Joe Bond Class 3 July 1, 2013

Harvard Summer School, 2013Graduate Research Methods and Scholarly Writing in the Social Sciences: Government and History

Harvard Summer School: SSCI S-100b Section 2 (32761)

Joe BondClass 3

July 1, 2013

Agenda

• Announcements• VBA, TPB, Typologies• Literature Reviews• Facilitation (Frankie & Paul)• Research Status• In-Class 3

• Volunteers to facilitate next week?– July 8th

– July 10th

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Verbal Behavior Analysis• Verbal Behavior Analysis (VBA) is a content analytic

technique designed to tap "styles of speaking with patterns of thinking and behaving" (Weintraub, 1989: 7).

• Weintraub devised a system to analyze samples of speech (monologues elicited by a standardized procedure) to obtain the frequencies of occurrence of members of fourteen categories, not all of which are, strictly speaking, "syntactic" (e.g. long pauses and the rate of speech).

• Then groups representing "no pathology" and various psychopathological syndromes are compared with respect to the frequencies with which these categories appear in speech.

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VBA, Continued

• Fifteen indicators: 1) I, 2) We, 3) Me, 4) Negatives, 5) Qualifiers, 6) Retractors, 7) Direct References, 8) Explainers, 9) Expressions of Feeling, 10) Evaluators, 11) Adverbial Intensifiers, 12) Non-personal References, 13) Creative Expressions, 14) Rhetorical Questions, and 15) Interruptions

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VBA, Continued

• frequent use of evaluators are indicative of individuals possessing a punitive conscience

• frequent use of retractors convey impulsivity • high adverbial intensifier scores indicate persons "who see the

world in black and white terms;" • frequent use of explainers signify tendencies toward

rationalization • high qualifiers scores indicate anxiety and avoidance to

commitment • frequent use of negatives signify negation and denial• frequent use of rhetorical questions indicate aggressiveness• frequent use of direct references indicates that the speaker has

difficulty speaking and prefers to divert the attention of the audience

• low use expressions of feeling convey an impression of aloofness

• frequent use of creative expressions indicate creativity

Obama VBA

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Predicting Behavior: A Theory of Planned Behavior

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Typologies

• Typologies are a way of sorting out relationships and developing hypotheses

• Definition: a way to analyze all of the logical combinations of at least two variables.

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Example of a Typology: James David Barber's The Presidential Character. Predicting Performance in the White House

Two Baselines:1) "activity-

passivity”2) "positive-

negative view“

IIActive-Positive

Examples?

IPassive-Positive

Examples?

IIIActive-Negative

Examples?

IVPassive-Negative

Examples

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Presidential Types

• Active-Positives: T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy

• Active-Negatives: Wilson, Hoover, L. Johnson, Nixon

• Passive-Positives: McKinley, Taft, Harding, Reagan

• Passive-Negatives: Coolidge, Eisenhower

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Presidential Character & Amnesty for the Last 17 Presidents)

• Active-positives granted 55% of all amnesties• Active-negatives granted 35% of all amnesties• Passive-positive presidents granted 7.5% of all

amnesties• Passive-negatives granted 2.5 % of all amnesties• Active Presidents combined (i.e. both positives and

negatives) granted 90% of all amnesties

What explains this?

• Presidents have averaged over 200 acts of clemency per year

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Amnesty by the Numbers: 1900-1993

• Ford: 409 clemency actions taken (382 pardons and 27 commutations) or 35% of all requests

• Reagan: 406 (393 pardons, 13 commutations) or 13% of all requests

• G.H.W. Bush: 77 (74 pardons, 3 commutations) or 5% of all requests

• Wilson: 2550 (995 pardons, 1403 commutations) or 37% of all requests

Literature Reviews

• Lit reviews are guided by a general question• By the time you are finished with your review,

you will have the answer to your question• You will also have one or more new questions• These questions will [hopefully] serve as the

focal point of your ALM thesis

How many sources? It depends.

We know a lot

We know less

Little is known

Discipline X

Discipline Y

Discipline Z

Universe

Begin with a dozen sources, if possible• Try not to cite everything under the sun related to your

topic• Start broad and shoot for specificity as your review

progresses• If little is known, branch out (e.g. interdisciplinary)• If the topic/question has been thoroughly investigated, go

for more specificity• Try to stick with “scholarly” books and refereed journal

articles• While internet sources are fine for ideas, try to cite a

hardcopy, if available (e.g. some online reports are also available in hardcopy; UN documents).

• Do not cite an internet source that refers to someone else’s study; rather, cite the study.

A “Researchable” Topic

• In the Extension School, just about anything is fair game

• Most ALM theses proposals start out overly ambitious

• DO NOT CHOOSE A TOPIC BASED ON WHAT YOU THINK WILL MAXIMIZE YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING A PARTICULAR FACULTY MEMBER TO SERVE AS YOUR ADVISOR

• If it doesn’t interest you, you will never finish• AND IF YOU ARE SATISFIED WITH YOUR THESIS WHEN

YOU FINISH, IT PROBABLY ISN’T VERY GOOD

Should I bother?

• A research topic should add to the pool of research knowledge available on the topic

• Question to ask:– Does the study address a topic that has yet to be examined,

extend the discussion by incorporating new elements, or replicate a study in new situations or with new participants?

• Is the topic salient? Does it appeal to a broad audience? Is the topic timely? Is the topic non-trivial?

• In the context of the Extension School, your research topic should have something to do with government and/or history broadly defined

Purpose of a Literature Review1. To share with the reader the results of other

studies that are closely related to an area of interest

2. Relate your research to the larger ongoing dialogue in the literature, filling gaps and extending prior studies

3. Provide a framework for establishing the importance of your study with other findings

SYNTHESIS IS KEY

What it is NOT• The literature review is not the place to analyze your

research questions - those adopting an historical approach are particularly susceptible to falling into this trap

• Only review what has already been reported and/or is known about the topic

• By the time that you finish your literature review, you may find that your preliminary questions have already been addressed by others but additional, more interesting questions have been left unanswered

A Lit Review IS NOT an Annotated Bibliography

This is an annotated bibliography and yes, it is 204 pages long:

# 1

• Identify key words useful in locating materials using Hollis, for example

• Key words may help you identify a suitable topic of interest and will assist you in finding preliminary books in the library or e-journals

# 2• Focus initially on refereed journals and books

• Search databases typically reviewed by social science researchers include ERIC (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal), the Social Science Citation Index, etc.

The Social Sciences Citation Index

• Covers 1969 through the present• Available in most academic libraries• Covers 5700+ journals that represent virtually every

discipline in the social sciences• Useful in locating studies that have referenced an

important study• Allows the user to “trace” all studies since

publication of a “key” study that contain the cited work

• Allows the user to develop a chronological list of references that document the historical evolution of an idea or a study

# 3• Locate a dozen books, journal articles, reports,

etc. related to your topic

• Avoid shortcuts! Start now! Reading material on the web may be convenient but it is rarely adequate

• Start with the most recent publications and work backwards

# 4• Identify an initial group of books and articles

that are central to your topic• Review abstracts and skim the articles or

chapters• Get a sense of whether the article or chapter

will make a useful contribution to your understanding of the literature

• Don’t reinvent the wheel!• Use the bibliographic information (i.e.

references) contained in the articles and books to extend your search

Abstracting StudiesA Good review summary might include the following:

1. Mention the problem being addressed.2. State the central purpose of focus of the study.3. State the underlying assumptions.4. Briefly state information about the sample, population,

and/or participants.5. Review the key results.6. Point out any technical or methodological flaws.7. Be sure to jot down full citations even if you do not

ultimately incorporate the piece into your review8. Read “Doing a Literature Review” article -required reading

for Wednesday’s class (posted on the course website.9. Review the sample literature review posted on the course

website.Questions?

Individual/Research Interests/Projects/Brainstorming

• Purpose

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Tonight’s Readings

Frankie & Paul

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3rd In-Class Writing Exercise

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