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Quantitative Methods and Formal Theory are two distinct sub-disciplines, linked by their mathematical foundations. UCLA's Political Science Department has unusual depth and sophistication in both areas. In addition to the Methods Field's core faculty, whose research interests span every area of Political Science, the Department has many serious users of quantitative and formal methods. Among these fellow travelers are Matthew Baum, Barbara Koremenos and Kenneth Schultz in International Relations, Ronald Rogowski, Michael Ross, Michael Thies, and Daniel Treisman in Comparative Politics, and David Sears, Franklin Gilliam, and John Zaller from American Politics. Far from being an isolated and lonely subculture, the methods group at UCLA plays a central role in the department's intellectual life. It provides nearly a dozen well-attended graduate courses, a rapidly growing undergraduate program, and methodological guidance for a large research community. Quantitative Methods The field of Quantitative Methods addresses the design of research studies and the interpretation of quantitative evidence. What can the results from 435 congressional races tell us about the electoral advantage of incumbency? What do wars from the last two centuries reveal about the value of alliances? How does public spending reflect the design of electoral institutions? Quantitative methodologists seek answers to questions like these by using powerful statistical software to untangle complicated multivariate datasets. Their methods have become the staple of political pollsters and electoral campaigners, public policy makers, survey researchers, forecasters, and social scientists. Course offerings: All students in the Ph.D. program take two introductory courses in data analysis and statistical inference during their first quarter of graduate school. PS 200A and 200AL provide the basic literacy one needs to read research journals and prepare for advanced methodological training. Most students in the Department continue by taking 200B and 200C in the Winter and Spring of their first year. These courses cover topics in probability, inference and multivariate analysis. Statistical training at the level of 200C has long been necessary for students of American Politics, and many feel that this is now essential preparation for those concentrating in IR or Comparative Politics as well. Beyond the first year sequence, the department offers several additional courses in statistical methods, covering advanced topics in regression analysis, maximum likelihood estimation, scaling techniques, ecological inference, and non-linear models. Several substantive courses also include data analytical laboratories where students evaluate results from the journal literature and explore opportunities for their own research projects. Core faculty: James DeNardo, James Honaker, Jeffrey Lewis Formal Theory A "formal" theory is a mathematical representation of a social process or institution, whose behavior can be studied to address empirical and normative questions. Economic models of political life commonly assume that agents behave rationally, but important modes of formal analysis rest on other foundations, including "bounded rationality" and evolutionary adaptation. Formal theorists at UCLA have expertise in a wide spectrum of mathematical frameworks, including spatial models of voting, social choice theory, game theory, computational models, economic theory, and models of evolutionary selection. Course offerings: Most classes in Formal Theory can be taken as independent units, without regard to sequence. Students with time for only one Formal Theory class are strongly encouraged to take PS 204, Game Theory, which covers the conventional framework for modeling strategic interactions. Other introductory courses include PS 201A, a non-technical introduction to political modeling, and PS 202, a review of basic concepts from calculus, analysis and optimization theory as they arise in influential journal literature. Advanced classes address social choice theory, evolutionary game theory, and specialized modeling paradigms from every area of the discipline. Core faculty: Kathleen Bawn, Michael Chwe, James Honaker, Susanne Lohmann, Barry O'Neill, Thomas Schwartz, George Tsebelis Download PDF version of this page |