Understand the state panel, read a full profile, and distinguish raw counts from derived percentages.
Political science relies on empirical research — the systematic collection and analysis of real-world evidence to answer questions about politics and society. Rather than relying on intuition or ideology, empirical researchers gather data, test hypotheses, and draw conclusions that others can verify and replicate. In this course you will learn the quantitative methods that underpin modern political science, using U.S. state-level data as your laboratory.
The 50 U.S. states are an ideal unit of analysis for learning research methods. They share a common legal framework and data infrastructure — all reporting to the U.S. Census Bureau — yet vary enormously on outcomes like poverty, education, income, and political culture. This variation is the raw material of causal inference. When we ask 'Why is Mississippi's poverty rate three times higher than New Hampshire's?' we are asking a research question that methods can help answer.
EasyStates is the data platform built into this course. It provides annual state-level data from the American Community Survey (ACS) for all 50 states, covering 2012–2024. Two core functions you will use throughout the course: fetchProfile(state, year) — returns a full demographic and economic profile for one state in one year.fetchAllStates(variable, year) — returns that variable's value for all 50 states, useful for ranking and comparison.