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• Save and review all of your quizzes. Make sure you not only "know" the answer to the questions, but that you understand the answers (and questions). This may require you to go back to the readings. If you still have difficulty understanding the answer, then do no hesitate to contact me for clarification.
• Read carefully and read for understanding. Make sure you understand the main point of each major and minor section in each of the chapters. In chapter 2, for example, one of the sections is entitled "The logic of comparative analysis" (p. 34). After reading this section, you should know what is meant by the term logic and what the "logic of comparative analysis" means. On this point, it is also important to understand that the words, terms and phrases used in the text often have very specific meanings.
• Pay particular attention to boldface words and terms. All the words or terms in boldface have a corresponding entry in the glossary (pp. 291-309). You should know and understand the meaning of all these worlds.
• Do not ignore figures/boxes/tables. Figures, boxes and tables are separated from the main text for a reason, namely, for emphasis, illustration, or extended discussion. Students are expected to master this material, too.
• Ask questions. If you are confused or simply lost, you need to ask questions, whether in class, by e-mail or in person (during my office hours or after class). This is a simply point, but from experience, I know that most students who are having difficultly or struggling with the material rarely, if ever, ask for help. I am here to help, but I cannot do anything if you do not let me know.
• Constantly review course material and try to apply the concepts you study to the "real world." If you stay on top of the course material--if you don't let yourself forget what you studied last week--the mini-test and the final examination should be relatively easy. Indeed, the tests themselves are not designed to be difficult: the questions are primarily descriptive or definitional. At the same time, the analytical questions will be much, much easier to handle if you have really understand the concepts. Generally speaking, understanding, even mastery, is achieved through focused effort and "practice"--lots and lots of practice, which, in the context of this class, means a daily effort to see how you can apply the methodological and theoretical to the problems and issues you encounter in your daily lives.