Includes bibliographical references (pages 226-239) and index.

Designing research in political science / Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig -- Increasing the relevance of research questions / Matthias Lehnert, Bernhard Miller, and Arndt Wonka -- Concept specification in political science research / Arndt Wonka -- Typologies in social inquiry / Matthias Lehnert -- Making measures capture concepts / Bernhard Miller -- Achieving comparability of secondary data / Julia Rathke -- Dealing effectively with selection bias in large-n research / Janina Thiem -- Case selection and selection bias in small-n research / Dirk Leuffen -- Selecting independent variables / Ulrich Sieberer -- Discriminating among rival explanations : some tools for small-n researchers / Andreas D�ur -- Falsification in theory-guided empirical social research : how to change a tire while riding your bicycle / Dirk De Bi�evre -- Lessons for the dialogue between theory and data / Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig.

This is a comprehensive introduction to research design for university students at all levels across the whole range of political science, including international relations and public administration. It covers the key steps in the research process and explains the logic and detail of a variety of classic and cutting-edge methods.

Based on a pluralistic approach, the text endorses both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, and outlines the strengths and limitations of different designs for addressing particular research goals. Giving accessible and practical advice, without use of mathematical formulas or formalized notation, this clear and engaging book features many examples of real political science research, and will enable readers to design their own research projects as well as to critically evaluate existing research in the social sciences.