Political support in non-Western regimes SS 2021, Marlene Mauk

Contents: In recent years, research on political support has increasingly turned to regions outside the classical “West” (Western Europe and North America). Thanks to large-scale survey endeavors like the World Values Survey (WVS), researchers can make use of more and more public-opinion data from all over the world. Quantitative public-opinion surveys are among the most widely used data sources in political science. They enable us to measure and explain citizens’ attitudes towards all kinds of politically relevant topics on the individual level. Especially in the area of political culture, survey data are almost indispensable to study questions like how much and why citizens support a specific government, various political institutions, or the political system as a whole.

This seminar allows participants to gain insight into the typical research process when working with quantitative survey data and offers them an opportunity to apply this knowledge to real-world data. Within the context of the seminar, participants will conduct their own small research projects on political support in non-Western regimes. In the first part of the seminar, we will review the theoretical foundations of political-culture research and the special features of non-Western contexts (regime types, cultural characteristics, socioeconomic development). Subsequently, participants will choose their own research questions and formulate hypotheses they plan to test during the course of the semester. The second part of the seminar discusses the methodological basics of analyzing survey data and introduces the World Values Survey dataset. For participants who have no prior experience with using statistical software, this part will contain an optional introduction to either R or SPSS (depending on students’ preferences). The third and final part of the seminar is dedicated to planning and conducting participants’ own research projects. Building on what they learned before, participants will settle on a research design suitable for answering their particular research question. They will then specify the relevant variables and operationalize them based on the WVS dataset before statistically analyzing the empirical data. The seminar closes with short presentations of each participant’s research project.

All participants must actively work on their research projects throughout the semester (required coursework/“Studienleistung”). The optional “Prüfungsleistung” (degree-relevant examination) is a term paper (based on your research project) as prescribed by your programme’s regulations.

The course will be conceptualized so that it can be held in person. If necessary, we will switch to remote teaching.

Recommended literature:

-          Easton, David (1965): A Systems Analysis of Political Life. New York: Wiley.

-          Field, Andy (2017): Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 5th edition. London: Sage.

-          Field, Andy, Jeremy Miles, and Zoé Field (2012): Discovering Statistics Using R. London: Sage.

-          Thomas, Gary (2013): How to Do Your Research Project. A Guide for Students in Education and Applied Social Sciences. Second Edition. London: Sage.