Methods of Policy Analysis

Sample courses for Methods of Policy Analysis focus

Please note:
These are an example of the courses that would fulfill this complimentary policy requirement.
We cannot guarantee when or if these courses will be offered.

Political Science

581. Statistics for Social Research. (4)
Provides intensive experience and lab instruction in quantitative techniques employed in political science research, including descriptive statistics, statistical inference, hypothesis testing, measures of central tendency, crosstabulation, differences between means, bivariate regression, correlation and multivariate analysis. Required of M.A. and Ph.D. students.

681. Advanced Statistical Analysis for Social Science Research. (3)
Focuses on a variety of advanced econometric methods. Beginning with a review of matrix algebra and math for the social sciences, the course provides an in-depth examination of multiple regression and more advanced econometric models. Required for Ph.D. students. 

Sociology

581. Advanced Social Statistics I. (3)
Examines theory (assumptions, properties of estimators) and application of multiple regression. Introduces matrix notation and generalized least squares.

582. Advanced Social Statistics II. (3) 
Additional methods for quantitative social research: regression diagnostics, logit and Poisson regression, principal components, correspondence analysis.

580. Methods of Social Research I. (3)
Analytical examination of traditional methodological issues including measurement, experimental design, sampling, theory construction, role of statistics and nature of probability.

585. Qualitative Research Methods. (3)
Intensive practicum on research fieldwork, including research design, human subjects review, the ethics/politics of fieldwork, and fieldwork implementation. Focuses on ethnographic and interview methods; some attention to focus groups and archives.

 Economics

508. Statistics and Introduction to Econometrics. (3)
Discrete and continuous probability distributions; expectations; joint, conditional marginal distributions; hypothesis testing; least squares estimators; violation of the least squares principle. Econometric software with applications

509. Econometrics I. (3)
Theory and applications: ordinary and generalized least squares, hypothesis testing, dummy variable and distributed lag models; simultaneous equation and two stage least square models; forecasting. Emphasis on computer modeling.

Geography

486L / 586L. Applications of GIS. (3)
Selected applications of Geographic Information Systems, including anthropology, business, crime, ecology, engineering, health, planning, water resources and others. Covers analytical techniques specific to selected applications.

487L / 587L. Spatial Analysis and Modeling. (3)
Spatial analysis and modeling techniques using Geographic Information Systems. Includes a lab component that covers the use of GIS and other software to carry out analysis projects.

Public Administration

597. Program Evaluation
This course is intended to provide an advanced introduction to the theory and practice of program evaluation, along with policy analysis and evaluation. 

Public Health

684. Advanced Health Policy Analysis
This course discusses and explores theoretically driven methods in applied policy analysis through equity and social justice lens. Students will learn the application of five-steps in policy analysis from the approach of evidence informed policy making.

Statistics

440 / 540. Regression Analysis. (3)
Simple regression and multiple regression. Residual analysis and transformations. Matrix approach to general linear models. Model selection procedures, nonlinear least squares, logistic regression. Computer applications.

476 / 576. Multivariate Analysis. (3)
Tools for multivariate analysis including multivariate ANOVA, principal components analysis, discriminant analysis, cluster analysis, factor analysis, structural equations modeling, canonical correlations and multidimensional scaling.