Scope and Methods in Political Science

Dependent variable

-has the student correctly identified the project’s dependent variable?

-is the scale on which the dependent variable is measured clearly documented? (for example, variable #44 is the incarceration rate, specifically the number of prisoners with a sentence of more than one year per 100,000 residents)

Independent variables

-has the student correctly identified the project’s three independent variables?

-is the scale on which each independent variable is measured clearly documented?

-is the hypothesis for how each independent variable is associated with the dependent variable specified and justified?

Univariate analysis calculations

-is an appropriate set of univariate statistics calculated for each of the project’s four variables?

-are statistics of little use calculated?

-are potentially insightful statistics not calculated?

Bivariate analysis calculations

-is the appropriate bivariate statistic calculated for each of the project’s four variables?

Univariate analysis interpretations

-are each of the univariate statistics interpreted appropriately in terms of the information they provide about the central tendency and dispersion?

-are the univariate statistics collectively interpreted to provide an overall sense of the information they provide about central tendency and dispersion? (for example, what does it mean if the mean and median close to one another or far apart?)

Bivariate analysis interpretations

-are the bivariate statistics interpreted appropriately in terms of the information they provide about direction, strength, and statistical significance?