400003 SE Seminar für DissertantInnen: Methoden (2011W)

How are political actors positioned? This is a key question for much political science and the spatial theory on which it is based has been called the work-horse theory of political science. A plethora of methods to determine the position of the political actors using different forms of data exists. This course introduces both the application of the methods through existing literature and provides the participants with the possibility to actively use the methods as well.

In this seminar we will deal with the question of how it is possible to estimate ideal points using a variety of methods and data. Focus will primarily be on using roll calls and texts to estimate ideal points. We will cover methods like Optimal Classification, NOMINATE and IDEAL for roll calls and Wordscores and Wordfish for texts. Individual level ideal points, i.e. voter self-placements will also be covered in the seminar.

Requirements:
The seminar is open for all PhD students at the Faculty of Social Sciences working on a quantitative dissertation in which ideal point estimation could be a useful tool. Knowledge of quantitative methodology at an MA level is assumed to be on hand for all participants.

Schedule
The course is taught in blocks of three-four hours. One or two sessions may be changed into individual sessions or smaller groups with participants dealing with the same subject.