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POLS 300     Research Design and Methods  (4)

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of the scientific process of social inquiry. Students develop skills enabling them to better digest the social science literature and produce causal theories related to important outcomes, behaviors, or institutions. Additionally, students learn how to assess the validity of social theories by collecting data, testing observable implications and exploring an interesting question about domestic or international political behavior or institutions. Not open to new first-year students.

Politics

http://e-catalog.sewanee.edu/arts-sciences/departments-interdisciplinary-programs/politics/

Politics majors critically engage with competing values and interests that guide and orient politics. Students learn about  concepts, theories, and principles that deal with the nature, purpose, and characteristics of government and political change, which they apply in the analysis of politics. The major encompasses the theoretical and empirical study of government institutions, leadership, conflict resolution between and within states, political ideas and ideologies, political culture and discourse, political economy, and the politics of gender, race, and class. While introductory courses help to ground students in fundamental theories and concepts used in the study of politics, seminars and many 300-level courses provide students opportunities to develop their research and analytical skills while also introducing students to how to write within the discipline.