This course introduces the core concepts in quantitative empirical methods. Students learn to identify and explain descriptive and causal inference approaches, as well as their challenges, critically evaluate inferential claims in academic social science research, identify types of research designs, explain their strengths and weaknesses, and effectively communicate research processes and findings.

This course introduces students to comparative politics, the study of domestic politics in countries around the world. It focuses on the problem of creating stable and prosperous democracies. The first half of the course explores issues in political development: state-building, democratization, ethnic conflict, economic policy, and civic life. The second half turns to the nature of political institutions: executive-legislative relations, electoral systems, and federalism. Students learn both to understand the variety of political systems around the world and to analyze current political events.

This course focuses on how to evaluate the evidence of others - and how to marshal your own - across social science, politics, society, health, education, psychology and industry. It provides an overview of three types of evidence: qualitative interviews, observational data, and experimental data. Students learn to collect and analyze qualitative data, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of both qualitative and quantitative data, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of arguments made by others using qualitative and quantitative data, and understand the role of uncertainty in making estimates.

This course focuses on the fundamental concepts underpinning behavioral economics from both a theoretical and empirical lens. The first part of the course outlines behavioral biases and their implications for economic decision-making with an emphasis on theoretical contributions including Prospect Theory. The second part of the course focuses on experimental and quasi-experimental research designs and their applications for causally assessing behavioral phenomena. Student groups run a behavioral experiment of their own under the guidance of the teaching assistants and present their findings to the class.