2019 - Spring - Quantitative Methods in International Relations

Undergraduate course, University of Mannheim, Department of Political Science II - European Politics, 2019

This course introduced undergraduate students to quantitative methods used for research in the field of international relations and European integration. The goal is to equip students with the skills necessary to write a successful BA thesis and to train them to do so using the statistical package STATA. The course emphasizes data management, descriptive statistics, data visualization, techniques for dealing with continuous, binary and count dependent variables, time-series cross-sectional data as well as regression diagnostics. A good working knowledge of statistics is a prerequisite for successful participation in the class.

Course Objectives

Based on the course contents, students will be able to identify the correct statistical model for different types of data and research questions and to justify their decision. They are able to correctly specify such a model as well as test the model’s assumptions and implement this in STATA. Lastly, students are able to describe and visualize the results as well as evaluate and interpret them in light of the research question and transfer the acquired skills to their own research interests after this course.

Download syllabus here