HDR workshop

The analysis of quantitative datasets forms the empirical core of many doctoral dissertations in contemporary political science. However, constructing a dataset for analysis is a challenging and sometimes daunting task, particularly when done for the first time. This seminar is intended as a practical introduction to the collection of data which can be analyzed to produce a dissertation or article for peer review. Drawing on my own experience and giving examples from my own research, I will describe and give advice on using data sources ranging from government and local archives through historical publications to online databases and news sources. The examples will cover local-, city- and country-level data from a wide range of historical and geographical contexts. Students should come prepared with insights and questions from their own research, from any stage in the research process, so that we can discuss these and provide advice.
 

Henry Thomson is an assistant professor of political science at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the political economy of authoritarianism and democratization. He has a special interest in role which agriculture plays in processes of development and democratization. He has published articles on variation in agricultural policy across political regime type and the role of landholding inequality in promoting civil conflict and authoritarian repression. He is also interested in collective mobilization and repression under authoritarian regimes. From 2014-2017, he was a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, and has been a DAAD Fellow in Berlin. His doctoral dissertation won the 2015 Juan Linz Prize for the Best Dissertation in the Comparative Study of Democratization from the American Political Science Association and his 2016 article on landholding inequality and civil conflict won the Best Paper in International Relations Award from the Midwest Political Science Association. He teaches classes in Comparative Politics, Political Economy and International Relations.