Political Science

The Junior Qual

Handbook

The Political Science Junior Qualifying Examination Handbook [PDF] discusses the components of the junior qual, how we evaluate the examinations, goes through a step-by-step guide to the qual, answers some frequently answered questions, and contains a list of core source materials for the research design.

We used Endnote (which is site-licensed at Reed) to generate the bibliographies in the Handbook; you can download the Endnote program, the Poli Sci Junior Qual Endnote library and the associated modified Endnote style for annotated bibliographies.

Policies

The Political Science Junior Qualifying Examination must be written in conjunction with a regular course that the student is taking in Political Science in the semester immediately preceding their senior year. In the first week of classes, the student submits a request to write the qualifying examination to the instructor of one of their courses. No more than 5 quals can be written in any course. When there are more than five requests, the five qual writers are selected at the instructor's discretion. Junior quals may not be written in 200 level political science courses. Two of the three introductory courses must be completed before taking the junior qualifying examination; the third may be in progress at that point, and must also be passed in order to pass the junior qual.

Students going on terms abroad must make early arrangements to complete the junior qualifying examinations. This is their responsibility. Exceptions will be granted for students on terms abroad in their second semester of their junior year; these students will take the old exam format.

The department guarantees that every student majoring in Political Science may submit such a paper in lieu of some (but usually not all) of the written requirements for a course, at the discretion of the instructor, so that the course workload is not increased.

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This Year's Deadlines
Junior Qual Samples
Core Source Materials for the Literature Review

This Year's Deadlines

Fall 2009 Junior Qualifying Examination

Week 3
 Proposal Due
Proposal Lunch
 12 PM, Mon, Sep 14
12 PM, Wed, Sep 16		 CC-112
CC-134
Week 4
 Library Session
 7 PM, Tue, Sep 22
 L-17
Week 7
 Draft Bibliographies Due
 12 PM, Mon, Oct 12 CC-112
Week 10
 Outlines Due
 12 PM, Mon, Nov 2 CC-112
Week 12
 Draft Research Designs Due
Mini Oral Presentations
 12 PM, Mon, Nov 16
12 PM, Wed, Nov 18
 CC-112
CC-134
Week 16
 Final Papers Due
 12 PM, Mon, Dec 14 CC-112

Spring 2010 Junior Qualifying Examination

Week 3
 Proposal Due
Proposal Lunch
 12 PM, Mon, Feb 8
12 PM, Wed, Feb 10
 CC-112
GCC-D
Week 4
 Library Session
 7 PM, Tue, Feb 16
 L-17
Week 7
 Draft Bibliographies Due
 12 PM, Mon, Mar 8
 CC-112
Week 10
 Outlines Due
 12 PM, Mon, Mar 29
 CC-112
Week 12
 Draft Research Designs Due
Mini Oral Presentations
Mini Oral Presentations
 12 PM, Mon, Apr 12
12 PM, Wed, Apr 14
12 PM, Thu, Apr 15
 CC-112
CC-134
TBA
Week 16
 Final Papers Due
 12 PM, Mon, May 10
 CC-112

NOTE: All documents must be printed single-sided.

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Junior Qual Samples

All samples are in PDF format.

  1. Proposals
    Elections | Liberty | Machiavelli | Nukes

  2. Draft Annotated Bibliography
    Elections (not available) | Liberty | Machiavelli | Nukes

  3. Outlines
    Different Styles of Outline: Not every style of outline fits every topic. Remember that you are writing an outline of your literature review. One has to choose wisely in terms of the styles available. Below are some typical approaches.

  4. Draft Research Designs
    Elections (not available) | Liberty | Machiavelli | Nukes

  5. Final Papers
    Elections | Liberty | Machiavelli | Nukes

Core Source Materials for the Literature Review

Fenton Martin and Robert Goelert's Political Science Journal Information (American Political Science Association, Washington) lists the major journals in political science. This volume includes a brief description of each, including the various indices and citation services which carry it. Depending on the topic of your paper, you will find certain core sources more useful. Here are some of the basic sources, prepared for us by Dena Hutto, Reed Social Science Librarian, and one of the thesis writers' best friends:

Locating and Borrowing Books

Reed College Library Catalog
Use for locating books and journals here at Reed.

Summit Library Catalog
Use to locate and borrow books from any of 18 academic libraries in Oregon and Washington. Summit books are delivered to the Reed library circulation desk, usually in two to three days. The borrowing period for all Orbis books is three weeks, and renewals are not allowed. Please do not borrow more books than you can read at one time, because overdue fines are hefty.

WorldCat
Use to locate books that are not available at Reed or in Orbis. WorldCat includes the holdings of thousands of libraries in the U.S. Most can be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Books are delivered to the Reed library interlibrary loan office, located in the reference room. Allow one to three weeks for books to arrive.

 

Locating Journal Articles

Use one of the databases or indexes below to identify journal articles. Your next step is to locate the journal in which the article was published. Here are the places to look:

Reed College Library Catalog. Use a "Periodical" title search to see whether Reed owns the journal.

Reed E-Journals by Title. Perhaps the journal is available electronically. Check this link to find out whether Reed has a subscription to an electronic version of the journal.

Interlibrary Loan. If the journal is not available in print or electronically, you may request a copy from another library through Interlibrary Loan. You will receive a photocopy of the article. Currently, the average wait for an article is eight days. There is no fee for interlibrary loan.

 

Databases and Indexes for Scholarly Literature

Use these databases and indexes to locate journal articles, books, and/or books reviews. Dates of coverage and printed index equivalents are included.

Political Science

International Political Science Abstracts (1989-present)

PAIS International (1972-present. Printed index volumes for 1915-1971, Ref. H96 P92) Covers policy oriented literature in the social sciences; includes periodicals, books, government documents; subject index.

Index to Legal Periodicals (a FirstSearch database; see librarian for authorization and password; 1981-present. Printed index volumes for 1952-1981, Ref. K .I5)

NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service)

Sociology, Ethnography

Sociological Abstracts (1963-present)

History

Historical Abstracts (World history excluding North America; articles published 1954-present. Includes periodical articles published worldwide in many languages.)

America: History & Life (North American history; articles published 1964-present)

Guide to American Foreign Relations Since 1700. Covers American diplomatic history. Descriptive annotations with critical commentary. Useful introductory essays to each chapter. Subject and author indices. Arranged chronologically.

Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary

Social Science Citation Index (from 1984 in Web of Science; 1981-1983 on CD in Ref. Room; printed index volumes for 1978-1980, Ref. H96. S65) Indexes periodicals and some books worldwide; along with author and subject approaches, also provides access to material reviewed or mentioned in other sources (hence citation index).

Social Sciences Abstracts (1983-present) A FirstSearch database; ask a librarian for authorization and password.

The Social Sciences Index (quarterly) Predecessor of Social Sciences Abstracts. Before 1974, the Social Sciences and Humanities Index are combined in one text. From 1920-1965, it is known as the International Index; author-subject index to English Language periodical in the social sciences.

WWW.SSRN.COM ALSO HAS MANY SOCIAL SCIENCE ARTICLES ON A VARIETY OF TOPICS.

Other

The Philosopher's Index (quarterly) Author-subject index to periodicals worldwide concerned with philosophical issues. Includes abstracts on books and articles.

Humanities Abstracts (1984-present) A FirstSearch database; as a librarian for authorization and password. Author-subject index to English Language Periodicals in the Humanities.

The Humanities Index (quarterly) Predecessor of Humanities Abstracts.

Databases for News and Current Information

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe

Global Newsbank

 

Tools for Locating Legal Information and Government Publications

Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe: Legal Research. Contains a substantial collection of case law (opinions) as well as the text of over 200 law reviews.

Congressional Universe. Online version of Congressional Information Service Annual. Abstracts and indexes the publications of Congress: hearings, committee prints, public laws, House and Senate Documents and Reports. Indexed by subject; author; name of bill sponsor, witness, subcommittee, and official and popular names of bill, law or report. Also a useful means of identifying experts in any area. Includes links to many congressional documents, reports, and public laws.

State Capital Universe. Tool for tracking state government legislation.

 

Tools for Locating Statistics

FedStats

Statistical Resources on the Web

Bureau of Justice Statistics (U.S.)

Statistical Universe

 

Specialized Source Materials based on Subject Matter

Specialized sources will vary from field to field. As usual, you might want to discuss this in advance with your professor.

Political Theory. Students might wish to consult The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Encyclopedia of Classical Literature or The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Thought. Specific entries always have bibliographies that point to the most current literature on a topic. In addition, thematic bibliographies could be useful such as Niccolo Machiavelli, Dictionary of Marxism-Leninism or Women Philosophers: A Bio-Critical Anthology. Students might also wish to consult specific dictionaries, for example, it might make sense to learn how to use Liddel and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon if you are writing on Plato.

Comparative Politics. Students might wish to consult bibliographies on specific regions, for example, Latin American Politics: An Historical Bibliography, Africa Since 1914: A Historical Bibliography, Bibliography of Asian Studies, and The Annual Bibliography of British and Irish History. Encyclopedias, annual compendia of current events and technical dictionaries are good reference sources, i.e., The Historical Dictionary of Cuba, Africa South of the Sahara, the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Political Institutions and the Annual Register: A Record of World Events. Thematic bibliographies should not be overlooked such asThe Handbook of Revolutions, Women's Studies: A Core Bibliography or The Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. Students requiring statistics might consult the American Statistics Index, the Statistical Reference Index or the Index to International Statistics, all published by the Congressional Informational Service.

Public Policy. One of the specialized indices in the Reed Library is the Index to Legal Periodicals which indexes all materials published in law reviews, i.e., Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal, the only two that Reed has. The Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College has a good law library including almost all of the law reviews and other specialized legal research tools. Save time by using the Index here at Reed, and THEN go to Lewis & Clark to do the reading.

The Reed Library has the U. S. Supreme Court Reports, which is the official reporting system for U. S. Supreme Court decisions. Regional reporters, as well as state reporter systems, are in law libraries such as Lewis & Clark's.

In many areas of public policy, research circulates differently in that one must pay attention to indices and published journals such as those listed in the core section, below, and also at government systems. Much of the research in criminal justice is available through the U. S. Department of Justice, and only through them. Other departments of the federal government operate literature search services and dissemination offices. Reed's Library is also a partial depository for U. S. Government documents, we automatically receive some (but not all) of the research and reports the federal government turns out every year, some of which is worthless, but much of which is not. PSU is a regional depositor and get more than we do.

There are a large number of specialized journals that Reed does not get, but other libraries (such as PSU) do. These are usually institutions that have professional degree programs in various substantive fields. A school that offers an MSW (Master of Social Work) is likely to have specialized journals that deal with children's issues, human services, etc. PSU has an excellent special education program so their collection of both books and journals on disabilities, etc., will be much more extensive than Reed's.

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