Joe Bond Class 3 July 1, 2013

1. Harvard Summer School, 2013Graduate Research Methods and Scholarly Writing in the Social Sciences: Government and HistoryHarvard Summer School: SSCI S-100b Section 2 (32761) Joe BondClass 3July 1, 2013

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

3. Volunteers to facilitate next week? • July 8th • July 10th

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. Obama VBA

8. Predicting Behavior: A Theory of Planned Behavior

9. 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.

10. Example of a Typology: James David Barber's The Presidential Character. Predicting Performance in the White House Two Baselines: • "activity-passivity” • "positive-negative view“

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. How many sources? It depends. Universe Discipline Y We know a lot Little is known Discipline Z We know less Discipline X

16. 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.

17. 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

18. 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

19. Purpose of a Literature Review • To share with the reader the results of other studies that are closely related to an area of interest • Relate your research to the larger ongoing dialogue in the literature, filling gaps and extending prior studies • Provide a framework for establishing the importance of your study with other findings SYNTHESIS IS KEY

20. 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

21. A Lit Review IS NOT an Annotated BibliographyThis is an annotated bibliography and yes, it is 204 pages long:

22. # 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

23. # 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.

24. 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

25. # 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

26. # 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

27. Abstracting Studies A Good review summary might include the following: • Mention the problem being addressed. • State the central purpose of focus of the study. • State the underlying assumptions. • Briefly state information about the sample, population, and/or participants. • Review the key results. • Point out any technical or methodological flaws. • Be sure to jot down full citations even if you do not ultimately incorporate the piece into your review • Read “Doing a Literature Review” article -required reading for Wednesday’s class (posted on the course website. • Review the sample literature review posted on the course website. Questions?

28. Individual/Research Interests/Projects/Brainstorming • Purpose

29. Tonight’s Readings Frankie & Paul

30. 3rd In-Class Writing Exercise