Political Science 379

Problems in International Relations:

Conducting Empirical Research in International Relations

Spring 2005

Assignment 1. Due: Monday, January 24th.

Anytime you hear about or read a piece of research, this should lead you to come up with your own ideas. You may see ways to improve the research. You may see ways to go beyond the research.

Consider the paper on the "Clash of Civilizations" that I discussed in class. A copy of the final version of the manuscript is available here. Note: you will need Adobe Acrobat to open this file. What ideas does this paper suggest to you?

Make 3 suggestions about the paper. Your suggestions can be changes to what was done in the paper, going beyond the paper, or both.

Describe each change in a paragraph. The assignment should be typed and double spaced. It should be no more than two pages.

It is not required that you read the paper in order to do the assignment, but you may find it helpful to do so. Don't worry about the specifics of statistical approach used in the paper, just try to understand the logic of the analysis. You are encouraged to discuss the assignment with me.

Honor Code. The assignment is pledged. Do not consult with anyone in the class about it.