Summary of Section 2.1:Brief History of Empirical Study of Politics
Empiricism is research that seeks patterns and explanations for general phenomena and specific cases. Empirical political science has its roots in the study of institutions. However, it took off methodologically with the behavioral wave in the 1950s. This was a shift to the study of human behavior, such as voting patterns.
Summary of Section 2.2: The Institutional Wave
The traditional wave of methodology in political science is institutionalism, or the study of institutions in a society. Institutions often reflect the bargains made between actors in each society that determine how the rules of society should look like, which is why they are difficult to reform, replace, or dismantle. Institutionalism ebbed during the heyday of the behavioral revolution. However, the desire to bring institutions back has led to the development of neoinstitutionalism, with a focus on the role of the state in society and the economy.
Summary of Section 2.3: The Behavioral Wave
Behavioralism is the study of political behavior and emphasizes the use of surveys and statistics. Charles Merriam at the University of Chicago had an outsized influence on behavioralism. The “Chicago School” has strongly influenced political science, through its emphasis on quantitative methodology, often at the expense of normative questions. Many incoming scholars are expected to understand statistical techniques for use in their research. In response, some scholars are looking to bring back the normative discussion.
Summary of Section 2.4: Currents: Qualitative versus Quantitative
There are two major currents in political science: the qualitative methodological and quantitative methodological currents. Methods are simply the steps taken by social scientists during their research. They are the techniques used to collect, construct, and consider data. Qualitative methods solve puzzles in political science without using some type of mathematical analysis. Whereas, quantitative methods prefer the use of mathematical analysis or measurement. The behavioral revolution created a wedge among political scientists, which has led to a strong back and forth discourse on the value of qualitative methodology in political science. More recent scholars using multi-method approaches, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques.
Summary of Section 2.5: Currents: Politics: Normative and Positive Views
The normative view of political science explores what should be, while the positive view explains what is. These views are important to recognize, since both have their supporters and detractors. As a student of political science, it is useful to be able to identify both views. And it is up to you when, how, and why you use one view, or another, or even both, to explore, explain and analyze political actors, behaviors, institutions, and processes.
Summary of Section 2.6: Emerging Wave: Experimental Political Science
Experimental political science is growing in the discipline. It centers on the researcher using random assignment in laboratory settings or quasi-random assignment in other settings, to explore precise cause-and-effect relationships between a treatment and outcome of interest.
Summary of Section 2.7: Emerging Wave: Big Data and Machine Learning
The emerging waves of Big Data and machine learning are just beginning to influence political science. Big Data is the growing mountain of data being generated by political actors and institutions. And machine learning is the increasingly sophisticated way of sifting, sorting, and identifying patterns in these mountains of data.
