PPOL4400 - Analytical and Critical Skills
Lapo Salucci
Office: Institute for Public Policy Studies
Mary Reed Bldg
2199 S. University Blvd, Suite 107
Phone: 303-871-3638
Class Schedule and Room: Wednesdays 5pm - 7:50pm, STURM 380
email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Tuesday 10-12 and by appointment
I. Course Description
This course will provide students with the analytical tools necessary to evaluate competing points of view, using
empirical techniques, logic, and statistical inference. Case studies will be drawn from the current legislative and
regulatory environment and will provide the MPP student with opportunities to construct a course of action, based
on the use of logically consistent arguments and on the persuasive use of facts and empirical data. Students in this
course will also learn how to distinguish speculation, theory, fact, and opinion, how to identify the validity,
ideological content or irrationality of data, how to identify the intentional obfuscation of issues, and how to evaluate
one's own prejudices and vulnerability to argument not based on evidence.
II. Requirements
This is a graduate course that places heavy emphasis on students’ participation to class discussions. Class
attendance is mandatory. Repeated absences may result in a failing participation grade.
The final grade is based on your class participation and your timely and successful completion of assignments.
Your grade is determined as follows:
• Class Participation: 20%. This grade will be determined by the students’ attendance and participation in class
discussion. During discussion sessions, students will be called randomly to answer questions of relevance to the
class topics. Students should come prepared to class by having completed the assigned readings for the week. I
strongly encourage every student to participate actively in class; however, should you feel uncomfortable about
speaking in front of your fellow classmates, you can email me questions and comments before each class. That
will count toward your participation grade in the same way as in-class interaction. We’ll have a class blog either
on Blackboard or on Facebook. If you send me comments and questions to post on the blog, those will count as
participation as well.
• Take-home Critique Paper: 20%. This assignment will test students on the application of the knowledge they
have learnt in class. Students will have to critique a policy brief by detecting biases and flaws in its various
components. I will make the policy brief available on the starting day of the assignment. Students will put
together their critiques in a consolidated document. You are required to deliver both a hard and an electronic
copy (only PDF or MS Word files). Schedule: due in class on October 5. NO LATE DELIVERY.
• Clipping Thesis: 30%. The final project will consist in a clipping thesis assignments. Students will select a policy
topic and submit it to me for approval, at least 10 days before the deadline of the assignment. Once their topic
has been approved, students will analyze the coverage of such policy topic. By coverage, I mean the
representation by the media and the analysis by think tanks, policy institutions, etc, as well as leaders’
declaration. Students must uncover the features of such coverage by utilizing the analytical skills they have learnt
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
1
University of Denver - PPOL4400 - Autumn 2011
in class. This includes detecting biases, framing, narratives, use of data, etc. Students will have to provide both a
hard and an electronic copy of their assignment. I will provide more details about the final project in class.
Schedule: due in class on November 16. NO LATE DELIVERY.
• Final Exam: 30%. I will provide details on the final exam later in the semester. Please check BlackBoard for more
information. Schedule: Saturday November 19, 6:00 pm - 7:50 pm, Sturm Hall 380. (provisory schedule).
III.Readings
Readings will be available on Blackboard: http://blackboard.du.edu/ . Additional readings may be assigned on a
weekly basis, so please check Blackboard and your email frequently for updates.
The following books are required for class:
• Darrell Huff, How To Lie With Statistics, Norton Press, 1993.
• Dietrich Dörner, The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations, Basic Books, 1996.
• Eugene Bardach, A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving,
3rd ed. (CQ Press, 2008). IV.Schedule
Class meets Wednesdays, 5pm to 7:50pm
DATES TO REMEMBER:
• Wednesday, September 14: class begins
• Wednesday, October 5: Critique Paper due in class
• Wednesday, November 16: Clipping Thesis due in class
• Saturday, November 19: final exam. Sturm Hall 380, 6pm-7:50pm
Presentation handouts in PDF format will be available for download on Blackboard the day of your class. Please
print them before class. Do not take notes from my slides, since you have them available for download.
V. Detailed Schedule
Week #1 (September 14): Introduction to critical analysis
No Readings - Please take notes
Week #2 (September 21): Biases I - Media & Frames
1.
Paul, R., and L. Elder. 2004. How to detect media bias and propaganda. Foundation of Critical Thinking: Dillon
Beach, CA. 2.
PRICE, VINCENT, DAVID TEWKSBURY, and ELIZABETH POWERS. 1997. “Switching Trains of Thought.”
Communication Research 24 (5) (October 1): 481 -506.
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
2
University of Denver - PPOL4400 - Autumn 2011
3.
Groseclose, T., and J. Milyo. 2005. A Measure of Media Bias*. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 120, no. 4:
1191–1237. 4.
Shapiro, Robert Y., and Yaeli Bloch-Elkon. 2008. “Do the facts speak for themselves? Partisan disagreement as a
challenge to democratic competence.” Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 20 (1): 115. doi:
10.1080/08913810802316373.
5.
OPTIONAL: Niven, David. 2005. Race, Quarterbacks, and the Media: Testing the Rush Limbaugh Hypothesis.
Journal of Black Studies 35, no. 5 (May): 684-694. Week #3 (September 28): Biases II - Narratives & Symbols
1.
King, Ronald F., and Thomas S. Langston. 2008. Narratives of American Politics. Perspectives on Politics 6, no.
02: 235-252. 2.
Patterson, M., and K. R Monroe. 1998. Narrative in political science. Annual Review of Political Science 1, no. 1:
315–331. 3.
Stone, D. 1997. Policy paradox: The art of policy decision making. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company. Chapter 6 - “Symbols”.
4.
Schuldt, Jonathon P., Sara H. Konrath, and Norbert Schwarz. 2011. “‘Global warming’ or ‘climate change’?
Whether the planet is warming depends on question wording.” Public Opinion Quarterly 75(1). http://
poq.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/02/21/poq.nfq073.abstract (Accessed March 3, 2011).
5.
Gilliam Jr, F. D. 1999. “The‘ Welfare Queen’ Experiment: How Viewers React to Images of African-American
Mothers.” Research on Media Coverage, Center for Communications and Community, Institute for Social
Science Research, UC Los Angeles. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/17m7r1rq.
Week #4 (October 5): Beyond “Regular” Bias
REMEMBER: Critique Paper due in class
1.
The Thinker’s Guide to Fallacies: The Art of Mental Trickery and Manipulation
2.
Manzi, Jim. 2010. “What Social Science Does--and Doesn’t--Know.” City Journal. http://www.city-journal.org/
2010/20_3_social-science.html.
3.
Arkes, Hal R., and Peter Ayton. 1999. “The sunk cost and Concorde effects: Are humans less rational than lower
animals?” Psychological Bulletin 125 (5): 591-600. Also: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/03/25/the-sunk-costfallacy/
4.
Munro, Geoffrey D. 2010. “The Scientific Impotence Excuse: Discounting Belief‐Threatening Scientific
Abstracts.” Journal of Applied Social Psychology 40 (3) (March 1): 579-600.
Week #5 (October 12): Bad Data, Bad Policy
1.
Just Plain Data Analysis: Gary M. Klass, Interpreting Data (Blackboard)
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
3
University of Denver - PPOL4400 - Autumn 2011
2.
Bryman, Alan. 2004. Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, USA. Chapter 3: The Nature of
Quantitative Research
3.
Darrell Huff, How To Lie With Statistics, Norton Press, 1993.
4.
Freed, David H. 2010. “Lies, Damned Lies, and Medical Science - Magazine - The Atlantic.” The Atlantic
(November 2010). http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/
8269/.
5.
OPTIONAL: Arnold Barnett. 1994, How Numbers are Tricking You.
Week #6 (October 19): Bad Data Applications
1.
De Rugy, Veronique, 2009. “The Myth of the Multiplier - Why the stimulus package hasn't reduced
unemployment”. Reason.com. November. The Myth of the Multiplier - Reason Magazine
2.
An Analysis of the Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women, CONSAD Research
Corporation for the US Department of Labor. 2009.
3.
Gordon, Robert J. 2009. “Misperceptions About the Magnitude and Timing of Changes in American Income
Inequality.” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series No. 15351. http://www.nber.org/
papers/w15351 (Accessed September 20, 2010).
Week #7 (October 26): Group Think / Consensus
1.
Klein, Daniel B., and Stern, Charlotta. 2009. Groupthink in Academia. The Independent Review, no. 2009
(February 11). http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=2434. 2.
Johnson, Simon, and James Kwak. 2010. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial
Meltdown. Pantheon. Chapter 4.
3.
Colander, D., H. F\öllmer, A. Haas, M. Goldberg, K. Juselius, A. Kirman, T. Lux, and B. Sloth. 2009. The
Financial Crisis and the Systemic Failure of Academic Economics. Kiel Working Papers. Kiel Working Papers
(February). 4.
Leaders: What went wrong with economics; Anonymous. The Economist. London: Jul 18, 2009. Vol. 392, Iss.
8640; pg. 11
5.
OPTIONAL: Williamson, J. 2009. A Short History of the Washington Consensus. Law & Bus. Rev. Am. 15: 7. Week #8 (November 2): Good Research and Policy Analysis
1.
Charles Ragin, Constructing Social Research, Ch. 3: The Process of Social Research
2.
Bardach, Part I, pp. 1-64 and OPTIONAL Part II and III pp. 65-110
3.
Joseph Henrich, Steven J. Heine, and Ara Norenzayan, “The weirdest people in the world?,” Behavioral and
Brain Sciences 33, no. 2-3 (June 2010): 61-83.
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
4
University of Denver - PPOL4400 - Autumn 2011
Week #9 (November 9): Why We Fail
Dietrich Dörner, The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations, Basic Books, 1996.
Week #10 (November 16): How do we apply all this policy analysis?
REMEMBER: Clipping Thesis due in class
1.
Cox, Wendell. 2009. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reality: Residential Emissions | Newgeography.com. New
Geography. April 8.
2.
Glaeser, E. L, and M. Kahn. 2008. The Greenness of Cities. Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston Policy Brief.
3.
Leslie Kaufman, “In Kansas, Climate Skeptics Embrace Green Energy,” The New York Times, October 18, 2010,
sec. Science / Environment, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/science/earth/19fossil.html?
em=&pagewanted=all.
4.
Robert A. Pape, “It’s the Occupation, Stupid,” Foreign Policy, October 18, 2010, http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
articles/2010/10/18/it_s_the_occupation_stupid.
5.
Paul M. Weyrich and William S. Lind (2001), Twelve Anti-Transit Myths: A Conservative Critique. A Study
Prepared by the Free Congress Research and Education Foundation
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 19: FINAL EXAM IN STURM HALL 380, 6PM-7:50PM
Please check Blackboard for details.
VI.Things You Need to Know / Policies
Academic Honesty: You are required to comply with the University’s honesty policy regarding cheating
and the use of copyrighted materials. The student honor code can be found at: http://www.du.edu/
facsen/honor_code.html.
Lateness/Courtesy: Please arrive on time. If you arrive late, please make sure you do not disrupt class
activities.
Preparedness: You should be prompt and prepared for class discussion. I am expecting you to complete
the reading assignments before class time.
Make-Up Policy: No make-ups. I have given you all important deadlines in advance, so please clear your
social calendars. It is your responsibility to modify your schedule to attend class and to complete your
work on time. The only exceptions for this policy are about medical or family emergencies.
Absences: All students are required to attend all classes. I will excuse students for emergencies and
sickness on case-by-case basis. More than one unexcused absence will cause a reduction of participation
grade.
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
5
University of Denver - PPOL4400 - Autumn 2011
Use of Technology: Please turn off your cell phones to avoid distracting your classmates. Use of laptop
computers is allowed for class-related tasks. If you use your cell phone or your computer in class for
non class-related tasks, I will ask you to leave the room.
Analytical and Critical Skills - Syllabus Autumn 2011
6