Laura Roselle is Professor of Political Science at Elon University and teaches international relations, comparative politics, political communication, and senior seminars in political science and international studies.

Sharon Spray is Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies at Elon University and teaches courses on global environmental challenges and international environmental policy.

Research and Writing in International Relationsoffers the step-by-step guidance and the essential resources needed to compose political science papers that go beyond description and into systematic and sophisticated inquiry. This text focuses on areas where students often need help--finding a topic, developing a question, reviewing the literature, designing research, and last, writing the paper. Including current and detailed coverage on how to start research in the discipline's major subfields, Research and Writing in International Relations gives students a classroom-tested approach that leads to better research and writing in introductory and advanced courses.

Preface ix
The Research and Writing Process 1
Topic Selection and Question Development 5
Choosing a Topic 6
Writing an Initial Subtopic Question 8
Defining Variables 11
Researching Your Dependent Variable Beyond the Textbook 13
Frequently Asked Questions 14
Exercises for Chapter 1 15
Scholarly Literature and the Literature Review 17
Getting Started on Your Literature Review 18
Peer-Reviewed Books 19
Edited Books 20
Electronic Sources 20
Scholarly Journals 20
How to Search the Literature 23
Finding Scholarly Journal Articles 23
Searching for Scholarly Books 28
Using a Review of the Literature to Shape Your Project 28
How to Read a Scholarly Journal 30
Frequently Asked Questions 33
Exercises for Chapter 2 34
Project Definition and Systematic Investigation 35
Project Frameworks 36
Choosing Independent Variables and Hypotheses 37
Choosing Cases for Research 38
Defining andOperationalizing Your Independent Variables 42
Collecting Evidence 46
Frequently Asked Questions 48
Exercises for Chapter 3 49
Analysis and Writing 51
An Overview of the Writing Process 51
Writing Each Section of Your Research Paper 54
The Abstract 55
The Introduction 56
The Literature Review 57
The Research Design (Methodology) 62
Discussing Hypotheses 63
Discussing Measurement and Sources of Data or Information 64
The Case Presentation, Analysis, and Discussion of Findings 65
Analyzing Data 66
Discussing Hypotheses 68
The Conclusion 69
The Bibliography or Reference List 69
Frequently Asked Questions 70
Exercises for Chapter 4 70
Project Resources 73
International Conflict and Military Force 75
Types of Conflict 76
Levels of Violence 78
Types of Intervention 80
Actors and Interstate Conflict 81
Conflict Resolution 83
Terrorism 85
General Data Sources for Choosing Cases and Gathering Evidence 87
Foreign Policy 89
Individual Characteristics 90
State-Level Analyses 93
Bureaucratic Politics 94
Public Opinion 96
Interest Groups 98
General Data Sources for Choosing Cases and Gathering Evidence 99
International Cooperation and International Law 101
Issue Areas 101
Environmental Treaties 102
Human Rights 104
War Crimes 105
Actors 106
Joining International Governmental Organizations 106
States as UN Members 108
General Data Sources for Choosing Cases and Gathering Evidence 109
International Political Economy, Globalization, and Development 111
IPE and the Role of International Actors 111
Multinational Corporations 112
The World Trade Organization 113
The Role of People in Globalization and Development 115
National Identity 116
Gender 117
General Data Sources for Choosing Cases and Gathering Evidence 119
Writing Resources 121
Organizing Sources and Notes 123
Using Note Cards 124
Using a Written or Electronic Journal 126
Using Software 127
More Suggestions for Keeping Track of Resources 127
Keeping Track of Print Resources 127
Keeping Track of Web Resources 129
Citing Sources 131
Avoiding Plagiarism 131
General Rules for What to Cite 131
Turabian Style 133
The Basic Citation for a Book 133
Using Parenthetical Citations 134
Using Footnotes 134
Hard Cases 135
Component Parts 135
Secondary Sources of Quotations 136
APA Style 136
Citations for Online Sources 137
Remember the Basics 138
Following Style Guidelines 141
Academic Writing 141
Gender-Neutral Terminology 141
General Rules on Capitalization for Leaders' Titles 142
Parties, the Constitution, and Treaties 143
Proper Nouns and Adjectives 143
Titles of Newspapers 144
Foreign Words 144
Recommended Writing and Style Manuals 145
References 147
Index 157