Political Science Research Methods

Research methods are the tools of political science for answering empirical questions in all subfields of the discipline. In teaching, the junior professorship introduces students to quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. In research, the focus is on quantitative research on political attitudes and behavior. Current research topics include electoral and voting participation, youth and politics, direct democracy, and election forecasting. Methodologically, the application of experimental and quasi-experimental approaches in individual and aggregate data analysis plays a prominent role. Furthermore, a methodological focus is on primary data collection through population surveys.