Programme overview

The module has two central aims:

• To help you understand what brings democracy about (and what doesn't)
• To provide you with the necessary tools to find the answers to these questions empirically

As such, the module will place great importance on the research process which will ultimately allow you to produce your own research project. Empirical analysis itself is understood to be exclusively quantitative on this module, and regardless of whether you have had previous training in quantitative methods, you will be able follow and understand the content of the module.

Module objectives

• Introduce students to different theories of democratisation
• Provide an introduction to the application and interpretation of the most commonly used quantitative methods in democratisation studies
• Introduce students to the analysis of time-series, cross-sectional (TSCS) data
• Allow students to apply quantitative methods to substantive questions of democratisation studies
• Introduce students to the research process
• Provide students with introductory to intermediate data management and analysis skills in R