poli sci methods practice questions

A researcher argues that "the state" has no existence beyond the meanings political actors attach to it — it is nothing more than what people believe it to be. Which ontological position does this reflect?

constructivism - social phenomena are constructed by social actors and only the meaning attributed to them can be studied

A researcher argues that "institutions" exist and function independently of what any individual believes about them, and that beneath their visible rules lie hidden power dynamics that shape political outcomes. Which ontological position does this reflect?

realism - combines independent existence with hidden structures and mechanisms observable through their effects on behaviour

A researcher argues that "public opinion" can be directly measured and recorded through surveys, existing as a fact about the world independent of how the researcher interprets it. Which ontological position does this reflect?

objectivism - treats social phenomena as existing independently of actors, observable and measurable in an objective fashion

A researcher spends months living alongside a rural community to understand, in their own words and context, what "belonging to the village" means to residents — aiming for an empathetic, first-hand grasp of their subjective experience rather than testing a hypothesis. Which epistemological approach does this reflect?

interpretivism - people’s own interpretations and understanding, aims at empathetic understanding within a specific context, and works inductively from qualitative data to generate theory

A researcher studies media coverage of immigration, arguing that beyond the visible headlines and statistics, there are hidden structures — such as elite ownership interests and dominant nationalist ideologies — shaping what gets published and how immigrants are portrayed. The researcher combines interviews with editors and a statistical analysis of coverage patterns to uncover these underlying power relations. Which epistemological approach does this reflect?

critical realism - aims to uncover power relations and dominant ideologies, treats structures as real but not directly observable, and can draw on both qualitative and quantitative data

Which statement about induction and deduction is correct?

induction infers particular -> general, linked to interpretivism

A researcher begins with a general theory that ethnic diversity reduces public goods provision, deduces a testable hypothesis, and gathers cross-national statistical data to test it. However, upon finding an anomalous case where diverse regions have high public goods provision, she conducts in-depth interviews in that region to generate a revised theoretical explanation. Which combination best characterises her overall approach?

deductive/positivist initially, then inductive to refine theory from the anomalous case

Two researchers both study "state capacity." Researcher A defines it as an objectively measurable set of indicators (tax collection rates, bureaucratic staffing) that exist independently of anyone's beliefs about the state. Researcher B agrees state capacity is real and exists independently of belief, but argues it is also shaped by hidden colonial-era institutional legacies that are not directly observable but explain why measured capacity varies. Which pairing of ontological positions correctly describes A and B?

A= objectivism, B= realism

A researcher states: "Human rights violations are real events that occur independently of whether anyone perceives or labels them as such. However, what counts as a 'violation' in official records is shaped by dominant geopolitical narratives that obscure abuses committed by powerful states." Which combination of ontological position and epistemological approach best fits this researcher's stance?

ontology= realism, epistemology= critical realism

A scholar argues: "There is no such thing as 'the economy' independent of the categories and measurement conventions economists themselves invented — GDP, inflation, unemployment are all constructs that only exist because of the disciplinary practices used to produce them." A second scholar responds: "That's absurd — unemployment is a real condition that exists and can be measured whether or not economists have invented a term for it, though I agree the way we categorise who 'counts' as unemployed reflects institutional choices as much as an objective reality." Which ontological positions do the first and second scholars hold, respectively?

first= constructivism, second= realism