Writing a Research Paper in Political Science

PREFACE
CHAPTER 1: So You Have to Write a Research Paper
What Is a Research Paper? A Few Helpful Metaphors
What Research Paper Writing Entails
Blueprint of the Book
CHAPTER 2: Getting Started: Finding a Research Question
Characteristics of a Good Question
Practical Summary
Recipe 1: The Research Question
Exercises
CHAPTER 3: Learning Proper Citation Forms, Finding the Scholarly Debate, and Summarizing and Classifying Arguments: The Annotated Bibliography
What Are Bibliographies, and Why Do We Bother With Them?
Plagiarism versus Paraphrasing and Avoiding Drop-Ins and Transcripts, Too
Annotating the Bibliography
Identifying the Key Conceptual Issues
Searching for Sources
Identifying Similar Arguments and Grouping Your Sources
One Last Word of Advice: Generic Schools of Thought
Writing the Annotated Bibliography
Practical Summary
Recipe 2: The Annotated Bibliography
Exercises
CHAPTER 4: Making Sense of the Scholarly Answers to Your Research Question: Writing the Literature Review
Preparing for and Understanding the Literature Review
The Fundamentals of the Literature Review
Writing the Literature Review
Practical Summary
Recipe 3: Literature Review
Exercises
CHAPTER 5: Effectively Distilling Your Argument: The Thesis, Model and Hypothesis
The Thesis
The Model
The Hypothesis
Applying These Insights
Recipe 4: Model and Hypothesis Section
Exercises
CHAPTER 6: Revising and Editing Your Work: The Research-Writing-Thinking Spiral
Practical Summary
Recipe 5: Revising and Editing
Exercises
CHAPTER 7: Making Your Plan and Protecting Yourself from Criticism: The Research Design
Research Design: The Courtroom and Medical Science Analogies
Writing the Research Design Focusing on Hypothesis-Driven Research
The Research Design: Two Examples
Practical Summary
Recipe 6: Research Design
Exercises
CHAPTER 8: Evaluating the Argument: The Analysis and Assessment Section
Qualitative Analysis
Mixed

Dr. Lisa A. Baglione is a professor in the

Department of Political Science and a member

of the International Relations Program at Saint

Joseph's University in Philadelphia. Currently,

Dr. Baglione also serves as the co-director of the

Gender Studies Program.

During her career, Dr. Baglione has conducted

research in five areas, and while they

are varied, she has benefited from the ways that

insights from each have interwoven: negotiations

between adversaries, authoritarian transformation,

peacebuilding, gender in politics, and

pedagogy. She has published two other books, To

Agree or Not to Agree: Leadership, Bargaining, and

Arms Control with University of Michigan Press

and Writing a Research Paper in Political Science:

A Practical Guide to Inquiry, Structure, and

Methods, now in its fourth edition, with Sage.