George Beam - Böcker

Politics and the study of politics are at a watershed. They are deficient because they fail to respond to fundamental crises in our society, fail to incorporate new knowledge from other fields of study, and fail to allow citizens to function as mature human beings shaping their own destiny. Political Action demonstrates the need for a new political science which, in turn, may lead to a new politics more adequate to the problems of this era.Modern political science, as currently studied and practiced, is irrelevant for both public officials and citizens because it fails to focus on political action. Simpson and Beam provide a methodology for the study of political action and demonstrate how the study of political action using these methods provides a better understanding of politics and how these methods aid in identifying effective strategies for building a better America.Without a new focus on political action, political science will remain sterile and without a more humane politics, citizens will remain misinformed, apathetic, and helpless. Political Action is controversial because it challenges the profession of political science. It provides a "paradigm shift" in the field which is important for allied social science disciplines as well. For political strategists, it provides the methodological tool of political action propositions which allow a careful calculation of the effects of alternative strategies.

The Problem with Survey Research makes a case against survey research as a primary source of reliable information. George Beam argues that all survey research instruments, all types of asking including polls, face-to-face interviews, and focus groups produce unreliable and potentially inaccurate results. Because those who rely on survey research only see answers to questions, it is impossible for them, or anyone else, to evaluate the results. They cannot know if the answers correspond to respondents' actual behaviors (objective phenomena) or to their true beliefs and opinions (subjective phenomena). Reliable information can only be acquired by observation, experimentation, multiple sources of data, formal model building and testing, document analysis, and comparison.In fifteen chapters divided into six parts Ubiquity of Survey Research, The Problem, Asking Instruments, Asking Settings, Askers, and Proper Methods and Research DesignsThe Problem with Survey Research demonstrates how asking instruments, settings in which asking and answering take place, and survey researchers themselves skew results and thereby make answers unreliable. The last two chapters and appendices examine observation, other methods of data collection and research designs that may produce accurate or correct information, and shows how reliance on survey research can be overcome, and must be.