这课程提供大量有关民意文献的导读。在接下来的十二个星期内，我们会检视政治行为范畴中主要的理论方法和经验研究（但我们只会略为讨论政治参与和投票）。虽然部份读物内容是和其他国家比较，但大部份课程乃着重于美国的民意。

研讨课会集中详尽分析每星期的指定书目。虽然我希望大部份课堂时间是用于小组讨论，但我一般会先谈论这些每周书目。研讨课结束前，我会简单介绍下星期的书目－简短叙述并提出一些议题让大家思考。

每星期，班上一半同学要递交不隔行的单页短文、内容针对这星期的书目的回应。短文应涉及多本指定读物，举例来说，可包括以下一种或多种的内容：并列和评论一个独立主题的不同解释和处理方法；批评所采用的方法和提出其他研究策略；批评某一架构的概念化内容和其量化手法；分析一组数据的含意；提出研究的新题目或假定；对看过文献中的论点展现你的赞同或反对的论证或研究。一般而言，论文要有论点，而非文献摘要或描述。短文应在星期一中午前递交，我会在星期二的课程最后提出评语和发还短文。短文是研讨课的起点。

评分

你的评分包括短文的成绩（25%），课堂参与（参与的质和量，也是25%）和学期末的论文（50%）。期末论文有不同形式：自选题目的标准文献评论；原创的实证研究报告；甚至是毕业论文的初稿。学期稍后时，我将再多提供一些论文的细节。

This course provides an introduction to the vast literature devoted to public opinion. In the next 12 weeks, we will survey the major theoretical approaches and empirical research in the field of political behavior (though we will only tangentially discuss political participation and voting). For the most part we will focus on American public opinion, though some of the work we will read is comparative in nature.

Each seminar will center on a critical analysis of the assigned readings for the week. Although I hope that much of our class time will be spent in group discussion, I will typically open with a commentary on the week's readings. At the end of each seminar I will introduce the next week’s readings – describing them briefly and suggesting issues for you to think about.

Each week, one-half of the class will be required to write a short essay responding to the week's readings, no longer than one single-spaced page. These essays should try to engage a number of the week’s readings, by, for example, doing one or more of the following: juxtaposing and commenting on alternative explanations or approaches to a substantive topic; criticizing the methodologies used and proposing other strategies of research; criticizing the conceptualization and/or measurement of a particular construct; analyzing the implications of a set of findings; suggesting new questions or hypotheses for research; developing similarities and contrasts with arguments or research found in the readings from previous weeks. More generally, these papers should contain an argument, not a summary or description of the readings. These papers should be turned in to me no later than noon on the Monday before the scheduled Tuesday meeting. I will comment on them and turn them back at the end of Tuesday’s session. These essays will serve as the starting point for our discussion.

Grades

Your grade will depend on your performance on these papers (25%), your participation in class discussions (quality of participation weighted by volume of participation, another 25%), and a term paper due at the end of the term (50%). This paper may take several forms: a standard literature review on a topic of your choosing; a report of original empirical research; even a first run at a dissertation prospectus. I will provide more details about this paper later in the term.