Public Opinion and Policy

POLSCI 4SS3

Winter 2023

Prof. Gustavo Diaz
Department of Political Science
McMaster University
popw23.gustavodiaz.org

Welcome!

This course is about quantitative research designs applied to public opinion and policy

  • Quantitative: Data analysis using statistics and statistical programming software
  • Research design: Thinking about how research is conducted

Welcome!

This course is about quantitative research designs applied to public opinion and policy

  • Public opinion: Views among the general1 public
  • (Public) policy: Government actions and how to carry them

Why public opinion and policy?

  • Both are important for the operation of government and adjacent organizations
  • Why together?
  • Both are important and difficult/expensive to get right
  • Minimize mistakes before conducting a study

Was this a mistake?

No wrong answers!

Content warning

  • We will rely heavily on math and statistics to think about the properties of a research design

  • You will be asked to:

    • Read technical writing
    • Understand and explain statistical concepts
    • Apply them in writing and coding
    • Write a statistics-heavy final project

Materials

Course website

popw23.gustavodiaz.org

Required reading

book.declaredesign.org

  • Blair, Graeme, Alexander Coppock, and Macartan Humphreys. 2022. Research Design: Declaration, Diagnosis, Redesign. Forthcoming at Princeton University Press

  • FREE ONLINE. DO NOT BUY

  • Chapters are short but include math and code

  • Read 1-3 sections + 1-2 research articles per week

Suggested reading

r4ds.had.co.nz

  • Grolemund, Garret and Hadley Wickham. 2017. R for Data Science. O’Reilly Media Inc

  • ALSO FREE ONLINE. DO NOT BUY

  • Good to consult while working on lab assignments

Software

R and RStudio

Computer access

  • You will need a computer to work on during our weekly meetings and beyond

  • R + RStudio works on most laptops and has a cloud option

  • See popw23.gustavodiaz.org/resources.html for installation guides

  • Computers in the classroom should have the most recent version

  • Computer labs open to students whenever courses are not scheduled

Evaluation

Assignment Percent
Attendance and participation 10%
Weekly lab assignments (best 10) 30% (3% each)
Response papers (best 3) 30% (10% each)
Final project meetings 10%
Final project: Pre-analysis plan 20%

See the syllabus for details and policies

Schedule

Semester at a glance

  • First half: Focus on designs for public opinion (surveys)

  • Second half: Focus on public policy (experiments, RCTs, AB testing)

  • Weekly reading and lab assignments

  • Choose when to write response papers (at least 3)

  • Schedule at least two final project meetings (before and after mid-term recess)

Class meeting

  • Brief lecture (< 30 min)

  • Discussion (~ 40 min)

  • Break (10 min)

  • Lab (Remaining time)

Is 8:30 AM a good start time?

Tips

Doing well in this course

  • Content is cumulative. Stay engaged!

  • Work with others, especially on coding

  • Come to class prepared to work backwards from findings to research design choices

  • See also popw23.gustavodiaz.org/resources.html

Stay in touch!

Info also in course website

Lab

Take home part: Research interests survey

  • Link available before the end of today

  • Due on Friday, January 13, at 5 PM

  • I will use this to create group categories that you will sign up for

Now: Install and play around with R

popw23.gustavodiaz.org/resources.html