Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science - Political Methodology

The Political Methodology field at Wisconsin is broadly defined. It includes training in qualitative and quantitative design, empirical theory, statistical methods and formal theory. As a consequence, Wisconsin students are unusually well trained in the entire field and are prepared to both teach and apply methodologies in all empirical fields of the discipline. The study of, and testing in, methods is not isolated from work in substantive fields, and the exam requires students to be able to apply the methodological questions (theory and technique) to the student’s substantive area in an intelligent way.

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution or a comparable degree from an international institution is required. International applicants must have a degree comparable to a regionally accredited U.S. bachelor’s degree. You must have completed your undergraduate degree, or similar, before starting graduate school. A minimum undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.00 on the equivalent of the last 60 credit hours (approximately two years of work) or a master’s degree with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required. The Graduate School will take into consideration different grade scales from institutions that do not have 4.00 scales (e.g., institutions outside the United States of America).