Transcript Slide 1

AP® Comparative Government and
Politics: The Use of Data in Making
Comparisons Among Nation States
with Suzanne Bailey
2/16/10
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Today’s Presenter
Suzanne Bailey
AP® Government and Politics Teacher
Member of the Development Committee for
Government and Politics: Comparative
Question Leader for the Exam Reading
2006 recipient of the Presidential Scholar
Teacher Recognition Award.
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Learning Objectives
At the close of this workshop participants will:
• have identified those concepts in the AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics Course
Outline are measurable by data.
• know how to locate recent data that measure core
concepts and country traits.
• know how to develop strategies for teaching students
to analyze and interpret data relevant to the study of
comparative politics.
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Learning Objectives
At the close of this workshop participants will:
• know how to aid students in interpreting the
implications of data.
• be able to apply data analysis techniques to recent
AP ® Comparative Government and Politics exam
questions.
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Session Topics
• Why is the use of data so important in AP ® Comparative
Government and Politics?
• What concepts from AP® Comparative Government and
Politics can be analyzed using data?
• What do students need to do with the data?
• Examples from the Curriculum Outline.
• Strategies for teaching students how to analyze and
interpret data.
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Session Topics
• How will students be assessed on their data
knowledge on the AP exam?
• AP ® Data Challenges
• The application of a data analysis technique to recent
AP Comparative Government and Politics exam
questions.
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Why is the use of data in AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics
so important?
According to the Course Outline, it is a major
goal of the course.
“Students successfully completing this course
will be able to analyze and interpret data
relevant to comparative government and
politics.”
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Why is the use of data in AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics
so important?
In addition, it is impossible to accomplish the other goals of
the course without data.
Students successfully completing this course will:
• understand major comparative political concepts, themes, and
generalizations.
• have knowledge of important facts pertaining to the
governments and politics of China, Great Britain, Iran, Mexico,
Nigeria, and Russia.
• be able to compare and contrast political institutions and
processes across countries and to derive generalizations.
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Why is the use of data in AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics
so important?
It is the best way to help students meet the challenge of
thinking like a political scientist, especially one interested in
comparative politics. Political Science is divided into many
subfields. Three common introductory ones are:
• American Government and Politics: The study of the political
system in the U.S.
• International Relations: The study of interactions between
international states.
• Comparative Government and Politics: The study of
conceptual differences between and similarities among types
of political systems.
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Why is the use of data in AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics
so important?
As Chief Reader Jean Robinson states in the “AP
Comparative Government and Politics Teachers Guide “
(p.3):
“We do need to help students master knowledge about the
particulars of countries and nations, but we also need to
help them develop the analytical skills to make
comparisons and generalize from these discrete sets of
facts and observations.”
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Why is the use of data in AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics
so important?
Data study allows students the opportunity to analyze
measurable concepts and evaluate patterns and trends of
political behavior, both higher order thinking skills.
This process is more engaging than memorizing facts and
encourages students to apply scientific methods of inquiry
to challenging problems facing the global community.
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What concepts can be analyzed using data?
To determine which data sets my students need to study,
start with the Course Description outline.
•
Identify which concepts are measurable.
• The key is to look at quantifiable outcomes of a
clearly defined concept.
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What concepts can be analyzed using data?
For example:
Legitimacy is the popularly accepted use of power by a
government. It is a difficult concept to measure. Lack of
legitimacy is probably easier to identify but still hard to
quantify.
On the other hand, development refers to the level of wellbeing of a state. It is often measured by Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), a common indicator of the wealth of an
economy.
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What concepts can be analyzed using data?
Actively search for comparative data in textbooks, journals,
news articles, and websites.
• Look for empirical (quantitative, factual) data from
reliable sources.
• Enhance with qualitative examples.
• Challenge your students with normative (involving value
judgments and ethics) questions.
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What do students need to do with the data?
They need to be able to:
• Identify which comparative concept can be measured
with the data.
• Analyze the type of data given: source, quantity,
direction, classification.
• Assess the relationships between the variables: direct
or indirect correlation, causal.
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations.
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Identify the concept: State
• The AP® Comparative Government and Politics “Six”:
China
Great Britain
Iran
Mexico
Nigeria
Russia
• Define the concept: Organization with monopoly of force over a
given territory.
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Find factual data on the territory:
•
It is helpful to include geographical bounding
• http://www.worldmapper.org/
• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/
• http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Introduction to Comparative Politics
Marshall evidence to document and support generalizations:
• What geographic challenges does the state face?
• What links can the student make between geography and
historical challenges faced by the state?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
• Identify concept: Political Culture
• Define concept: Shared attitudes about government
• Find factual data on political attitudes: Need to look at
survey data.
•http://pewglobal.org/
•http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline.
Sovereignty, Authority, and Power
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations:
• What survey evidence could be used to measure
legitimacy?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political Institutions
• Identify concept: Election systems
• Define concept: A set of rules for translating votes into
political office positions.
• Find factual data on social capital:
• http://www.electionguide.org/
• http://www.idea.int/
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political Institutions
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations:
• What connections can be made between political
culture and types of election systems?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Citizens, Society, and the State
• Identify concept: Social capital
• Define concept: The value of connections between
individuals in a society.
• Find factual data on social capital:
• http://www.hks.harvard.edu/saguaro/
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Citizens, Society, and the State
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations:
• Why is social capital being measured primarily in
postindustrial democracies?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political and Economic Change
• Identify concept: Development
• Define concept: The level of well-being of a state.
• Find factual data on social capital:
• Wealth: http://www.worldbank.org/
• Standard of living: http://www.undp.org/
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political and Economic Change
Development
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations:
• What are the best indicators to use to assess a state’s
level of development?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political and Economic Change
• Identify concept: Democracy
• Define concept: Government by the people.
• Find factual data on social capital:
• http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm
• http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=1
• http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_i
ndices/cpi/2009
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Political and Economic Change
Democracy
• Marshall evidence to document and support
generalizations:
• What are the best indicators to use to assess a state’s
level of democracy?
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Public Policy
Discussion of public policy allows for evaluation of the
relationships between concepts.
For example:
“One of the most interesting debates in comparative political
economy pertains to the impact of political regime types on
development.”
Laurence Saez and Julia Gallaher, “Authoritarianism and Development in the Third
World,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Spring/Summer 2009, Volume XV, Issue II.
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Examples from the Curriculum Outline
Public Policy
Question:
“What do you think is the role of economic growth in
democratization? Do you think economic growth promotes
democracy, democracy promotes economic growth, or some
mixture thereof?”
From an interview with The Brown Journal of World Affairs and Larry Diamond, Senior
Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Spring/Summer 2009, Volume XV, Issue
II.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
Why should I use these debates and questions in an
introductory classroom?
• It is essential to use these types of questions to engage
student interest and to have them think like political
scientists.
• Debating and discussing real life issues require students to
employ their knowledge of comparative concepts and to
utilize data to substantiate their findings on patterns of
political behavior.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
What strategies can I use to help my students understand the
data/conceptual relationships?
Students should analyze and manipulate concepts individually first.
• Students should precisely define the concept.
• Students should identify a concrete measure for that concept.
• Students should explain how that measure is computed.
• Students should analyze the strengths and limitations of the
measure.
• Students should use data to support generalizations about the
concept.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
What strategies can I use to help my students understand the
data/conceptual relationships?
Strategies Example:
• Economic Development: level of well-being of the economy of a
state
• Most used measures: GDP, GDP per capita (PPP), % of labor in
agriculture
• GDP: Gross Domestic Product is the total market value of goods
and services produced within a country over a period of 1 year,
usually computed by economic institutions within a country.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
What strategies can I use to help my students understand the
data/conceptual relationships?
Strategies Example:
• GDP is the measure of the overall wealth of a country. It is,
however, only a measure of reported market transactions of
finished goods and services. It doesn’t take into account black
market transactions, economic growth, social development
indicators, or the cost of negative externalities. But when
adjusted per person (capita) and compared to other countries
buying power (PPP), it is a helpful indicator of development. On
the other hand, what GDP does not indicate is how the wealth is
distributed among the population. For that information, it is best
to use the GINI index as an indicator.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
How can students visualize this data to enhance understanding?
One of the most extraordinary tools that students can
use to manipulate data is located at the website:
www.gapminder.org
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
What strategies can I use to help my students understand the
data/conceptual relationships?
Strategies Example:
What examples can students give that higher GDP measures
equate with greater development?
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
What is the relationship between economic development and
democracy? (It depends!)
“Specific political regime does not guarantee specific types of
developmental outcomes.”
Example: Africa
Measures used: Low Freedom House score = Low Development
Polity IV = 1980s
Thirty-three to thirty-five African countries were autocracies. With
increased electoral democracies, the states have not seen
significant development changes. “Key is state strength.”
Lawrence Saez and Julia Gallaher, “Authoritarianism and Development in
the Third World,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Spring/Summer 2009,
Volume XV, Issue II.
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
International consensus on economic development and
democracy = governance.
What is Governance?
Governance consists of the traditions and institutions by which
authority in a country is exercised. This includes the process by
which governments are selected, monitored and replaced; the
capacity of the government to effectively formulate and implement
sound policies; and the respect of citizens and the state for the
institutions that govern economic and social interactions among
them.
See World Governance Indicators:
http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/index.asp
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Strategies for teaching students how to
analyze and interpret data.
. International consensus on economic development and
democracy = Millennium Development Goals
United Nations Development Programme
Millennium Development Goals
http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml
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How will students be assessed on their
data knowledge on the AP® Exam?
Students will use their data analysis skills on both the multiple choice and
essay portions of the AP Comparative Government and Politics Exam.
In each case, students who know their concepts and what
measurements can be used to analyze those concepts will be
successful especially if they understand the challenges of gathering
data and the limitations in generating conclusions.
The key to data analysis is precision. For example, a student
cannot classify the economic development level of a state using the
GINI Index. The GINI Index measures distribution of wealth in a
society. Both Sweden and the United States are highly developed
postindustrial states, yet they have very different GINI Index scores.
Their economic development level is better explained using GDP
data.
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AP ® Data Challenges
Any level of analysis using data requires a student to follow certain
steps to come to a correct conclusion. Students must carefully take
note of the data offered and the task that is required.
For example: Students may be asked to:
• Define the purpose of a specific measure.
• Distinguish between empirical data and a normative statement.
• Identify a direct or inverse correlation between variables.
• Explain the relationship between two concepts.
• Assess voter opinion from survey data.
• Distinguish between correlation and causation.
• Read a table, chart or graph and convey its results.
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AP ® Data Challenges
The key for all of these is for the student to be precise in following
the prompt and in analysis of the data.
THIS REQUIRES PRACTICE!!
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population v. Population Growth
One important concept for students to understand is the
difference between population and population growth. Both
have an impact on the state in that each poses different
challenges for a government to deal with effectively.
Population size and composition affect current allocation of
resources, while population growth offers future societal
challenges, in addition to being a useful indicator of
development.
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population v. Population Growth
Step One:
• Identify and define the concept from the Curriculum Outline.
• Population is the number of people living in a state.
• Population growth is the rate at which a state’s population changes in
a given year.
Step Two:
• Identify how the concept is measured and find the data:
• Census data and statistical modeling are used to determine this
information.
See: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Step Three:
• What are the pre-test student expectations?
• Generate data:
• population #’s,
• population growth #’s
• population pyramids
•
Have students manipulate the data—either put in another form,
combine information, particularly with development data (GDP per
capita (PPP)).
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Step Four:
• Use inquiry based questions to facilitate discussion(whole class or
small group) on generalizations that can be made from population
and population growth data.
For example: Countries with low economic development tend to have
younger populations with higher population growth. This challenges the
state to deal with issues of overpopulation, educational opportunities,
job creation, emigration and unrest. On the other hand, developed
countries tend to have older populations with lower population growth
resulting from increased job opportunities and education for women.
This challenges the state to deal with issues of an aging population,
retirement benefits, and economic growth potential.
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Step Five:
• Use AP GOPO countries as case studies to bring qualitative analysis
to the quantitative data discussion.
For example:
• How has China been able to bring its population growth rate down?
What future challenges does the state face?
• How has Iran been able to bring its population growth rate down?
What future challenges does the state face?
• Why is Russia experiencing negative population growth? What
challenges does the state face?
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
See these articles:
• China’s Break Dancing Grandma:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4424789.stm
• Russia’s Vodka Habit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/world/europe/03alcohol.html?_r=1
See these videos:
• Russian Nashi Weddings:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/russia703/video/video_index.html
• Iranian Condom Factories:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=iranian+condom+factories&search_type=&aq=f
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Multiple Choice Example: (from the Course Description)
1) In the developed and developing worlds, respectively, the greatest
demographic pressures on policy come from which of the following?
Developed
Developing
Gender Imbalances
Aging
Aging
Overpopulation
Emigration
Immigration
Overpopulation
High Death Rates
High Birth Rates
Emigration
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Multiple Choice Example: (from the 2006 Released Exam)
2) The most common strategy adopted by developing countries to deal
with the problem of population growth is:
a) Establishing policies that seek to reduce fertility rates
b) Closing their borders
c) Encouraging students studying abroad not to return home
d) Reducing the size of their urban areas
e) Redistributing economic resources to produce equality
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Essay Question Example: (2009 FRQ 2) Reference the graph below.
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Essay Question Example: (2009 FRQ 2)
Population growth rate is defined as the average annual percent change in
the population resulting from a surplus or deficit of births over deaths.
A. Describe one trend shown in the graph for Iran and describe one trend
shown in the graph for China.
B. Explain one policy Iran has used to address population growth issues.
Explain one policy China has used to address population growth issues.
C. Explain why both Iran and China pursued population growth policies.
D. Describe one social or economic consequence of manipulating population
growth rates.
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AP ® Data Challenges
Example: Population and Population Growth
Essay Question Example: (2009 FRQ 2)
AP Central Scoring Guideline and Sample FRQs for #8 2009:
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repository/ap09_comp_gopo_q8.pdf
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Learning Objectives
Participants now:
• have identified those concepts in the AP ®
Comparative Government and Politics Course
Outline are measurable by data.
• know how to locate recent data that measure core
concepts and country traits.
• know how to develop strategies for teaching students
to analyze and interpret data relevant to the study of
comparative politics.
www.collegeboard.com
Learning Objectives
Participants now:
• know how to aid students in interpreting the
implications of data.
• be able to apply data analysis techniques to recent
AP ® Comparative Government and Politics exam
questions.
www.collegeboard.com
Question and Answer
Please raise your hand and then type
your question in the Chat box.
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Thanks to Our Presenter
Suzanne Bailey
[email protected]
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Evaluation
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Ot1vjg_3d_3d
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