Marc Meredith

Current Courses

• PSCI3803 - Advanced Statistical Methods For Political Science

  The goal of this class is to build upon the content of PSCI 1801 and expose students to the process by which quantitative political science research is conducted, The class will take us down three separate, but related tracks. Before engaging in any statistical analysis, we must think about why we engaging in that analysis. Thus, the first track will cover the basics of research design. Topics discussed will include what makes a good model, the art of theory building, the difference between a theory and a hypothesis, and common research designs. The second track will cover several statistical techniques that are frequently used in quantitative political science research that build upon multivariate regression analysis. Two types of statistical techniques will be emphasized. The first half of the course will focus on important statistical concepts for conducting research using survey data. Topics we cover include sampling strategies, estimating uncertainty, non-response, measurement error, and working with categorical variables. The second half of the course will focus on methods for establishing causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. Topics we will cover include the potential outcomes framework, experiments, panel data, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity designs. Finally, we need to be able to communicate the results of our statistical analyses to interested consumers. Thus, track three will cover how we write-up the results of a statistical analysis. Students are expected to have taken PSCI 1801 or another course that covers multivariate regression analysis using R.

  PSCI3803001

• PSCI6801 - Statistical Analysis For Political Science Ii

  PSCI6801301

Past Courses

• CRIM4001 - Senior Research Thesis

  Senior Research Thesis is for senior Criminology majors only. Students are assigned advisors with assistance from the Undergraduate Chair.

• MLA6990 - Capstone Project

  Please be in touch with the department for further details

• PPE3002 - Public Policy Process

  This course introduces students to the theories and practice of the policy-making process. There are four primary learning objectives. First, understanding how the structure of political institutions matter for the policies that they produce. Second, recognizing the constraints that policy makers face when making decisions on behalf of the public. Third, identifying the strategies that can be used to overcome these constraints. Fourth, knowing the toolbox that is available to participants in the policy-making process to help get their preferred strategies implemented. While our focus will primarily be on American political institutions, many of the ideas and topics discussed in the class apply broadly to other democratic systems of government.

• PPE3999 - Independent Study

  Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

• PPE4998 - Directed Honors Research

  Student arranges with a Penn faculty member to do research and write a thesis on a suitable topic. For more information on honors visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/honors-theses

• PSCI0200 - Intro to Amer Politics

  This course is intended to introduce students to the national institutions and political processes of American government. What are the historical and philosophical foundations of the American Republic? How does American public policy get made, who makes it, and who benefits? Is a constitutional fabric woven in 1787 good enough for today? How, if at all, should American government be changed, and why? What is politics and why bother to study it? If these sorts of questions interest you, then this course will be a congenial home. It is designed to explore such questions while teaching students the basics of American politics and government.

• PSCI1200 - Public Policy Process

  This course introduces students to the theories and practice of the policy-making process. There are four primary learning objectives. First, understanding how the structure of political institutions matter for the policies that they produce. Second, recognizing the constraints that policy makers face when making decisions on behalf of the public. Third, identifying the strategies that can be used to overcome these constraints. Fourth, knowing the toolbox that is available to participants in the policy-making process to help get their preferred strategies implemented. While our focus will primarily be on American political institutions, many of the ideas and topics discussed in the class apply broadly to other democratic systems of government.

• PSCI1801 - Statistical Methods Psci

  This course is designed as a follow-up to PSCI 1800. In that class students learn a great deal about how to work with individual data sets in R: cleaning, tidying, merging, describing and visualizing data. PSCI 1801 shifts focus to the ultimate goal of data science: making inferences about the world based on the small sample of data that we have. Using a methodology that emphasizes intuition and simulation over mathematics, this course will cover the key statistical concepts of probability, sampling, distributions, hypothesis testing, and covariance. The ultimate goal of the class is for students to have the knowledge and ability to perform, customize, and explain bivariate and multivariate regression. Students who have not taken PSCI-1800 should have basic familiarity with R, including working with vectors and matrices, basic summary statistics, visualizations, and for() loops.

• PSCI3803 - Advanced Stat Methods PSCI

  The goal of this class is to build upon the content of PSCI 1801 and expose students to the process by which quantitative political science research is conducted, The class will take us down three separate, but related tracks. Before engaging in any statistical analysis, we must think about why we engaging in that analysis. Thus, the first track will cover the basics of research design. Topics discussed will include what makes a good model, the art of theory building, the difference between a theory and a hypothesis, and common research designs. The second track will cover several statistical techniques that are frequently used in quantitative political science research that build upon multivariate regression analysis. Two types of statistical techniques will be emphasized. The first half of the course will focus on important statistical concepts for conducting research using survey data. Topics we cover include sampling strategies, estimating uncertainty, non-response, measurement error, and working with categorical variables. The second half of the course will focus on methods for establishing causal relationship between independent and dependent variables. Topics we will cover include the potential outcomes framework, experiments, panel data, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity designs. Finally, we need to be able to communicate the results of our statistical analyses to interested consumers. Thus, track three will cover how we write-up the results of a statistical analysis. Students are expected to have taken PSCI 1801 or another course that covers multivariate regression analysis using R.

• PSCI4991 - Selected Topics

  Consult department for detailed descriptions. Recent topics include: Globalization; Race & Criminal Justice; Democracy & Markets in Postcommunist Europe.

• PSCI4999 - Honors Thesis

  This is the honors independent study portion of the PSCI honors program. Students may apply for the program in the spring of their junior year.

• PSCI5991 - Selected Topics

  Consult department for detailed descriptions. More than one course may be taken in a given semester. Recent titles have included: Race Development and American International Relations, Hegel and Marx, and Logic of the West.

Knowledge @ Wharton

• What Joann’s Closing Says About the State of Retail, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/18/2025
• Do Sin Taxes Actually Work? | Ben Lockwood, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/18/2025
• Eliminating Taxes on Social Security Benefits: Who Gains and Who Loses?, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/17/2025
• Why Google Dominates the Search Engine Market, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/17/2025
• Lessons from COVID-19: Health Care’s Progress and Shortcomings Five Years Later, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/12/2025
• How COVID-19 Changed the World, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• How Tax Credits in Renewable Energy Finance Distort Outcomes, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• Why Hybrid Intelligence Is the Future of Human-AI Collaboration, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• The Psychology of Paying Taxes | Alex Rees-Jones, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/11/2025
• How Tariffs Are Reshaping Aviation: Supply Chains, Costs, and Consumers, Knowledge @ Wharton - 03/07/2025