Dear George,

Here are the answers with respect to Ohio State, though if any of my senior colleages do respond to you and their answers differ from mine, I'd go with their interpretation of our rules and regs.

> (1)     How many basic or introductory type methods courses (e.g.,
> Scope &
> Methods, introductory statistics and probability, and introductory
> regression) does your PhD program require students take?  What is
> the nature
> of these courses in terms of the material/topics covered?  What
> are the
> objectives relating to the basic methods courses for PhD training?

We have recently changed our requirements. All of these are spelled out in gory detail in our graduate handbook which is on-line here: http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/gradstudy/gradhandbook.pdf.

All our students are required to take the equivalent of 3 courses (recall we are on the quarter system so this is a year's worth of courses) in "research methods" including a course all of them must take on "Research Design." This is typically taken in the first quarter of their first year. And it covers the typical scope and methods territory of such courses, with some discussion of philosophy of science, debates over qualitative and quantitative and interpretivist methods etc.

After that course students have more flexibility as to how they fulfill the remainder of the requirement, and this varies by sub-field. All the Americanists must take the first two courses in statistical methods. These cover probability and distribution theory, and regression analysis respectively. The latter aims to get them through OLS, its assumptions and the consequences of their violations, and a brief introduction to MLE for binary dependent variables. These courses are taught in the first two quarters of the year, so that in the third quarter students can "complete" the stats sequence by taking an elective course on MLE. This also means that most first-year students take both Research Design and Intro to Prob/Dist Theory in their first quarter in addition to their field pro-seminar. My sense is that most students who take the first two courses take the third MLE course, especially in American politics.

Our comparative and IR students have more flexibility. My sense here is that most are still taking the stats sequence described above but that, as demand rises and courses are created, more will start to take real sequences in qualitative methods.

For the stats courses, we haven't really had a discussion since I've been here of the objectives of these courses with respect to the PhD program in general. But I think it's fair to say that they are general service courses, and not "weed out" courses. To enable most of our students to survive and learn in them, we now also have a three week "Math boot camp" that runs from right after APSA till the start of the fall quarter in the third week of September. This isn't required, but I think the norm is that everyone ends up taking it.

> (2)     How many advanced methods courses (e.g., MLE, Bayseian,
> Time Series,
> Game Theory) does your department offer?  Are any of these courses
> requiredof all PhD students in your graduate program?  How many
> "advanced" courses
> must be taken by PhD students for them to count Methods as a 2nd
> field as
> well as a 3rd field?  Are there any other Methods field requirements?

We offer quite a few advanced methods courses. There is now a full sequence in formal theory, though none of these are required for all students, though one is for those declaring Political Economy as a second field. On the stats side, our access to the ITV program, of which Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, are also a part, allows us to offer a wide range of advanced methods courses. A listing of methods courses taught under the ITV auspices is available here: http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/prism/methodscourses.pdf. For more info on this program, you should contact Jan Box-Steffensmeier.

If students declare methods as a second field, a student must take 3 courses beyond MLE. So, in theory, a student would take the probability/distribution theory, regression, MLE, and 3 more courses. Methods can be declared a second major (it can't be the only major field), in which case students must take 6 courses beyond MLE.


I hope this helps answer your questions. FYI, archived syllabi for our methods courses (though not totally up-to-date) are available here: http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/courses/syllabus%20project/method.htm

Please let me know if you have other questions.

Cheers, Irfan

*****************************************************************************
Irfan Nooruddin
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
The Ohio State University
2140 Derby Hall, 154 N. Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210-1373
614-292-7830 (ph)
614-292-1146 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu/faculty/nooruddi/index.htm
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