Political Methodology Specialization

The Department of Political Science at Notre Dame offers students the option of specializing in political methodology as part of their major.

What is political methodology?

If you are majoring in political science at Notre Dame, you are likely learning political methodology as part of your regular coursework. Political methodology is the component of political science that develops and applies empirical techniques to analyze social and political phenomena. These techniques include quantitative methods such as regression analysis, machine learning, and sample surveys, as well as qualitative methods such as case studies, historical comparisons, and process tracing.

Why specialize in political methodology?

The political methodology specialization offers consistent and rigorous methodological training that will allow students to signal data analytical tools for graduate education credibly and on the job market.

Methodological skills are a key element of graduate training in political science and other disciplines and are valued by business and law schools. The big-data revolution has increased the employer demand for candidates who can conduct rigorous empirical analysis and take advantage of massive information and computational techniques to inform decisions in finance, consulting, journalism, and policy. Qualitative analysis based on in-depth case studies and archival research remains a central component of decision-making in business, law, and policy. Rigorous training in political methodology also improves the quality of your senior thesis, another valuable signal when applying for graduate school and top jobs.

How do you specialize in political methodology?

Specializing in political methodology requires taking a total of four courses in the methodology curriculum:

• Qualitative Political Analysis

• Quantitative Political Analysis

• Two political methodology electives

The specialization in methodology only requires two courses above the 10 required for the political science major. The two required core methods courses count toward the major, while the two electives are taken in addition to the requirements for the major.

Talk to your advisor for more information about how to work the specialization into your academic path.

Courses

The department regularly offers a variety of courses in political methodology. Recent offerings include:

• POLS 30815: Designing and Analyzing Public Opinion Surveys

• POLS 40810/11: Quantitative Political Analysis

• POLS 40812: Qualitative Political Analysis

• POLS 30812: Research Ethics and Experiments

• POLS 40805: Research Design and Methods

• POLS 40815: Visualizing Politics

This variety of courses allows students to structure their methodology electives around their specific political interests. For example, someone interested in elections and public opinion might take Designing and Analyzing Public Opinion Surveys. Students interested in democratization and human development might take Field Research Methods. Students focused on national security and foreign policy analysis might take Simulating Politics in Global Affairs.

Upon approval by the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the field chair in Political Methodology, students may have methodology courses from other departments count towards the methodology specialization. For guidance, students are encouraged to reach out to political science faculty in political methodology.