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"A short, lively and innovative text, this book addresses the question of what constitutes good practice in a variety of political science methods and examines the philosophy that underpins them. It argues for a pluralistic approach that will deliver effective analysis and an in-depth understanding of political events"--

THIS STUDY EXAMINES AND TESTS ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE DIMENSIONALITY OF ISSUE SCALES COMMONLY USED IN ATTITUDE RESEARCH. RESEARCHERS ASSUME THAT A RESPONDENT DESIGNATION OF HIS OR HER POSITION ON AN ISSUE REPRESENTS AN IDEAL POINT ON A SINGLE-PEAKED PREFERENCE SCALE. HOWEVER, IN COMPARING ACTUAL RESPONDENT PREFERENCE ORDERINGS WITH THE LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE ORDERING ASSUMED BY THE SCALE, IT IS FOUND THAT MANY RESPONDENTS DO NOT CONFORM TO THE ASSUMPTION. FURTHERMORE, IN A SAMPLE OF RELATIVELY WELL-EDUCATED RESPONDENTS, THOSE WHO DO NOT CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT SCALING DIMENSION ARE FOUND TO BE AS INTERESTED IN POLITICS, AS EFFICACIOUS, AND AS PREDICTABLE IN THEIR VOTING AS THOSE WHO DO CONFORM. HOWEVER, NONCONFORMISTS DO APPEAR TO BE SOMEWHAT MORE INTERNALLY DIRECTED AND MORE DOGMATIC THAN CONFORMIST RESPONDENTS.

Jeremy Corbyn's continued leadership of the Labour party has been contrary to the publicly stated expectations of many pundits and political scientists. This punditry has underpinned coverage of Corbyn and his Labour party that continually plays out in print, broadcast and social media. My claim is that the manner in which Corbyn and his supporters were discussed by prominent political scientists and pundits was reflective of a dismissive underlying attitude towards the political dynamics that his candidacy and subsequent leadership represent. In this paper, I do three things. First, I identify a group of intensely politically involved individuals who collectively hold the power to shape shared political meanings and understandings and locate some British political scientists within it. Second, I outline five points of opposition that this group had to Corbyn, demonstrating that although these maintain an appearance of objectivity, they are nonetheless normative in nature and largely conform to a dominant ideological standpoint seemingly shared among the group. Third, I reflect on the role of British political science in this context, raising concerns that our inculcation into this group might be affecting our academic endeavours as well as how we present ourselves and our work to the wider public.

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note that the online publication date for this handbook is the date that the first article in the title was published online.