The second edition of this widely used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations; of their interrelationship; and of ethical issues in research. Illustrated throughout with boxed examples of real political research, the book ranges widely from substantial coverage of statistical methods to the use of archives, interviews, discourse analysis and the internet. Two additional chapters in the second edition focus on the relationship between research and policy and the lessons for researchers from the study of elections in the US and UK.

Critics of referendums often lament that big money may buy success at the ballot box. But spending by interest groups may also be informative for citizens. This can only happen, however, if the financing of referendum campaigns is regulated. This book offers an overview of these regulations and presents research on their effects.

The second edition of this widely used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the main research methods employed in the study of politics and assessment of their strengths and limitations; of their interrelationship; and of ethical issues in research. Illustrated throughout with boxed examples of real political research, the book ranges widely from substantial coverage of statistical methods to the use of archives, interviews, discourse analysis and the internet. Two additional chapters in the second edition focus on the relationship between research and policy and the lessons for researchers from the study of elections in the US and UK.