Handbook

This course will provide an introduction to empirical methods used in scholarship across the social sciences. The course is self-contained and presumes no explicit prior knowledge, although an understanding of basic statistical concepts is useful. The goal of the course is to equip students to become sophisticated consumers of empirical social science research, rather than necessarily becoming producers of that work. Each topic will use a research article to illustrate different empirical methods, and also the range of topics that these methods are useful for analyzing. Substantive topics will include: crime, media, judicial behavior, anti-discrimination law, wage determination, and education.