Assignment NO:1

Here are the two arguments for which you are going to write responses. Make sure that you read very carefully and understand each argument. Remember how we analyzed arguments in class:

• Find the assumption
• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the assumption. Remember, there is no right or wrong answers here. You can trust the assumption or not depending on your own interpretation.
• Discuss what happens if the assumption is wrong
• Find the warranted and unwarranted claims.
• Discuss what happens if unwarranted claims are incorrect and whether you have enough reason to be suspicious.
• Discuss what evidence you need to evaluate the argument, what evidence would prove this argument useless / wrong and what evidence would support the argument.
• Conclude with a general assessment of the argument.

TOPIC 1

According to the Worldbank statistics (Statistics yearbook, 2010) 50 wealthiest countries in the world are also among the most democratic. Apart from oil rich Arab countries all rich countries also tend to be democratic, respectful of human rights and freedom of speech. On the other hand, most of the poorer countries in the world, the so called third world, are also among the most authoritarian regimes including some dictatorships. In democratic countries some key indicators of human development such as life expectancy, education levels, violence against women are also better than non-democratic countries. These observations led some researchers to argue that there is a direct relationship between democracy and development. Therefore, the Worldbank and the United Nations should devote more resources promoting democracy in order to facilitate economic development in the world.

TOPIC 2

 "Several recent surveys indicate that home owners are increasingly eager to conserve energy. At the same time, manufacturers are now marketing many home appliances, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, that are almost twice as energy efficient as those sold a decade ago. Also, new technologies for better home insulation and passive solar heating are readily available to reduce the energy needed for home heating. Therefore, the total demand for electricity in our area will not increase—and may decline slightly. Since our three electric generating plants in operation for the past twenty years have always met our needs, construction of new generating plants will not be necessary."

No Class - 23 October 2012, Tuesday

IREU 150 Sections 1 and 2 will not meet on 23 October Tuesday. A make-up class will be arranged later in the semester.

I am sorry for informing you so late but it was decided only very recently.

Note: This applies only to IREU 150 and not other courses. University is open and classes will take place on Monday and Tuesday.

Week 3-4 Reading Links revised

I have changed the way I post readings. Now you can directly click on the links and the link will direct you to the files and not to a download website. This seems to be the easiest way.


Experimental Methodology in Political Science, by Rebecca Morton

This is an essential reading for all Political Science and International Relations students. Not many social scientists actually run experiments but all empirical methods are based on the logic behind experiments. So, read this as carefully as you can

Causation: A unified framework for social scientists, by John Gerring

This is the essential material for week 4. Gerring discusses different forms and shapes of causal relationships. This is a relatively hard reading. Do not try to memorize everything. Just read it once and try to grasp the main idea.

Week 3 Lecture Presentation

The presentation for Week 3 - Causal Inference can be downloaded from the following link:

Week 3 - Causal Inference I

This will not take you to a download site. It will directly take you to the PDF file.

Week 3-4 - Causal Inference - Finding Causes and Isolating Effects

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