Week 1: Introduction and Philosophy of Science

During the first week, we will discuss the syllabus and talk about what it means for political science (or any social science, for that matter) to be a science.

Wednesday, January 21

  • Syllabus

  • Data Analysis for Social Science (from now on DASS). Chapter 1: pp. 1-6. (only for the first chapter).

  • Shech, Elay. 2026. “Science Keeps Changing. So Why Should We Trust It?” The New York Times, January 5.

    • As a Holy Cross student, you have acces to The New York Times. In you haven’t done so, please sign up for an account via Ignite (it should appear under “Apps”)

Friday, January 23

  • Russell, Bertrand. 1912 [2001]. “On Induction.” In Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings, eds. Yuri Balashov and Alex Rosenberg, 289-93. London/New York: Routledge.

  • Popper, Karl. 1963 [2001]. “Science: Conjectures and Refutations.” In Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings, eds. Yuri Balashov and Alex Rosenberg, 294-301. London/New York: Routledge.