An Overview of the Levels of Research
Theory : Concept 1 is related to concept 2.
Hypotheses : Variable 1 is related to variable 2
Operational : Operational definition 1 is related to Operational definition 2.
Example 1
Theory : Economic development is related to political development
Hypotheses : The more industrialized a nation, the greater level of mass political participation
Operational : The higher the percentage of the labor force engaged in manufacturing, according to the United Nations Yearbook, the higher the percentage of the population of voting age that participated in the most recent national election, according the Statesman’s Yearbook.
Example 2 :
Theory : Socioeconomic status effects political participation
Hypotheses : The higher a person’s income, the more likely he or she is to vote.
Operational : The higher a survey respondent’s answer when he or she is asked, “What is your house-hold’s annual income,” the more likely that perrson will answer “Yes” when asked, “Did you vote in the election last November?”
Example of hypotheses, identifying independen variables, dependent variables, and control variables and the unit of analysis.
Urban areas have lower crime rates than rural areas.
Independent variable : Urbanization
Dependent variable : Crime Rates
Unit of analysis : Geographic areas, such as states or counties
With age held constant, education and political participation are positively related.
Independent variable: Education
Dependent variable: Political participation
Control variable : Age
Unit of analysis : Individual
The more negative the advertising in a U.S senatorial campaign, the lower the voter turnout rate.
Independent variable : Negativity of campaign advertising
Dependent variable : Turnout rate
Unit of analysis : U.S states
With GNP held constant, communist nations spend more than capitalist nations for the military.
Independent variable : Type of economic system
Dependent variable : Military spending
Control variable : GNP
Unit of analysis : Nations
The better the state of the economy, the greater the proportion of votes received by the party of the president.
Independent variable : State of economy
Dependent variable : Proportion of votes for incumbent party
Unit of analysis : Elections
Controlling for political party, a legislator’s votes on abortion are related to his or her religion and education. Independent variable : Religion, education
Dependent variable : votes on abortion
Control variable : Political party
Unit of analuysis : Legislators
Examples of Hypotheses and operational definitions
The more a congressional candidate spends, the more succesful his or her campaign.
Spending: The amount of campaign spending reported to the Federal election commision.
Success : The percentage of the total received by the candidate according to america votes.
The more economically developed a nation, the lower the level of political instabillity .
Economic development: Per capita GNP as reported by the united nations yearbook.
Political Instability: the average number of coups d’etat, assassinations, and irregular executive transfers per year since 1970, according to the world handbook of political and social indicators
The higher the level of a person’s education, the more likely he or she is to favor legal abortion.
Education: ask a survey respondent, “how far did you go in school?”
Opinion on abortion: ask the survey respondent, “do you believe that abortion should be legal under any circumstances or not?”
The more competitive political parties are in a state, the more the state spends on education.
Party competition: The difference between the republican and democratic percentages of the vote for governor subtracted from 100, calculated from data in america votes.
Spending for education: per pupil spending for public elementary and secondary education, according to the U.S statistical abstract.
Media attention is neccessary for a candidate to succeed in a primary election.
Variabel Independen : Media attention
Variabel Dependen : Sucess in primary election
Unit Analysis : Candidate
With education, income and region held constant, there is little difference in turnout between whites and African Americans.
Variabel Independen : Races
Variabel Dependen : Turnout
Control Variable : Education, Income, Region
Unit Analysis : Candidate
Southern states have less party competition than Northern states.
Variabel Independen : Region
Variabel Dependen : Party Competition
Unit Analysis : States
When length of time since independence is held constant, democracies are more stable than dictatorship.
Variabel Independen : Political system
Variabel Dependen : Political stability
Unit Analysis : Nations
The larger a city, the higher the crime rate tends to be.
Variabel Independen : City Size
Variabel Dependen : Crime rate
Unit Analysis : City
Controlling for education, the more urban an area, the lower the voter turnout
People who perceive that they are better off economically tend to vote for the incumbent candidate for president.
Nations that receive U.S foreign aid are more likely to support the United States in foreign policy.
Winning candidates have more positive perceptions of voters than do losing candidates.
The better the state of the economy, the better the candidates of the incumbent president’s party do in congressional elections.
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