Research Methodology in Political Science

Experiments are often used as a methodology for the controlled testing of causal processes. The classical experiment tests the effect of an experimental stimulus on a dependent variable through the pretesting and post-testing of experimental and control groups. Like any methodology,experiments have strengths and weaknesses. Identify not only the reasons why experiments are used in political science, but also the drawbacks of such a method. Write one page paper to stress in length the issue of validity (internal and external). Why is validity so important in experiments?
Paper Detail..
The Political scientific method of research is the main process researchers use to determine empirical relationships between phenomena, one famous political scientist, Arend Lijphart, has further divided scientific methods into two “fundamental strategies of research” (Lijphart, 1971,p.683). First are the non-experimental methods, which include comparative studies, case studies, and statistical analyses. In these methods, a general empirical relationship or association between two variables can be determined while all other variables are controlled or held constant. The second group of methods is experimental, meaning the empirical relationship between variables can be more thoroughly studied and inferred. The non-experimental methods each have certain advantages and disadvantages, but the primary strength of the experimental research design method is the ability to infer scientific explanations (Lijphart, 1971). In most research, it is still very difficult to determine the direct relationships between different variables; however, through the use of experimental research designs, one can easily determine cause-and-effect relationships. In such a design, the researcher considers many possible factors that might cause or influence a particular condition or phenomenon. The research then attempts to control for all influential factors except those whose possible effects are the focus of investigation. (Leedy & Ormrod, 2005, p.217).
An experimental design has a distinct purpose, as noted above, to determine a cause-andeffect relationship and interpret the results of the experiment. When we examine these types of cause-and-effect relationships, two important types of variables must be established: independent and dependent. The independent variable is assumed to be the cause of something and is directly manipulated by the researchers to see how this variable affects the dependent variable. Dependent variable is influenced by the independent variable. In fact, the independent variable is the cause and the dependent variable is the effect. In political science research, the dependent variable is often some form of human behavior, such as voting, donating to campaigns, or sending letters to politicians. An example of experimental research design could be to investigate voting patterns. The independent variables could be age, gender, or race, while the dependent variable would be the party or candidate one votes for. Most experimental research in political science will involve participants, materials, procedures, and measures. In each experiment, the participants/subjects and how they were selected (randomly/non-randomly) should be clearly identified. The materials and procedures that will be used in the experiment should be determined along with explanations for their use and overall necessity. In addition, the independent and dependent variables must be identified. The change in the variables is what is being measured in the experiment, and how the data is collected about these variables should be part of the experimental design framework (Creswell, 2003). In order to ensure internal validity, researchers must eliminate other variables, extraneous/confounding variables that will make it difficult to determine the cause-and-effect relationship precisely.


References.
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches (2 nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication. Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2005). Practical research: Planning and design (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Lijphart, A. (1971, September). Comparative politics and the comparative method. American Political Science Review 65(3), 682–693.