Graduate

The practice of carrying out research is an acquired skill. Everyone has to learn it, although traditionally most of it is self-taught. This course is designed to provide students with guidance, structure, and feedback that will help them to frame and execute well-specified and coherent research projects on American political behavior. The seminar also offers students an opportunity to work through their ideas and test their arguments in an informal, small, and collegial setting. Students will present their own research, comment on the research of their peers, and learn about different types of feedback mainly through example.

The workshop provides a forum for students to improve how they think about conducting research projects, to workshop early work, conference papers, and ideas for MA or PhD proposals, and, finally, to develop a community in which they can work through specific practices for research and problems that arise in conducting their projects. These main aims of the workshop are met through a forum in which faculty and graduate students at various career stages work closely together. It is an applied workshop with an emphasis on learning by doing and on learning how to be a more constructive colleague. Rather than segregate PhD students by cohort, the workshop is designed to bring cohorts together in order to facilitate the student-to-student transfer of skills and knowledge.

The main aims of this workshop are met through a forum in which faculty and graduate students at various career stages work closely together. It is an applied workshop with an emphasis on learning by doing and on learning how to be a more constructive colleague. Rather than segregate PhD students by cohort, the workshop is designed to bring cohorts together in order to facilitate the student-to-student transfer of skills and knowledge.

The goal of this yearlong course is to provide a forum in which students propose, develop, and complete a research project that produces a journal-length paper of publishable quality. This paper will typically serve as students' second-year M.A. essay, and the course is intended as a complement to that requirement. This course is primarily oriented towards second-year Ph.D. students in any subfield (students in other years may participate with the professors’ consent). The course meets regularly during parts of the fall semester and irregularly during the spring semester. In the first few weeks of the course, we discuss the process of moving from research topic to research question; and we survey published articles by recent Ph.D. students/assistant professors, focusing on the structure and nature of the writing and presentation as well the quality of the argument and evidence. We then move to students’ research proposals for the rest of the fall semester. During the spring semester, students meet individually with the course instructors and their advisors, develop and revise drafts of their papers, and present their work at a department “APSA-style” conference. In order to complete the course and receive credit, students must complete the requirements for both semesters.

A comprehensive review of the major topics in political behavior through intensive examination of the theories, findings, and proceedings of the most significant studies in the field.

This course is a graduate field seminar in International Politics.  We will survey and assess foundational theoretical perspectives, issues, and research programs in IR, placing each in historical perspective.  What kinds of questions does modern IR theory ask (and not ask) and about what kinds of problems?  What methods are used to seek answers?  What is the value of the answers?  Who uses them and for what?  Where is this field headed and where do we think it should be headed?  Through intensive reading and discussion as well as some small writing assignments, we will build a foundation for more advanced courses in International Relations as well as research agendas that can elaborate, refine, and extend contemporary debates in academic IR.  

Please note that this description is from Spring 2014.

This course emphasizes the application of the formal analytic tools to current or significant research in political science.

This is the third course in the PS 231 graduate methods sequence in the political science department. In this course, students will learn about model-based statistical inference and its applications to political science research. The course will cover multiple approaches to model-based inference. First, students will learn about maximum likelihood estimation, which proceeds by assuming the data were generated by a specified probability model. Second, students will learn a collection of methods in machine learning, which employ algorithmic models to optimize fit to the data without relying on assumptions about the data mechanism. Along the way, students will learn about the strengths and limitations of these different approaches, how to interpret the outputs of different types of models, and how to assess the value of estimated models in different situations.

Discussion scheduled Fridays 2-3:30pm.

This is a rst course on statistical inference and modeling for use in social science research. It covers probability and the theory of statistical inference, justications for and problems with common statistical procedures, and how to apply procedures to empirical social science data to draw conclusions relevant to positive social theory. We will pay particular attention to the motivation for statistical inference and modeling from the standpoint of social science. Lectures and reading will primarily cover theory and simple examples. Problem sets will cover both simple theoretical extensions and applications of tools we develop to real data.

Required Skills:
Students should have a working knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, and elementary calculus. The course is suitable for students with a large range of prior exposure to statistics and mathematics. Students with Ph.D.-level training in mathematical statistics from a statistics department will note that it pushes their capabilities; students with less background than this should nd at least some challenges, conceptual or technical. All students capable of gaining admission to a Berkeley Ph.D. program can fully succeed in this class regardless of prior technical preparation other than the required skills listed above.

Please note that description is from Fall 2014.

Discussion sections will meet Fridays 3:30-5pm.

This doctoral seminar reviews major theoretical and empirical debates in Latin American politics.  The goal is to enhance students’ empirical knowledge of Latin American countries, to explore the central themes and issues that have animated the literature on Latin American politics, and to encourage students to begin to think about how they might design and execute research that would contribute to scholarship on the region.  Major themes include: corporatism and other forms of political incorporation, democratic breakdown and bureaucratic authoritarianism, import substitution, democratization, the politics of economic liberalization, Latin American politics institutions and party politics, business and politics, the rule of law, and subnational institutions.