Free Practice Quiz Question List

1 Foundations of Comparative Politics Online Quiz Questions

Use this free practice quiz with 20 questions to review 1 Foundations of Comparative Politics, test your knowledge, and prepare for your next test or exam.

20 questions

True or false

1 point

True or false: Comparative politics and international relations have a boundary that is not absolute; a study of international pressure changing domestic policy can draw on both fields.

A
True
B
False

Choose one

1 point

A researcher examines several elections held within one country. Which statement best describes the unit being studied?

A
Only a country can be a case in comparative politics.
B
A case can be a country, province, election, party, policy, or historical period.
C
A case is always an entire political regime.
D
A case must include several countries.

Fill in the blank

1 point

In the research question “Does proportional representation encourage more parties to win seats?”, the number of parties winning seats is the .

Written response

1 point

What method examines evidence about the sequence of events and mechanisms within a single case?

Choose one

1 point

A researcher selects a case because it departs from a pattern predicted by an existing theory. Which case-selection strategy is this?

A
A typical case
B
A least-likely case
C
A deviant case
D
A most-similar systems design

Choose all

1 point

Select all statements supported about single-case studies and process tracing.

A
A single-case study can help clarify concepts or develop hypotheses.
B
A single-case study automatically supports conclusions about all countries.
C
Process tracing examines sequences of events and mechanisms within a case.
D
Process tracing is a statistical comparison of many country-years.

Fill in the blank

1 point

A researcher chooses a case to examine a common pattern. This is a .

Choose one

1 point

A researcher wants to assess whether electoral rules help explain differences in party systems. Which design best fits a comparison of otherwise similar democracies with different electoral rules?

A
Compare very different countries that share an outcome and search for a common cause.
B
Compare otherwise similar democracies with different electoral rules and examine whether their party systems differ.
C
Select a typical case to study a common pattern.
D
Use numerical data from many elections to estimate a broad pattern.

True or false

1 point

True or false: If a large-N statistical study finds a relationship between two political variables, that relationship alone establishes that one caused the other.

A
True
B
False

Written response

1 point

What is the case-selection term for a case chosen to probe a theory under especially favorable conditions?

Choose all

1 point

Select all practices recommended for comparative research, regardless of the strategy used.

A
Define concepts consistently.
B
Explain why the cases were selected.
C
Consider plausible alternative explanations.
D
Be clear about the scope of the conclusions.
E
Assume similarity between cases controls for every alternative explanation.

Choose one

1 point

Two countries differ in many respects but adopted a similar policy. A researcher investigates whether a common cause might account for that shared outcome. Which design logic best describes this comparison?

A
Compare similar cases that differ in a key explanatory factor.
B
Study one case in depth to examine a sequence of events.
C
Compare very different cases that share an outcome and investigate possible common causes.
D
Compare many observations using numerical data.

Open ended

1 point

A researcher wants to explain why a healthcare policy changed over time in two regions of one country. Explain what could count as the cases, how the researcher should justify selecting them, and one reason the study’s conclusions should be bounded.

Choose one

1 point

Which description best captures the central approach of comparative politics?

A
The systematic study of political life within and across countries through comparison
B
The study of interactions among states, excluding domestic politics
C
The study of elections using statistical data only
D
The study of a single country's formal institutions without comparison

Choose one

1 point

A researcher compares education policies across three provinces within one country. What can count as a case in this study?

A
Only a sovereign country
B
Only a national election
C
A unit being studied, such as a province or election
D
A proposed explanation for a political outcome

Choose one

1 point

A researcher asks, “Does proportional representation encourage more parties to win seats?” Which option correctly identifies the proposed cause and outcome?

A
Party-system fragmentation is the cause; proportional representation is the outcome.
B
Proportional representation is the proposed cause; the number of parties winning seats is the outcome.
C
Both proportional representation and the number of parties are outcomes.
D
The question identifies no possible cause or outcome.

Written response

1 point

What method examines the sequence of events and mechanisms within a single case?

Choose one

1 point

A researcher wants to investigate whether electoral rules help explain differences in party systems. Which case-selection approach best fits a most-similar systems design?

A
Compare otherwise similar democracies with different electoral rules and examine whether their party systems differ.
B
Compare very different countries that adopted the same policy and search for a shared possible cause.
C
Study one country in depth without comparing it to other cases.
D
Compare many country-years statistically to estimate a broad pattern.

Written response

1 point

What research approach examines a few carefully selected cases in depth?

True or false

1 point

True or false: If a large-N statistical study finds a relationship between two variables, that relationship alone establishes that one caused the other.

A
True
B
False