“Without data, you're just another person with an opinion.” ~W. Edwards Deming

This class will introduce students to political analytics – techniques of data collection and quantitative analysis that scholars and policy-makers use to make sense of the world around us. As W. Edwards Deming said, “without data, you're just another person with an opinion.” While graduate programs and employers increasingly prize advanced quantitative analysis and coding skills, relatively few social science majors receive this training. Many arrive at IU believing that they are “no good at math.” Our goal is to get you to reconsider that conclusion and to get excited about learning these skills.

The substantive focus of the class will be scientific research onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is a symbol of what is possible when two nations, formerly competitors, decide to work together. Perhaps if cooperation can be achieved here, then it is possible elsewhere. The good feelings these sentiments express do not do justice to the difficulties encountered when organizations with divergent cultures and approaches are forced to collaborate. They also sidestep the question of whether cooperation on the ISS has produced identifiable benefits to offset its enormous cost – a particularly timely question as NASA assesses plans to continue ISS operations past 2025 amid competition for funding and deteriorating relations with a key ISS partner, Russia.

GenEd Information: Approved for the Social & Historical Studies requirement of the IU Bloomington General Education program.

Catalog Information: COLL-S 104 FRESHMAN SEMINAR IN S & H