off of research

how does parochialism relate to analysis

you need to make sure you dont judge a man until youve wlaked two moons in his moccassins, opposite of globalization

what are the levels of analysis

individual, state, and global level

individual level of analysis

casues: individual leaders within a particular state and htier actions, decisions, etc.

assumptions: individuals are unique and decisions are typically the outcome of struggle, bargaining, and compromises

state level of analysis

causes: character of the domestic system, such as an institution or ideological group

assumptions: domestic issues influence the interaction, domestic factors are rooted in social and cultural norms

global level of analysis

causes: the international system such as state alignment and regulations

assumptions: interaction of multiple factions, players, conditions, and contexts matter. it takes into account both the position of states in the interrelationships