Refocusing Methods Courses on Workplace Applications

Abstract

Social science research methods are increasingly central to a rigorous political science curriculum. This reflects a shift in both academia and in government toward an appreciation for quantitative analysis to accompany traditional qualitative analyses. As undergraduate and graduate programs develop and update their methods courses, we can optimize their value through a greater emphasis on the application of methods to challenges found in the real world of politics, policy, and governance. This research note presents several examples of methods applications in government and concludes with an overview of the specific methods-related skills government agencies are seeking in potential hires.

Keywords:

• Methods courses
• research methods
• applied learning
• case studies

Note

Notes

1 We co-host the GAB Forum with REI Systems.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jennifer Bachner

Jennifer Bachner, PhD, is Director of the Master of Science in Government Analytics and Certificate in Government Analytics at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of What Washington Gets Wrong (with Benjamin Ginsberg, Penguin Random House) and the editor of Analytics, Policy and Governance (with Benjamin Ginsberg and Kathryn Wagner Hill, Yale University Press). Her report, Predictive Policing: Preventing Crime with Data and Analytics, has been published by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. As an expert on government analytics and political behavior, she has been quoted and/or cited in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Baltimore Sun, Roll Call, Government Executive, and on Federal News Network. Bachner received her PhD in government from Harvard University and undergraduate degrees in political science and social studies education from the University of Maryland, College Park.