Dr Aliz Toth

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Political Science (Political Behaviour) and MSc in Political Science (Political Science and Political Economy). This course is available on the MRes/PhD in Political Science, MSc in Political Science (Conflict Studies and Comparative Politics), MSc in Political Science (Global Politics) and MSc in Public Policy and Administration. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: To apply for a place on this course, please submit a short statement of no more than 200 words via LfY. Your statement should outline your reasons for applying and explain how the course will support your academic and/or career goals. If applicable, you should also demonstrate how you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide. If the course is compulsory for your programme, no written statement is required.

Priority for places on Government (GV) courses will be given first to students for whom the course is compulsory. Where applicable, priority will then be given to students on the Department of Government programmes listed in the ‘Availability’ section of the course guide, followed by students on other programmes listed in that section. Students on all other programmes will be considered next, where a course is available as an outside option. You should ensure that you meet any pre-requisites listed in the course guide before applying. Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed. Where a course is oversubscribed, places will be allocated based on programme priority and the written statement.

Deadline for applications: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 25 September 2026. You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 28 September 2026. Any places remaining after this date will be allocated based on priority and written statement - up until course selection closes.

For queries contact: gov.msc@lse.ac.uk.

Students on the Political Science and Political Economy and Political Behaviour streams of the MSc in Political Science will be granted priority access as this is a compulsory course for their programme. Other postgraduates wanting to take the course (space permitting) require the permission of the teachers responsible.

The course provides an introduction to quantitative thinking in the field of political science. Its goal is to give students the tools to ask the right questions, be sceptical when appropriate, and distinguish between useful and misleading evidence. Students will be introduced to the basic toolkit of quantitative analysis, which includes hypothesis testing, regression, experiments, differences in differences, and regression discontinuity. Students will also learn how to use a statistical software program, RStudio, to organize and analyze data through weekly problem sets.

20 hours of lectures and 18 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Quiz.

There will be nine in-class quizzes during the AT. The four highest-marked quiz results will count for assessment; see below.

Bueno de Mesquita, E.B. and Fowler, A., 2021. Thinking clearly with data: A guide to quantitative reasoning and analysis. Princeton University Press.

Course participation (20%).

Continuous assessment (80%).

Students’ summative continuous assessment mark will be based on the highest four marks of those given for the nine formative weekly in-class quizzes.