Summary

Midterm Summary Politics Within Borders - PO101

2 views 0 purchase

Course
PO101

Institution
Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU )

Detailed but concise summary notes done based on review sheet given in class. Contains summaries of tutorial readings and bolded key information. Fall 2024 at WLU, PO101 with Dr. Basso.

[Show more]

Preview 3 out of 22 pages

View example

Uploaded on January 7, 2025
Number of pages 22
Written in 2024/2025
Type Summary

CA$14.96

Add to cart

Add to wishlist

100% satisfaction guarantee
Immediately available after payment
Both online and in PDF
No strings attached

● Disclaimer: Basso can add anything on the exam that is not mentioned in the study
sheet
● ☆ = concepts not in slides, not in notes, not in TAs notes

Methods
Political Analysis
● Politicians and partisanship
○ Partisanship: alignment of a political party/political affiliation
○ Politicians: involved in government-related activities
● Polemicists and ideologies
○ Polemicists: argues in opposition to other’s ideologies, often plays the devil’s
advocate
○ Ideology: high modernism characterized by an obsession with the natural
sciences and a way to manufacturer outcomes
● Political scientists
○ Comparative approach: looking at an object of study in comparison to another
○ Different approaches?
■ Refers to the social and scientific method
Hypotheses
● The inductive reasoning approach: moving from specific observations to a general
claim
○ Starts with gathering data from cases. Then reasoning, hypothesis, and theories
are created.
○ For example, observing an apple falls from a tree builds into a general claim that
gravity exists
○ Is less common in the social science field
● The deductive reasoning approach: starts with a general idea that is tested with
specific examples
○ Working from a theory, applying it and seeing whether it works/is false in other
cases (testing)
○ For example, starting with gravity and knowing it exists, then investigating if
gravity behaves the same way on the moon
○ Most common approach
● Five W’s and an H
○ Five W’s and an H is the first step to forming and answering research questions
○ At the core, anything with “why” can be a good and ideal research question- ask
a good question and you'll set yourself up for research success
Argumentation
● Normative argumentation
○ Emphasizing the way things are, but arguing that they shouldn’t be that way
(how things ought to be)
■ “I wish the sea levels would rise”
○ Usually means injecting personal biases, is judgemental
● Empirical argumentation

, ○ Involves looking for causes after examining how things are, is fact based
○ Empirical argumentation examines the way things are right now and determines
if x and y combine to create an outcome
■ I.e. “The sea levels are rising because x y z”
● Social Scientific Method
○ Compares between and among cases
○ Asking why human rights are different in Egypt vs Canada is not an ideal
comparison to make
○ Why are human rights conceptualized differently in Canada than in the United
States? is a better question
○ Don’t mix up with the social science method
○ “Why” is the most important question

Theories of theories
● Is a general understanding of specific phenomena
● A theory should explain, predict, and conclude in understanding of something. It
is a lens that helps people understand the world around them, each theory
accentuates different experiences people have
○ Explain why the apple fell from the tree, then predict if that apple is going to
behave in the same way in another time/location
● Is there a process for making theories?
○ There is no process, as theories mean different things to different people
● A theory must be:
○ Concise and systematic
■ When you have two theories that explain the same argument equally as
well, the unnecessary variables must be cut
■ Social science: attempting to get from start to end with fewest variables
possible
○ Coherent
■ A theory cannot contradict itself
○ Predictive
■ Must be projected into the future
○ Broadly applicable
■ Has to apply to two or more cases, meaning you can now understand a
class of cases
● A theory is not:
○ An ideology or presupposed belief system
○ A hypothesis, because it involves no fact
○ Idiographic or nomothetic (unique personality vs personality trait)
● Limits to theories
○ Theories can be oversimplified
■ Instead of saying: “Human beings that breathe are more likely to vote” try
“people living in Alberta who work in the oil and gas sector are more likely
to vote Conservative”

, ○ Limited range of vision/limited scope
■ Zoom out, don’t zoom in
● If a hiker is lost in a forest, all he sees are trees around him.
However, if he had a drone, he would be able to zoom out and
see landmarks and where he is (don't blind yourself/close yourself
off)
● Theories are beneficial but must be used sparingly
Concepts
● An explanation for a class of something
● Good concepts are:
○ Clear and coherent
■ Giovanni Sartori’s ladder of abstraction
● Going up the ladder increases the number of cases it is applicable
to (very general)
○ General theory can be a bad thing because it explains
nothing/is too broad
● Going down the ladder decreases number of cases but increases
the specificity
○ Logically consistent
○ Useful
■ As soon as the white board has been created, there is now an
explanation for the white board marker. A white board marker will have no
purpose without a white board
○ ☆Concept stretching
● Clear & coherent, logically consistent, and useful → means that these
concepts are “good”
Variables
● Dependent variables
○ The endpoint is dependent on the variable
○ Does the dependent variable change based on the levels of the independent
variable?
● Independent variable
○ Something within the equation that you can isolate and alter the levels of
○ Demographics, education level, etc.
● In this scenario:
○ IV1A + IV2A + IV3A = DV1
○ IV1A + IV2A + IV3B = DV2
■ IV3A and IV3B appear to be the causal variable because they are what is
“variable”
Evidence
● Claims vs facts vs evidence
● Types of sources: can be pictures, text messages, videos, primary data, secondary data,
etc
○ Primary data: Looking at things produced by the person, institution or society

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller 52114935eunicekan. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for CA$14.96. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

51292 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 15 years now

Start selling