This course is about what quantitative political scientists do when they can’t do experiments. You will learn more about when and how political scientists make causal statements about observational data. We will start by reviewing the promise and pitfalls of experiments as a tool for political scientists. Then, we will think about a series of other approaches that political scientists use to tease apart cause and effect in their work.

Prerequisites: POLS 15; or COMM 87 & COMM 88; or PSTAT5A & COMM 88.

4

Units

Optional

Grading

1

Passtime

Not open to freshmen

Level Limit

Letters and science

College
These majors only pols prpol
MASTERSON D T
Daniel Masterson
2.8
10 reviews
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10
2.8
POLSCI150A . Masterson D T 7 Months Ago

This was one of the worst classroom experiences I've had. I don't recommend anyone take any class with him, which is a shame because he teaches an important and timely topic. He's a tough grader, which is fine, but the way he interacts with students conveys a lack of care and general respect that shouldn't be prevalent for an instructor.

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POLS150 . Masterson D T 1 Year, 1 Month Ago

His ME class is really good, the pols readings are really interesting but come with reading a lot of history too; also, he DOWN CURVED us (the next grade down) even after miscommunication between him and his TA's cost everyone a quiz grade (TAs didn't own up to the miscommunication and he took their word over ours)

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POLS150 . Masterson D T 1 Year, 10 Months Ago

Professor isn't very nice, he's very serious. There's 3 quizzes each worth 10%. First is the map quiz, next 2 are mcq and you need to actually study for these to do well. Final research paper is about 10 pages, they grade it harshly. I barely took notes and procrastinated everything (got an A). Just study the relevant stuff and ignore the rest.

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POLS150 . Masterson D T 1 Year, 10 Months Ago

I would not recommend taking this class. His lectures are not very engaging, there is a lot of reading for this class, and communication between him and his TAs are unclear. Miscommunication resulted in very low quiz scores for the majority of the class, making or breaking students' grades. Professor is very knowledgable but do not recommend!

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POLS150 . Masterson D T 2 Years Ago

Not a very nice guy

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PS150A . Masterson D T 3 Years Ago

THIS PROFESSOR DOWN CURVES. Did very well on all of the assignments, but then they graded the final paper VERY harshly. Even if you finish with an A raw score, he will down-curve so beware. Boring lectures & attendance not mandatory. Take at your own risk

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