political science research areas

Areas of Research

American Politics

The field of American Politics at Stanford includes the study of Congress, the bureaucracy, interest groups, the Presidency, voting, public opinion and participation, race and ethnicity; includes, among other perspectives, rational choice, historical, and behavioral perspectives; and encompasses, among other methods, quantitative analysis of aggregate data, qualitative fieldwork, survey research and randomized experiments. 

See list of American Politics faculty

Comparative Politics

The field of Comparative Politics at Stanford includes area studies, comparative political economy, the study of ethnic conflict, and institutions. Our faculty are experts in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

See list of Comparative Politics faculty

International Relations

International Relations at Stanford comprises the study of all manner of global and regional political problems, including armed conflict in its various manifestations; the politics of international trade, finance, and the environment; nuclear weapons, WMD proliferation, and the threat of terrorism; and the design and functioning of international institutions and international law. Methods of analysis are diverse, tailored to the problem and empirical opportunities. 

See list of International Relations faculty

Political Methodology

The field of Political Methodology includes training in statistics, econometrics and formal theory; reviewing and developing new methods for the scientific study of politics; has particular emphases in Bayesian statistical inference, causal inference, computationally-intensive approaches to statistical inference, the design and analysis of experiments, game theory, the graphical display of quantitative information, sampling for survey-based research, the analysis of spatial data, the statistical analysis of text. 

See list of Political Methodology faculty

Political Theory

Political Theory at Stanford approaches the study of justice, legitimacy, and power by conjoining normative theory (reflection on political values), positive theory (study of how values can be achieved by institutions), and the intellectual history of political thought (from Plato to Rawls). Among the topics with which our faculty and students are concerned are democracy, equality, rule of law, global justice, international relations, realism and idealism, education, deliberation, institutional innovation, and the organization of knowledge. 

See list of Political Theory faculty

Areas of Study

Through a combination of publications, research, teaching, and extracurricular activities, our faculty, students, and alumni share strengths in certain areas of research and engagement. Explore this section of the website to learn more about our areas of expertise. These are not necessarily concentration areas but are, instead, core areas of expertise that can be found at all levels of our curriculum and through the research and interests of our faculty and students. The Department of Political Science offers many exciting and challenging opportunities to develop your interest, knowledge, and skills in the world of government and politics.

Research in Political Science

1. Research intensive classes

POLS 2399 Research Methods

Examines the range of research methods and designs used in political science, based on applying the logic of social scientific inquiry. Reviews experimental research, comparative methods, case studies, interviewing, surveys, program evaluation, and other topics relevant to the discipline, as well as questions related to the practice of research ethics. Course activities include intensive writing assignments by students.

POLS 4701 Senior Capstone

Integrates and assesses the concepts and skills developed by students throughout the political science curriculum, including both experiential and classroom-based components. Requires extensive reflection by students on their various educational experiences as well as research projects involving individual and group presentations. Topics include contemporary political issues and relevant literature in the discipline of political science. Consideration is also given to career options for political science students. Required for political science majors and fulfills part of the experiential education requirement.

POLS 4703 Senior Thesis

Offers students an opportunity to conduct a significant research project under faculty supervision on a topic within the discipline of political science. Research question is formulated and analyzed through data gathering and a review of relevant literature in political science and related fields

(Faculty supervision needs to be secured the semester prior)

POLS 4992 Directed Study

Offers independent work under the direction of members of the department on a chosen topic. Course content depends on instructor. May be repeated without limit. (Individual Instruction Form needs to be submitted)

2. Independent research projects

POLS 2991 Research Practicum

Involves students in collaborative research under the supervision of a faculty member. Offers students an opportunity to learn basic research methods in the discipline. Requires permission of instructor. May be repeated once for up to 4 total credits (Individual Instruction Form needs to be submitted)

POLS 4991 Research

Offers an opportunity to conduct research under faculty supervision. May be repeated once. (Individual Instruction Form needs to be submitted)

3. Honors in the Major

POLS 4970. Junior/Senior Honors Project 1

Focuses on in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student’s major field. Combined with Junior/Senior Project 2 or college-defined equivalent for 8-credit honors project. May be repeated without limit.

POLS 4971. Junior/Senior Honors Project 2

Focuses on second semester of in-depth project in which a student conducts research or produces a product related to the student’s major field. May be repeated without limit. Prerequisite(s): POLS 4970 with a minimum grade of D-

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Faculty Research Areas

Do you wonder why President Clinton agreed to undergo emergency surgery on his injured leg in 1997 but refused to accept general anesthesia? Why Newt Gingrich, when Speaker of the House, was removed from office by his own party in 1999? Why Justice John Paul Stevens – appointed to the Supreme Court by President Ford in 1975 – refused to resign from the Court until  2010, when he was 90? Why the Democratic and Republican Parties have become so ideologically oriented that they cannot agree on much of anything now except to disagree?

Whether or not you’re a citizen of the United States, the American system of government appears to be filled with mysteries. The faculty who teach American politics courses explore why the political system devised by the Framers of our Constitution has come to be described  in so many contradictory ways:   “broken,” “frustrating,” “creative,” “magnificent,”  “convoluted,”  “wondrous,”  “deadlocked,”  or, by some, “the product of  divine  inspiration.”

Teaching and Research

In our classes, students learn about issues such as:

• Why the federal system is now locked in bitterness and conflict;
• The impact of having a political campaign process for president that lasts as much as two years before a president is elected;
• The role of the President, his powers  and such matters as how his socialization, health, and life experiences  shape the way  he performs in office;
• Why Congress – an institution that once was once described as  “the  greatest deliberative body in the world” – is now seen as an ineffectual, even counter-productive, branch of government;
• The Supreme Court, and how interpretations of the Constitution have changed over time, affecting laws, the legal system, and the daily lives of the American people;
• The role of state and local governments, which often function as laboratories  or training grounds for the rest of the nation and, at other times, as sources of discord and dissension;
• The problems posed by urbanization and suburbanization and how these trends may be guided in constructive ways.

If you are intrigued by the various features and complexities of the American political system, anticipate studying for a career in the law or in the public sector at the national, state or local level,  or even in the private sector where the skills we help develop are also very relevant, we invite you  to consider studying within the Political Science Department at Northeastern.

Our faculty our known for their excellence in teaching – to date, seven have won Excellence in Teaching Awards. Many have published path-breaking books, articles in some of the most prestigious journals in political science, and treatises in major law journals. They are regularly invited to speak at conferences, civic meetings, and at other major universities in the United States and abroad and are interviewed for the mass media. They serve as consultants on challenging public sector projects in Massachusetts and other states and at the level of the national government as well. They have served as members of commissions, advisory committees, and study groups that have authored major reports on the national, state and local levels.

Are authoritarian meritocracies more successful in developing their countries than those that adopt a Western model of democracy? Could the Chinese blackmail the United States by threatening to dump billions of US Dollars they hold in reserve? Why would European states agree to relinquish many of their sovereign rights in exchange for a unified Europe? How does one barter cattle for computer chips?

The Department of Political Science offers an entire range of courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels on international relations and comparative politics, from international organizations, international security, and U.S. Foreign Policy to international political economy, international law, international conflict, international organizations, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict; from courses on development administration, the developing world, Chinese, Latin American, and European Politics, to comparative democratization, revolution, terrorism, and more. “Democracy Studies,” a cornerstone of the discipline of political science, call on all aspects of the teaching and research of its department faculty: issues of democracy not only within the American context but also on a comparative basis relevant to other advanced industrial states and emerging nations. As students learn, institutionalizing democratic values in a stable state can be difficult. Knowledge of the evolution of the democratic state, its cultural and historic roots, its structure and the forces in a society that challenge or support its operation, is critical to appreciating and promoting its longevity.

Are the Occupy settlements in various cities protected by the First Amendment ‘right of the people peaceably to assemble’?  Did Congress exceed its constitutional authority in enacting the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with the controversial individual mandate provision?  Should Saif Gaddafi be tried in the International Criminal Court or by a domestic court in Libya?  If you are interested in these types of questions, then you might want to consider the study of law and legal issues in the Department of Political Science.

The study of law and legal issues in the Department of Political Science was pioneered by Matthews Distinguished Professor Robert Cord in the 1970s.  A leading national authority on the Establishment Clause, Professor Cord for many years brought the fruits of his research and writing to the students who enrolled in his courses.  His work, titled  Separation of Church and State: Historical Fact and Current Fiction  (1982) was even  cited by then-Associate Justice William Rehnquist in his dissent in  Wallace v. Jaffree  (1985), a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Alabama’s ‘moment of silence’ law.

Today, Professor Michael Tolley continues Professor Cord’s tradition of informing his classroom teaching with the results of his research and scholarship.  The following are some excerpts from some of the writing projects dealing with American constitutional development, judicial process, legal globalization, and comparative judicial studies, that have been done by faculty in our department:

American Constitutional Development

“[W]e have found that one way to explain why the authors of Article III of the U.S. Constitution and Section 9 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 conferred on the newly created federal judiciary a jurisdiction, substantive law and procedure closely modeled on the colonial courts of vice admiralty is to take a skeptical view of the revolutionaries’ complaints against the admiralty. If the colonists, in the mounting struggle with the Crown after the Stamp Act controversy of 1765, had truly abhorred the vice admiralty courts, then the founders of the new republic certainly would have responded to the grievances and made an abrupt break with the past.” From David R. Owen and Michael C. Tolley,  Courts of Admiralty in Colonial America  (Carolina Academic Press, 1995)

Judicial Process

“Judicial confirmation battles are not unusual. A historical view of the judicial appointments process suggests that intense, partisan struggles between the nominating President and rivals in the Senate have been fairly common.  What has been unusual in recent years is the use of new, norm-departing strategies in the struggle over judicial nominations at all levels of the federal court system.” From Michael C. Tolley, “Legal Controversies Over Federal Judicial Selection in the United States” in Malleson and Russell, eds.,  Appointing Judges in an Age of Judicial Power: Critical Perspectives from Around the World   (University of Toronto Press, 2006)

Legal Globalization

“Arguably the forces of globalization have been at work for centuries, gradually shaping law and legal processes within sovereign nations….What is new today is the nature of the interconnections and extent of the interdependence among nation-states….How are the forces of globalization today, including the global spread of international human rights norms, the rice of universal criminal jurisdiction, and the pressure for the establishment of rule of law and good governance in the developing world, affecting domestic law, courts, and processes?” From Donald Jackson, Michael Tolley, and Mary Volcansek,  Globalizing Justice: Critical Perspectives on Transnational law and the Cross-Border Migration of Legal Norms  (SUNY Press, 2010)

Comparative Judicial Studies

“The overreaching of the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress after 9/11 was not just an American problem….[P]arliaments in the United Kingdom and Australia enacted new antiterrorism measures with many of the same provisions allowing for control orders and preventive detention, electronic surveillance and invasions of privacy, and prohibitions of activities in connection with banned or listed terrorist organizations.” Michael C. Tolley,” Australia’s Commonwealth Model and Terrorism,” in Volcansek and Stack, eds.,  Courts and Terrorism: Nine Nations Balance Rights and Security  (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

The works of Professor Robert Gilbert on the American presidency, Denise Garcia on international law, and Eileen McDonagh on women’s rights and gender equality also figure prominently in the ‘Law and Legal Issues’ concentration.  Here are some of their fine works:

Presidential Studies

“In all, then, the Twenty-fifth Amendment probably does the best that can be expected in providing for situations of presidential inability. It does not, and cannot, resolve all problems, however. It does not guarantee that a specific instance of presidential disability will be handled smoothly or even that constitutional crises can always be averted. But it seems to be the best constitutional remedy at hand,…” From Robert E. Gilbert,  The Mortal Presidency:  Illness and Anguish in the White House  (1998)

International Law

“This study is interested in a more recent development with the international norm-making process that came to be known as “soft” law, i.e., “emerging norms” that start to embed themselves in the practice of states…” From Denise Garcia,  Small Arms and Security: New Emerging International Norms  (Routledge, 2006)

Gender Equality

“This book challenges how we think about organized sports, as participants, parents, and fans. Athletics are a visible part of American culture and it’s tempting to accept what is presented. That is why it’s critical to put sports into a legal, historical, and social context and to challenge the gut assumption that Title IX provided a fix and a level playing field for females in athletics.” From Eileen McDonagh and Laura Pappano,  Playing with the Boys: Why Separate is Not Equal in Sports  (Oxford University Press, 2007)

The field of public policy focuses on the various strategies and actions that governments adopt to achieve broadly accepted goals.

The public policy process often is conceptualized as a cycle of activities that include problem definition, agenda setting, enactment, implementation, and evaluation. Advanced study of public policy draws on perspectives and methods that are rooted in not only political science, but also law, history, economics, and other disciplines to allow for a comprehensive understanding of policy development as well as outcomes. Based equally on social scientific tools and an appreciation of politics, it equips the policy analyst with the ability to provide advice to public officials and advocates so that informed decisions can be made about public policy alternatives. While the focus of this field is on policy-making in the United States, a cross-national and international perspective is also included. Courses in this field cover the policy-making process, policy analysis, and substantive policy areas.

Professors Teaching in Public Policy

• Daniel Aldrich , Professor of Political Science
• Stephen Flynn , Professor of Political Science and Founding Co-Director, George J. Kostas Research Institute for Homeland Security

John Portz ,  Professor of Political Science and Chair of MA and PhD programs

David rochefort , professor of political science, thomas vicino ,  professor of political science.

The field of
 security studies addresses the causes of war and peace within a nation state or the international system. Security studies is closely tied to the study of government, since security is a key public good that governments seek to provide for their citizens. Security failures are often the result of government failures to maintain a stable domestic environment or to address international challenges. International organizations also play an important role in establishing security, through conflict resolution, arms control, and deployment of various resources. Students at Northeastern further benefit from an innovative perspective on security that forms the basis of the MS in Resilience Studies at Northeastern. This program seeks to strengthen societal and infrastructure resilience to natural and man-made disasters.

Professors Teaching in Security Studies

• Max Abrahms , Assistant Professor of Political Science
• Mai’a Cross , Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
• Denise Garcia , Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
• Jennie Stephens , Dean’s Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy

Courses in Security Studies

• Core Seminar-  POLS 7207 – Seminar in International Relations
• Core course- POLS 7341 – Security and Resilience Policy
• POLS 7344—Hard Power, Soft Power, Smart Power
• POLS 7369—International Security
• POLS 7343 to POLS 7349
• Other courses under advisement from the Department or Faculty Advisor

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Areas of research

Canadian politics.

In the Canadian Field, McGill provides an unparalleled location and unique resources for the study of Canadian and Quebec politics. Current areas of concentration include the institutions of Canadian government and federalism, political behaviours, and public policy, as well as the politics of gender, environmental policy, public health, Quebec politics, Indigenous politics, colonialism, and the study of race. The following faculty members conduct research and offer courses in the field of Canadian politics:

·Tari Ajadi ·Daniel Béland ·Éric Bélanger ·Kelly Gordon ·Amy Janzwood ·Antonia Maioni (Associate Member) ·Christopher Manfredi ·Filippo Sabetti ·Christa Scholtz ·Debra Thompson

Comparative Government and Politics

Scholars of Comparative Politics systematically explore and compare the variety of ways that peoples around the world are governed. It is the most diverse field in political science, embracing themes such as democracy and authoritarianism, political contention and institutional change, the politics of identity, and political behaviour and public opinion, among many others. Comparative Politics is the largest field in political science at McGill, with a wide range of expert faculty members conducting research on key themes and regions of the world. The following faculty members conduct research and offer courses in this field:

Manuel Balan (Latin American Politics, Corruption and Development. Political Competition) Elissa Berwick (Political Behaviour, Nationalism, Quantitative Methods) Rex Brynen (Middle East Politics, Conflict Simulation, Peacebuilding) Daniel Douek (African Politics, Political Violence, Middle East Politics) Aaron Erlich (Democratic Development, Public Opinion and Media, Quantitative Methods) Terri Givens (Immigration Politics, Transnational Race Politics, European Politics) Tania Islas Weinstein (Politics of Art, Latin American Politics, Qualitative & Interpretive Methods) Amy Janzwood (Energy Politics, Environmental Politics, Contentious Politics) Juliet Johnson (Political Economy of Finance, Memory Politics, Post-Communist Politics) Erik Kuhonta (Development and Inequality, Political Institutions, Southeast Asian Politics) Juan Pablo Luna (Latin American Politics, Party Politics, Political Violence, State Capacity, Democratic Politics) Khalid Medani (African Politics, Islam and Politics, Informal Economies) Maria Popova (Rule of Law, European Union Politics, Post-Communist Politics) Filippo Sabetti (Public Governance, European Politics, Italian Politics) Dietlind Stolle (Political Behaviour, Social Capital, Research Design) Debra Thompson (US politics, Comparative Black Politics) Narendra Subramanian (Identity Politics, State Formation, South Asian Politics) Juan Wang (State Power, Contentious Politics, Chinese Politics)  

International Relations

The International Relations (IR) group prides itself with its eclecticism – thematically, methodologically as well as theoretically. Our research spans several areas, including global governance, international political economy (IPE) and security studies. Members of our group use a variety of cutting-edge quantitative and qualitative methods, from computational text analysis to historical or interpretive approaches. Thanks to the many different theoretical sensitivities in our group, ranging from critical theory to rational choice institutionalism through realism or international political sociology, we are at the forefront of scholarly developments in the discipline.

Building on these synergies, composing a thesis committee should be quite straightforward for incoming graduate students. Whether you want to study international trade and finance, international organizations, great power rivalries, refugees, the politics of international law, global history, transnational relations, peacebuilding, international ethics, humanitarian intervention, multilateral diplomacy, major wars or nuclear proliferation, we have many possible duos and trios of Faculty to accompany you during your studies at McGill. Our course offerings at both the undergraduate and graduate levels cover a similarly broad range of topics.

The Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS), a joint endeavor with Université de Montréal, serves as a key institutional platform for our group. As CIPSS fellows, graduate students may participate in a weekly speaker series as well as several other events of international caliber. On top of individual grants and chairs, the IR group also hosts a number of continuing research teams funded by public agencies, which offer further opportunities to students. More details may be found on Faculty profiles.

We encourage interested students to take a look at individual webpages in order to learn more about our ongoing research projects and grants. On top of the eight core Faculty in IR, other colleagues in the department also conduct related research, including Rex Brynen (security and development), Colin Chia (IPE, technology), Daniel Douek (civil conflicts), Juliet Johnson (IPE), Catherine Lu (international political theory) and Carola Weil (global governance).

• Leonardo Baccini (IPE, trade, international organizations)
• Megan Bradley (refugees, human rights, transitional justice)
• Mark R. Brawley (IPE, major wars, foreign policy)
• Fernando G. Nuñez-Mietz (international law, human rights, security studies)
• T.V. Paul (international security, rising powers, nuclear proliferation)
• Krzysztof Pelc (trade, international economic law, IPE)
• Vincent Pouliot (global governance, global historical sociology, international organizations)
• Jennifer Welsh (ethics and law of armed conflict, humanitarian intervention, global governance)

Political Theory

With nine faculty members available to supervise graduate work, McGill offers exceptional breadth and depth of training in political theory. The political theory subfield is pluralistic, spanning normative, critical, historical, and jurisprudential approaches. Areas of particular strength include: the history of political thought, democratic theory, pluralism and multiculturalism, institutional and non-ideal theory, language and politics, and critical theory.

The following faculty members conduct research and/or offer courses in political theory:

• Arash Abizadeh
• Yann Allard-Tremblay
• Kelly Gordon
• Jacob T. Levy
• Catherine Lu
• Victor Muniz-Fraticelli
• William Clare Roberts
• Daniel Weinstock (associate member)
• Yves Winter

The research and teaching interests of the faculty cluster around the following areas of overlap:

• Democratic theory : including democratic institutions; citizenship; democracy's relation to identity, nationalism, and cosmopolitanism; immigration and border control; the politics of language and identity (Profs. Abizadeh, Allard-Tremblay, Levy, Lu, and Weinstock)
• Pluralism and multiculturalism : including legal pluralism, political pluralism, and meta-ethical pluralism; federalism; choice of law and conflicts of laws; corporate and intermediate associations; associational and religious freedom; the legal rights of Indigenous peoples (Profs. Allard-Tremblay, Levy, and Muniz-Fraticelli)
• Institutional and non-ideal theory : including theories of social and political power; domination; institutional reasoning; constitutionalism; structural injustice; power, violence, and sovereignty (Profs. Abizadeh, Allard-Tremblay, Levy, Lu, Muniz-Fraticelli, Roberts, Weinstock, and Winter)
• Critical theory : including Marx and Marxism; theories of ideology and alienation; feminist and postcolonial theory; decolonial political theory; the Frankfurt School (Profs. Allard-Tremblay, Gordon, Lu, Roberts, and Winter)
• History of political thought : especially medieval and early modern European thought; the French, Scottish, and American Enlightenments; the history of constitutionalism; the history of liberal thought; the history of socialist thought; Indigenous political thoughts (Profs. Abizadeh, Allard-Tremblay, Levy, Muniz-Fraticelli, Roberts, and Winter)
• Language and politics : including political rhetoric; literature and political theory; political ideologies; rhetorical theory and textual interpretation (Profs. Abizadeh, Gordon, Lu, Roberts, and Winter)

Many of the workshops, collaborations, and events of the McGill political theory and political philosophy community are organized through the Research Group on Constitutional Studies (RGCS) or the Montreal-wide Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Philosophie Politique (GRIPP). Additional events and collaborations are organized through Critical Social Theory at McGill (CST@M).

For more information on faculty members' areas of research, see Faculty .

Related content.

Some recent books by faculty members:

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Department of political science.

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Research Areas

Political Science faculty cover a wide range of topics and seek to answer a broad set of research questions. Faculty are grouped into four main research areas, but frequently collaborate across areas.

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Introduction to Political Science Research Methods (Franco et al.)

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 76154

• Josue Franco
• Cuyamaca College

Introduction to Political Science Research Methods is an Open Education Resource Textbook that surveys the research methods employed in political science. The textbook includes chapters that cover: history and development of the empirical study of politics; the scientific method; theories, hypotheses, variables, and units; conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of political concepts; elements of research design including the logic of sampling; qualitative and quantitative research methods and means of analysis; and research ethics.

• ProgramPage
• Table of Contents

• 1.1: Welcome
• 1.2: The Social Network of Political Science
• 1.3: Organization of the Book
• 1.4: Analyzing Journal Articles
• 1.5: Research Paper Project Management
• 1.6: Key Terms/Glossary
• 1.7: Summary
• 1.8: Review Questions
• 1.9: Suggestions for Further Study

• 2.1: Brief History of Empirical Study of Politics
• 2.2: The Institutional Wave
• 2.3: The Behavioral Wave
• 2.4: Currents- Qualitative versus Quantitative
• 2.5: Currents- Politics- Normative and Positive Views
• 2.6: Emerging Wave- Experimental Political Science
• 2.7: Emerging Wave- Big Data and Machine Learning
• 2.8: Key Terms/Glossary
• 2.9: Summary
• 2.10: Review Questions
• 2.11: Critical Thinking Questions
• 2.12: Suggestions for Further Study

• 3.1: Philosophy of Science
• 3.2: Whats is the Scientific Method?
• 3.3: Applying the Scientific Method to Political Phenomena
• 3.4: Key Terms/Glossary
• 3.5: Summary
• 3.6: Review Questions
• 3.7: Critical Thinking Questions
• 3.8: Suggestions for Further Reading/Study

• 4.1: Correlation and Causation
• 4.2: Theory Constrution
• 4.3: Generating Hypotheses from Theories
• 4.4: Exploring Variables
• 4.5: Units of Observation and Units of Analysis
• 4.6: Casual Modeling
• 4.7: Key Terms/Glossary
• 4.8: Critical Thinking Problems
• 4.9: Review Questions
• 4.10: Critical Thinking Questions
• 4.11: Critical Thinking Questions

• 5.1: Conceptualization in Political Science
• 5.2: Operationalization
• 5.3: Measurement
• 5.4: Key Terms/Glossary
• 5.5: Summary
• 5.6: Review Questions
• 5.7: Critical Thinking Questions
• 5.8: Suggestions for Further Study

• 6.1: Introduction- Building with a Blueprint
• 6.2: Types of Design- Experimental and Nonexperimental Designs
• 6.3: Components of Design- Sampling
• 6.4: Components of Design- Observations
• 6.5: Key Terms/Glossary
• 6.6: Summary
• 6.7: Review Questions
• 6.8: Critical Thinking Questions
• 6.9: Suggestions for Further Study

• 7.1: What are Qualitative Methods?
• 7.2: Interviews
• 7.3: Exploring Documentary Sources
• 7.4: Ethnographic Research
• 7.5: Case Studies
• 7.6: Key Terms/Glossary
• 7.7: Summary
• 7.8: Review Questions
• 7.9: Critical Thinking Questions
• 7.10: Suggestions for Further Study

• 8.1: What are Quantitative Methods
• 8.2: Making Sense of Data
• 8.3: Introduction to Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing
• 8.4: Interpreting Statistical Tables in Political Science Articles
• 8.6: Summary
• 8.7: Review Questions
• 8.8: Critical Thinking Questions
• 8.9: Suggestions for Further Study
• 8.5: Key Terms

• 9.1: Ethics in Political Research
• 9.2: Research Ethics
• 9.3: Navigating Qualitative Data Collection
• 9.4: Research Ethics in Quantitative Research
• 9.5: Ethically Analyzing and Sharing Co-generated Knowledge
• 9.6: Key Terms/Glossary
• 9.7: Summary
• 9.8: Review Questions
• 9.9: Critical Thinking Questions
• 9.10: Suggestions for Further Study

• 10.1: Congratulations!
• 10.2: The Path Forward
• 10.3: Frontiers of Political Science Research Methods
• 10.4: How to Contribute to this OER

• Detailed Licensing

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Florida State University

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Political Science

College of Social Sciences and Public Policy

Research Areas

American politics.

Students who pursue doctoral studies in American Politics will have the opportunity to work with leading scholars of elections, political participation, mass behavior, media and politics, political attitudes, political psychology and political institutions. Some of the topics scholars area actively working on include: the effects of the information environment on political knowledge and attitudes, the effects of issue framing and awareness on policy choice, the role of negative advertisement on political attitudes and voter turnout, the role of political sophistication and emotions on attributions of responsibility (credit or blame) for government action, the effect of political connectedness and dual nationality on Latinos’ political attitudes, the influence of social networks on collective action and political violence, and, more generally, how the political environment interacts with personal characteristics to shape political attitudes.  We are also well known for our strength in the study of comparative state politics and political institutions, with particular strengths in the study of state legislatures and state-level public policy.  The department has ample funding to conduct field and laboratory experiments in upcoming elections and would welcome graduate student involvement in these studies.

Public Policy

Political science students concentrating in Public Policy at Florida State have the opportunity to work with numerous faculty with broad interests and research approaches. Together, our policy scholars conduct research on topics such as collective action, the relationship between public opinion and public policy, regulatory policy and enforcement, legislative-bureaucratic relations, fiscal federalism/intergovernmental relations, and policy innovation and diffusion – using empirical and formal methods as diverse as econometric models, game theory, computational models/computer simulation, geographic information systems, experiments, quasi-experiments and surveys.  Their work focuses on topics relating to welfare, health care, aging, the environment, urban policy, state policy, taxation and budgeting. 

Behavioral Game Theory

In recent years, our strength in the area of behavioral game theory and experimental research has grown tremendously.  FSU has committed new faculty lines and research resources to expand our capabilities in these exciting areas. Students and faculty in all fields with interests in these areas have access to state of the art research labs dedicated to experimental research in the social sciences.

Comparative Politics

We have a unique and exciting Comparative Politics program at FSU.  Our comparative faculty view comparative politics in terms of substantive questions (executive-legislative relations, party systems etc.) rather than the study of specific countries or regions. Virtually our entire comparative politics faculty shares a common interest in the study of political institutions of one variety or another – they focus on developing and evaluating theoretical claims concerning the effects of institutions on political outcomes, institutional design, and institutional change. One area of particular strength focuses on how institutions affect democratic performance as measured by citizen representation, democratic consolidation, government accountability and legitimacy, and material well-being. Other areas of institutional analysis on which the comparative politics faculty at Florida State focus include coalition politics and the government formation process, agency design and environmental policy, the relationship between perceptions and institutional performance, and the effect of electoral rules on party systems.  Because many of the institutions mentioned above rarely change in any given country, much of the research conducted by our comparative politics faculty is what we call “large-N, cross-national research”. In other words, they compare institutions in large numbers of countries.  This emphasis on large-N cross-national research is one of the ways that we are different from comparative programs elsewhere.

International Relations

In International Relations, we have strengths in two substantive areas of inquiry: Conflict and International Political Economy (IPE). FSU has a decades long tradition of producing excellent conflict research. All of our conflict scholars are members of the Peace Science Society, the Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association, and the Scientific Study of International Processes section of the International Studies Association. As such, students who study conflict at FSU will work with faculty who will help them plug into the top networks of IR scholars studying conflict. Our faculty is well suited to helping students develop research agendas focused on the following topics: Civil War, Ethnic Conflict, Terrorism, War and Militarized Disputes, Interstate Rivalry, Conflict Resolution, Human Rights, Protest, Dissent, and Repression.  Few departments have an established pedigree in IPE scholarship, and FSU has a core of faculty dedicated to the pursuit of this line of research.  Students can expect top notch research training in this area.  We have a proven track record of success in placing students with interests in International Relations at top research and liberal arts programs throughout the country

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Politics of Identity The study of the politics of identity is a cross-cutting research area that draws faculty from a number of other areas of the discipline. Faculty and students interested in identity examine it as both cause and effect, studying the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and other politically relevant factors shape political behavior and attitudes. Doctoral students may qualify in Politics of Identity as a second field by preparing a field paper. Learn More about Politics of Identity

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American Politics Faculty and graduate students in American Politics study political institutions, public policy, racial and ethnic politics, gender and politics, electoral behavior, political parties, environmental politics, political economy of the US, public opinion and political behavior, and media & political communication. Learn More about American Politics

Comparative Politics Faculty and graduate students in Comparative Politics have wide ranging interests that encompass democratization, political institutions, political parties, identity, social mobilization, political communication, and politics of the environment. Area specialties include Latin America, East and South Asia, Russia and Central Asia. Learn More about Comparative Politics

International Relations Faculty and graduate students in International Relations have expertise in political processes and outcomes at the international level. Specialties including conflict & political violence, international organizations, and international political economy. Learn More about International Relations

Political Theory The political theory subfield engages normative questions about politics. It includes faculty and graduate students from several departments, and it has particular interests in contemporary political theory, political concepts, democratic theory, and ethics & international relations. Learn More about Political Theory

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What Can You Do With a Political Science Degree?

Political science is the study of politics, governance and power. A degree in this area can lead to a range of careers.

Options With a Political Science Degree?

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A political science degree is often a steppingstone to these positions, which are often in overseas charities and other private volunteer agencies.

Earning a degree in political science opens doors to jobs in both the public and private sectors, allowing graduates to use their knowledge, research abilities, and analytical and communication skills to collect and make sense of data in a range of jobs, from working with political campaigns to examining local, regional, national and global policies.

“One of the benefits of a political science degree is that it prepares students for a wide range of career paths. It’s not just one industry or sector,” says Michelle Allendoerfer, senior director of teaching and learning at the American Political Science Association in Washington, D.C. “The skills that are fostered in political science classes are transferable and reflect many of the skills that employers value, such as the ability to analyze an argument, evaluate claims, analyze data, communicate, problem-solve and work collaboratively.”

Allendoerfer and other experts in the field of political science say that data analysis – evaluating data, looking at its source and evaluating a claim based on the data – is emphasized in political science classes and is valuable to many types of employers.

Political science "has become more driven by data and it’s become more important for students of political science to know something about data analysis," says Robert Williams, a political science professor and dean of the social science division at Pepperdine University in California. "We have so much information these days that can be quantified, and so much of that is being used in political science. It’s become important for students to at least be able to read the studies based on quantitative analysis.”

Advantages of a Political Science Degree

Those who have studied political science have found that it helps them better understand events that happen in the world, experts say.

"If you care about those things," Williams says, "political science is a good major and it won’t steer you into something you don’t like because it’s taking this important stuff in the world and at the same time giving you research, analysis, writing and public speaking skills that are transferrable to anything you want to go into afterwards. It’s just a good all-purpose degree, particularly for those people who want to understand the world they live in.”

Political science majors, especially those who focused on U.S. politics, may pursue public-sector careers in politics or government agencies at all levels.

“Advocacy organizations, nonprofits, foundations and nongovernmental organizations offer opportunities for students interested in working on a specific issue or cause,” Allendoerfer says.

In the private sector, she adds, political science graduates can apply their skills in fields like consulting, data analytics, business and finance.

Careers in journalism, communications or opinion polling are also good fits for political science majors because of an emphasis on communication and writing in political science classes, says Donald P. Green, the Burgess professor of political science at Columbia University in New York.

“Students who focus on comparative politics or international relations might pursue careers in international affairs, either through the foreign service, international nongovernmental organizations or working abroad in a variety of ways,” Green says. “It gives undergraduates a broad-based exposure to world events and current issues.”

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science, some students go on to law school or graduate school to get an advanced degree. "Students that are particularly excited about research and are interested in a career in academia would go on to get a Ph.D. ," Allendoerfer says.

Many political science graduates, Green says, "go back to school to get master’s degrees in public administration or something that involves teaching people how to run things."

Potential Career Fields With a Political Science Degree

Here are some career sectors that people with a political science degree often choose.

Career opportunities in the legal profession are numerous. Although a number of majors can prepare someone for a legal career, political science is an especially appropriate background since law is an aspect of governments and the governing process.

Government Service and Politics

There are many career possibilities in government service, including elective office at local, state and national levels; positions on the staffs of elected officials; and staff positions with a political party.

Civil Service

There are many career possibilities in the civil service systems of national, state and local governments. Many political science majors who secure a civil service job do so in an executive or management training position. Such positions are often broad policy-making roles. Although an advanced degree isn't required for some of them, it's often beneficial to go to graduate school and obtain a master's degree in public administration.

Secondary Education

Some political science graduates obtain a secondary teaching credential and go on to careers teaching government or civics to junior high, high school or college students.

Political Science Research and Academia

An undergraduate major in political science can serve as a foundation to pursue graduate studies in political science leading to a Ph.D., which equips someone for a career as a professional political scientist. This could mean teaching and doing research at the college or university level, or obtaining a full-time research position with government or private agencies.

International Organizations

Opportunities for qualified employees with an interest in international organizations is growing, experts say. A political science degree is often a steppingstone to these positions, which are often in overseas charities and other private volunteer agencies, multinational businesses, international governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations and other international agencies.

Interest Groups and Associations

Lobbying by specific interest groups has grown significantly at both state and national levels in the U.S. since the 1960s. These groups range from traditional economic interest groups such as organized labor and business associations to groups centered around a commonality such as ethnicity, gender or sexual identity. A political science major is a natural for a position with such groups, experts say.

Covering community and political stories is a major part of a journalist's task, and political science can be an excellent background for a role in print or broadcast journalism, experts say. Those contemplating such a career should either double major in journalism or a related field, or plan to obtain a master's degree in journalism after completing a nonjournalism major.

A large number of political science graduates find work in the business sector in fields such as marketing, personnel, advertising and public or community relations. Others win management training positions with public and private corporations. 

U.S. workers who majored in political science earn an average annual salary of $52,859, with those in the top 10% making more than $115,000 yearly and those in the bottom 10% coming in at below $24,000 a year, according to Zippia, a California-based job search service. Type of job, geographic location and years of experience are among the factors that cause wage differences.

Graduates working as political scientists earned an average median salary of about $128,000 in 2022, with the best-paid 25% making about $163,300 and the lowest-paid 25% earning just over $89,800, according to the U.S. News Best Jobs rankings .

For college students considering a political science major, Green says it's a broad program that includes international relations, political philosophy, comparative politics and American politics. “Very often," he says, "students will be asked to take courses in statistics and expected to be a broad-ranging intellect who is interested in history."

Green tells his students to try to embrace the intellectual breadth of political science and find courses in history, economics and psychology – some of the main fields that political science touches on – to fulfill the vision of a liberal arts education.

“I think there is a tendency to specialize, and I think that’s a mistake,” he says. “In the world of careers, one could imagine working either in government or groups connected to government such as think tanks, interest groups and policy institutes. One can also imagine going into corporate or clearly delineated private sector roles, and law is often among them.”

Here are some common jobs where experts say a political science degree is a plus:

• Diplomat or foreign service officer
• Urban or regional planner
• Legislative assistant
• Political scientist
• Political science professor
• Political consultant
• Policy analyst
• Business executive
• Politics or government journalist
• Communications/public relations professional
• Public opinion researcher or pollster
• Nonprofit executive
• Nongovernmental organization executive

Although law remains a popular field for political science majors, Williams says, “law schools have become less concerned about admitting political science majors."

"Overall, I think there has been a lot of growth in the kind of careers that are open to political science majors,” Williams says. “I’ve had students who have gone into banking and investing and done very well because their political insights gave them something that the economics and finance majors they were working with just didn’t have.”

A political science degree opens the doors to many careers beyond politics, Williams adds.

“Whatever career path we choose, political science is going to prepare us for one of our central roles in life. It’s important for us to understand our rights and obligations within a political system because you can’t go anywhere without escaping duties as a citizen.” 

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Faculty in the department research in traditional political science fields (American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Public Policy) and we have strengths in cross-cutting research areas such as Governance and Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Political Economy, Development, Environmental Politics and Policy, Political Violence and Human Security, Group Politics, Computational Social Science, Experimental Methods and Causal Inference.  

Political Science researchers also participate in integrative programs, centers, and institutes like  Advanced Methods at Purdue initiative,  the  Integrative Data Science Initiative , the Center for C-SPAN Scholarship and Engagement , the Purdue Policy Research Institute,  the Institute for a Sustainable Future and the  Institute for Physical AI . These interdisciplinary groups of faculty and graduate students explore cutting-edge substantive questions and research methodologies through workshops, speakers, brown-bags, and graduate seminars.

The department offers graduate certificates in Social Policy and Environmental Policy. At the undergraduate level, the department participates in the Cornerstone program in the College of Liberal Arts, which brings top faculty to the classroom to introduce Purdue students to foundational texts and ideas. Faculty are also active in the interdisciplinary minor the Human Rights Program, the Advanced Methods at Purdue Graduate Certificate and the department is home to the Environmental Politics and Policy Minor. 

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Ethical dilemmas are much more common in political science than it is commonly envisaged. In this chapter we use the tripartite division between politics, polity, and policies and discuss the specific ethical concerns of these three core areas of research in political science. Additionally, we discuss some of the current and future challenges of research ethics in the field addressing ethics issues related to the use experiments, digital media, and the adoption of research designs that rest on action research. Overall, ethics considerations have become – and will become – increasingly important also in political science.

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Piccio, D.R., Mattoni, A. (2020). Ethics in Political Science Research. In: Iphofen, R. (eds) Handbook of Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76040-7_65-1

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The field of political science is ever-changing. With new information and findings constantly being uncovered, keeping up with the latest research developments is essential for researchers to orient themselves within the field. International Political Science Abstracts (IPSA Abstracts) , published by the International Political Science Association, is a database containing the largest body of articles and abstracts in political science and related fields curated by political scientists. These abstracts – which come from journals and yearbooks published around the world – are expertly gathered to help researchers find the best scholarship in the field of political science. IPSA Abstracts has been providing the community of political scientists with timely, relevant research for more than 70 years.

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Key facts about Americans and guns

Guns are deeply ingrained in American society and the nation’s political debates.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms, and about a third of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun. At the same time, in response to concerns such as rising gun death rates and  mass shootings , President Joe Biden has proposed gun policy legislation that would expand on the bipartisan gun safety bill Congress passed last year.

Here are some key findings about Americans’ views of gun ownership, gun policy and other subjects, drawn primarily from a Pew Research Center survey conducted in June 2023 .

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to summarize key facts about Americans and guns. We used data from recent Center surveys to provide insights into Americans’ views on gun policy and how those views have changed over time, as well as to examine the proportion of adults who own guns and their reasons for doing so.

The analysis draws primarily from a survey of 5,115 U.S. adults conducted from June 5 to June 11, 2023. Everyone who took part in the surveys cited is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

Here are the  questions used for the analysis on gun ownership , the questions used for the analysis on gun policy , and  the survey’s methodology .

Additional information about the fall 2022 survey of parents and its methodology can be found at the link in the text of this post.

Measuring gun ownership in the United States comes with unique challenges. Unlike many demographic measures, there is not a definitive data source from the government or elsewhere on how many American adults own guns.

The Pew Research Center survey conducted June 5-11, 2023, on the Center’s American Trends Panel, asks about gun ownership using two separate questions to measure personal and household ownership. About a third of adults (32%) say they own a gun, while another 10% say they do not personally own a gun but someone else in their household does. These shares have changed little from surveys conducted in 2021  and  2017 . In each of those surveys, 30% reported they owned a gun.

These numbers are largely consistent with rates of gun ownership reported by Gallup , but somewhat higher than those reported by NORC’s General Social Survey . Those surveys also find only modest changes in recent years.

The FBI maintains data on background checks on individuals attempting to purchase firearms in the United States. The FBI reported a surge in background checks in 2020 and 2021, during the coronavirus pandemic. The number of federal background checks declined in 2022 and through the first half of this year, according to FBI statistics .

About four-in-ten U.S. adults say they live in a household with a gun, including 32% who say they personally own one,  according to an August report based on our June survey. These numbers are virtually unchanged since the last time we asked this question in 2021.

There are differences in gun ownership rates by political affiliation, gender, community type and other factors.

• Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are more than twice as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they personally own a gun (45% vs. 20%).
• 40% of men say they own a gun, compared with 25% of women.
• 47% of adults living in rural areas report personally owning a firearm, as do smaller shares of those who live in suburbs (30%) or urban areas (20%).
• 38% of White Americans own a gun, compared with smaller shares of Black (24%), Hispanic (20%) and Asian (10%) Americans.

Personal protection tops the list of reasons gun owners give for owning a firearm.  About three-quarters (72%) of gun owners say that protection is a major reason they own a gun. Considerably smaller shares say that a major reason they own a gun is for hunting (32%), for sport shooting (30%), as part of a gun collection (15%) or for their job (7%). 

The reasons behind gun ownership have changed only modestly since our 2017 survey of attitudes toward gun ownership and gun policies. At that time, 67% of gun owners cited protection as a major reason they owned a firearm.

Gun owners tend to have much more positive feelings about having a gun in the house than non-owners who live with them. For instance, 71% of gun owners say they enjoy owning a gun – but far fewer non-gun owners in gun-owning households (31%) say they enjoy having one in the home. And while 81% of gun owners say owning a gun makes them feel safer, a narrower majority (57%) of non-owners in gun households say the same about having a firearm at home. Non-owners are also more likely than owners to worry about having a gun in the home (27% vs. 12%, respectively).

Feelings about gun ownership also differ by political affiliation, even among those who personally own firearms. Republican gun owners are more likely than Democratic owners to say owning a gun gives them feelings of safety and enjoyment, while Democratic owners are more likely to say they worry about having a gun in the home.

Non-gun owners are split on whether they see themselves owning a firearm in the future. About half (52%) of Americans who don’t own a gun say they could never see themselves owning one, while nearly as many (47%) could imagine themselves as gun owners in the future.

Among those who currently do not own a gun:

• 61% of Republicans and 40% of Democrats who don’t own a gun say they would consider owning one in the future.
• 56% of Black non-owners say they could see themselves owning a gun one day, compared with smaller shares of White (48%), Hispanic (40%) and Asian (38%) non-owners.

Americans are evenly split over whether gun ownership does more to increase or decrease safety. About half (49%) say it does more to increase safety by allowing law-abiding citizens to protect themselves, but an equal share say gun ownership does more to reduce safety by giving too many people access to firearms and increasing misuse.

Republicans and Democrats differ on this question: 79% of Republicans say that gun ownership does more to increase safety, while a nearly identical share of Democrats (78%) say that it does more to reduce safety.

Urban and rural Americans also have starkly different views. Among adults who live in urban areas, 64% say gun ownership reduces safety, while 34% say it does more to increase safety. Among those who live in rural areas, 65% say gun ownership increases safety, compared with 33% who say it does more to reduce safety. Those living in the suburbs are about evenly split.

Americans increasingly say that gun violence is a major problem. Six-in-ten U.S. adults say gun violence is a very big problem in the country today, up 9 percentage points from spring 2022. In the survey conducted this June, 23% say gun violence is a moderately big problem, and about two-in-ten say it is either a small problem (13%) or not a problem at all (4%).

Looking ahead, 62% of Americans say they expect the level of gun violence to increase over the next five years. This is double the share who expect it to stay the same (31%). Just 7% expect the level of gun violence to decrease.

A majority of Americans (61%) say it is too easy to legally obtain a gun in this country. Another 30% say the ease of legally obtaining a gun is about right, and 9% say it is too hard to get a gun. Non-gun owners are nearly twice as likely as gun owners to say it is too easy to legally obtain a gun (73% vs. 38%). Meanwhile, gun owners are more than twice as likely as non-owners to say the ease of obtaining a gun is about right (48% vs. 20%).

Partisan and demographic differences also exist on this question. While 86% of Democrats say it is too easy to obtain a gun legally, 34% of Republicans say the same. Most urban (72%) and suburban (63%) dwellers say it’s too easy to legally obtain a gun. Rural residents are more divided: 47% say it is too easy, 41% say it is about right and 11% say it is too hard.

About six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) favor stricter gun laws. Another 26% say that U.S. gun laws are about right, and 15% favor less strict gun laws. The percentage who say these laws should be stricter has fluctuated a bit in recent years. In 2021, 53% favored stricter gun laws, and in 2019, 60% said laws should be stricter.

About a third (32%) of parents with K-12 students say they are very or extremely worried about a shooting ever happening at their children’s school, according to a fall 2022 Center survey of parents with at least one child younger than 18. A similar share of K-12 parents (31%) say they are not too or not at all worried about a shooting ever happening at their children’s school, while 37% of parents say they are somewhat worried.

Among all parents with children under 18, including those who are not in school, 63% see improving mental health screening and treatment as a very or extremely effective way to prevent school shootings. This is larger than the shares who say the same about having police officers or armed security in schools (49%), banning assault-style weapons (45%), or having metal detectors in schools (41%). Just 24% of parents say allowing teachers and school administrators to carry guns in school would be a very or extremely effective approach, while half say this would be not too or not at all effective.

There is broad partisan agreement on some gun policy proposals, but most are politically divisive,   the June 2023 survey found . Majorities of U.S. adults in both partisan coalitions somewhat or strongly favor two policies that would restrict gun access: preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (88% of Republicans and 89% of Democrats support this) and increasing the minimum age for buying guns to 21 years old (69% of Republicans, 90% of Democrats). Majorities in both parties also  oppose  allowing people to carry concealed firearms without a permit (60% of Republicans and 91% of Democrats oppose this).

Republicans and Democrats differ on several other proposals. While 85% of Democrats favor banning both assault-style weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds, majorities of Republicans oppose these proposals (57% and 54%, respectively).

Most Republicans, on the other hand, support allowing teachers and school officials to carry guns in K-12 schools (74%) and allowing people to carry concealed guns in more places (71%). These proposals are supported by just 27% and 19% of Democrats, respectively.

Gun ownership is linked with views on gun policies. Americans who own guns are less likely than non-owners to favor restrictions on gun ownership, with a notable exception. Nearly identical majorities of gun owners (87%) and non-owners (89%) favor preventing mentally ill people from buying guns.

Within both parties, differences between gun owners and non-owners are evident – but they are especially stark among Republicans. For example, majorities of Republicans who do not own guns support banning high-capacity ammunition magazines and assault-style weapons, compared with about three-in-ten Republican gun owners.

Among Democrats, majorities of both gun owners and non-owners favor these two proposals, though support is greater among non-owners. 

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Jan. 5, 2016 .

• Partisanship & Issues
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Katherine Schaeffer is a research analyst at Pew Research Center

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