Spring 2019 - POL 339 D100
Selected Topics in Comparative Government and Politics (4)
Class Number: 6184
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
Jan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Wed, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
BurnabyJan 3 – Apr 8, 2019: Fri, 10:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby
-
Instructor:
Steven Weldon
sweldon@sfu.ca
1 778 782-4995
-
Instructor:
Vincent Hopkins
vrhopkin@sfu.ca
-
Prerequisites:
Six lower division units in political science or permission of the department.
Description
COURSE DETAILS:
Selected Topic: Politics and Data Science
Technology is revolutionizing politics - mobilizing citizens against authoritarian regimes through Twitter and appealing to voters with Facebook. How can we use this new data and the digitization of vast public records to understand politics? Offers a hands-on introduction to data science for political analysis.
The objective of this course is to introduce students to data science and its use in political research. Seminars focus on workflow and project management (e.g. RStudio, R Markdown, GitHub), importing data (e.g. small-N data in different formats, scraping web data, relational databases), tidying data (e.g. working with dates and text), visualizing data (e.g. exploratory analysis and interactive media), and machine learning. Through in-class practice, quizzes, homework, and group projects, students will learn to apply data science techniques to political research.
There will be four hours of seminar per week that involves a mix of lecture, group activities, and analysis. You are required to bring a laptop to all class meetings (note: the library loans out laptop computers for up to four hours)
Grading
- Quizzes (4 × 5%) 20%
- Homework Assignments (5 × 10%) 50%
- Group project and presentation 30%
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
R for Data Science (2016), by Hadley Wickham & Garrett Grolemund
Supplementary Readings: Data Science from Scratch (2015), by Joel Grus
Software: R, RStudio, and R Markdown; GitHub; Python (all free!)
Department Undergraduate Notes:
Registrar Notes:
SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating. Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.
Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community. Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS