Kansas State University Differences Between Popper Kuhn and Lakatos Questions

You are researcher interested in studying elections. Please provide an example of a social scientific question (hint: positivist) about elections that is answerable with social scientific methods. Explain why this is a good social science question. Please also provide an example of a normative question that is not possible to answer using social scientific methods. Explain what makes this question difficult to answer from a social scientific perspective. Do not use any examples from the lecture slides.

We discussed three philosophers of science in class: Popper, Kuhn, and Lakatos.

(1) In a paragraph or two, explain what you think are the most important differences between these three thinkers’ approaches to developing new scientific knowledge.

(2) Given the timeline of the realist research program development that we read and discussed, at what point in its development would each of these philosophers have suggested that we reject realism as a useful theory of international relations (hint: Vasquez very explicitly discusses this in relation to Lakatos. I’m asking that you also identify the point in realist development where Popper and Kuhn might suggest that we move on from realism)? Explain.

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You are a researcher developing a game theoretic model to help understand strategic interactions in an area of political science that you are interested in. Please identify the following components of the game theoretic model that you are developing. Do not use the crisis example (or any other examples) from the lecture notes:

(1) What is the phenomenon or area of political science you are interested in explaining?

(2) The list of relevant actors.

(3) What is the motivation for each of these actors. Explain why this is a reasonable assumption to make.

(4) What are the actions available to each actor in the model?

(5) Identify at least one part of interactions among your actors that may be subject to uncertainty or a lack of information.

YOU MUST RESPOND TO THIS QUESTION

The following Washington Post analysis uses political science theory and research findings to explain current events in Belarus:

Who is protesting in Belarus_ – The Washington Post.pdf

Based on your reading of the article, answer the following questions:

(1) What type of research design is described in the section “Political Crackdowns can Mobilize Protesters?”

(2) Identify at least one independent variable that is examined in this piece.

(3) What is the dependent variable that is being discussed in this piece?

(4) What is the causal explanation connecting that independent and dependent variable? If it is given in the article, summarize it. If it is not given, what might that causal connection be?

(5) Is reverse causality a potential problem? Explain

(6) Do the authors seem to account for confounding variables? If so, which variables? If they do not, are there any confounding variables that might make the relationship identified spurious?

You are a researcher interested in studying campaigns and elections. In particular you want to test the hypothesis that a campaign activity like knocking on doors to persuade voters has an impact on voter turnout. How would you test this experimentally? You need to answer the following questions in your answer:

(1) What type of experiment would you design?

(2) What are the independent and dependent variables?

(3) What would you need to control and how would randomly assign in your experiment? Explain how you would do this.

(4) Describe what the control group and the treatment group would experience in your experiment.

(5) If you were to conduct a case study or large-N observational research design (just pick one), how might it look different from the experimental design? Provide at least one advantage or disadvantage that would arise from this alternative research design compared to an experimental approach?

We read one example of an experimental research design (Green and Gerber) and one example of an observational research design (Fowler) for class. Pick one of these two studies and provide a critique of some element of the research design and evidence presented. This requires providing an explanation of the flaw that you have identified.