Political Science in America: Oral Histories of a Discipline

Few academic disciplines have recorded their own origins and development in an organized way. The American Political Science Association, in cooperation with Pi Sigma Alpha, the political science honor society, and the University of Kentucky, have undertaken an extensive oral history project, the aim of which is to trace and record the growth of the discipline. The program has made it possible to amass hours of interviews with women and men who have influenced the study of political science. Political Science in America contains interviews with fifteen major figures who speak frankly about the intellectual and institutional roots of political science and trace its evolution. Through their words, we learn what it was like to be a part of the earliest Ph.D. programs and to work with early leaders. We discover how these leaders became interested in political science, what roles they played in building departments and research organizations, and what they learned from participation in government and politics. They discuss their own contributions and offer opinions on some of the major conflicts that have divided the discipline. Particularly enlightening are their varied perspectives on the growth of the behavioral movement in political science over the past fifty years. This book is of interest to all political scientists as a historical perspective on their discipline. Michael A. Baer is professor of political science and provost of Northeastern University. Malcolm E. Jewell is professor of political science at the University of Kentucky and director of the political science oral history program. Lee Sigelman is professor of political science and dean of the faculty of social and behavioral sciences at the University of Arizona.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_political_science_american_politics/1018/thumbnail.jp

Estimation of a regression spline sample selection model

It is often the case that an outcome of interest is observed for a restricted non-randomly selected sample of the population. In such a situation, standard statistical analysis yields biased results. This issue can be addressed using sample selection models which are based on the estimation of two regressions: a binary selection equation determining whether a particular statistical unit will be available in the outcome equation. Classic sample selection models assume a priori that continuous regressors have a pre-specified linear or non-linear relationship to the outcome, which can lead to erroneous conclusions. In the case of continuous response, methods in which covariate effects are modeled flexibly have been previously proposed, the most recent being based on a Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. A frequentist counterpart which has the advantage of being computationally fast is introduced. The proposed algorithm is based on the penalized likelihood estimation framework. The construction of confidence intervals is also discussed. The empirical properties of the existing and proposed methods are studied through a simulation study. The approaches are finally illustrated by analyzing data from the RAND Health Insurance Experiment on annual health expenditures

Cross-ethnic friendships: Are they really rare? Evidence from secondary schools around London

This study examined current cross-ethnic friendship patterns in secondary schools around London, UK, and the effects of ethnic group and ethnic diversity on cross-ethnic friendship selection and quality. Questionnaires including self-report ethnic group definitions and measures of same-/cross-ethnic friendship numbers, along with the quality of 3 best cross-ethnic friends, were distributed to 684 Year 7 (aged 11) British students (256 White European, 63 Middle Easterner, 118 Black, 247 South Asian) recruited from 9 multi-ethnic secondary schools (37 classrooms) in Greater London. In contrast to most previous research which suggested the relative rarity of cross-ethnic friendships, findings showed that cross-ethnic friendships were in fact frequent and of high quality, outnumbering same-ethnic friendships for all ethnic groups. After controlling for gender, classroom gender composition, SES, percentage of available same-ethnic peers, ethnic identity and perceived ethnic discrimination, classroom ethnic diversity still had a marginally positive effect on cross-ethnic friendship selection, but had no effect on cross-ethnic friendship quality. White British children reported higher cross-ethnic friendship selection and lower cross-ethnic friendship quality compared to other ethnic groups, but this depended on classroom ethnic diversity. Implications of the findings are discussed in the light of intergroup contact and friendship formation theories. We conclude that research on cross-ethnic friendships is crucial in providing insights into how intergroup relationships are formed during early adolescence in modern multiethnic settings like London secondary schools