PLSI 700 Research Design and Methods of Inquiry, FALL 2018

Prof. García-Castañon, San Francisco State University

Assignment #2: An analysis and report of one article from a leading journal in political science, due
before class on iLearn in week 6.

The purpose of this assignment is to increase your understanding of the various components in an
empirical research project. Treat this as one example of how to set up your question, describe your design,
report your concepts and measures, etc.

READ BOTH of the following articles, available on the course iLearn page.

Anoll, Allison P. 2018. “What Makes a Good Neighbor? Race, Place, and Norms of Political
Participation.” American Political Science Review 112(3): 494–508.

Teele, Dawn Langan, Joshua Kalla, and Frances Rosenbluth. 2018. “The Ties That Double Bind:
Social Roles and Women’s Underrepresentation in Politics.” American Political Science Review
112(3): 525–41.

SELECT ONE and Write a two-to-three page analysis of this article in which you address the following:

Subfield of the discipline (See assignment #1)

Nature of the work (See assignment #1)
Rational Choice Theory, economic modeling? (See assignment #1)
Type of design (See assignment #1)
Epistemological orientation (See assignment #1)
Purpose of the research
Research question
Theoretical framework
Hypotheses that are tested
Key concepts and their measures
Alternative explanations (control variables)
Model: dependent variable, key independent variable(s), control variables
Nature of the data
Type of analysis performed
Findings
Importance of the study
Critical comments (what worked best, areas for improvement, etc.)

Be sure to:
- Use good writing style and compose a quality essay.
- Adhere to APSA style.
- Stick to the three-page limit (1” margins, 10 – 12 point font, 1.5 or double line spacing)
- Report these elements of the article in an intuitive way that a lay person would understand.
- Do not quote the author directly. The essay should be in your own words.
- Be specific about what the findings show.
- Avoid using too much space for your critical comments; they should not dominate the essay and
should address specific aspects of the article and the methods employed.
- Be extremely careful to avoid all types of plagiarism (see the Plagiarism Primer on iLearn or the
Prof. if you have questions).
Last Updated: 9.19.2018