Political Science 379
Problems in International Relations:
Conducting Empirical Research in International Relations
Spring 2005
Assignment 6. Due: Monday, March 28th.
In this assignment you will use content analysis to analyze three different
Presidential State of the Union addresses. The addresses are available at a
C-SPAN Website.
I have randomly assigned each of you 3 speeches from the time period 1984-2005.
These assignments are given in this spreadsheet.
Note: if there are 2 different links for a speech, use the one that is dated
closest to the date the speech was given.
In each speech, you should code each paragraph for its content. Use the following
codes:
| Code |
Description |
| 1 |
Foreign or defense policy |
| 2 |
Domestic policy |
| 3 |
Both policies |
| 4 |
Other content |
| 5 |
Cannot code paragraph |
What to Turn In.
You should turn in a printout of a spreadsheet. The columns of the spreadsheet
should be:
- The last name of the President who gave the speech.
- The year of the speech.
- The paragraph number. The first paragraph of the speech should be
given the number 1, the second paragraph should be given the number 2,
etc.
- The code for that paragraph.
- Any comment you wish to make about the paragraph. It is not necessary
to include any comments. But if there is anything unique, unusual, or
unanticipated about the paragraph, you should say something about it. Having
this column in the spreadsheet has less to do with the assignment and more to
do with teaching you good habits for data collection.
Also, turn in a copy of each of the speeches you analyzed, with the paragraph
number written next to teach paragraph.
Please keep a copy of the spreadsheet. We may use it later in the course.
Honor Code. The assignment is pledged. Do not consult with anyone in the
class about it.