Political Scientists
Study the origin, development, and operation of political systems. May study topics, such as public opinion, political decisionmaking, and ideology. May analyze the structure and operation of governments, as well as various political entities. May conduct public opinion surveys, analyze election results, or analyze public documents.
22 alternate job titles:
Salary Information
Political Scientists: $139,380 (median) per year.
Starting salary (10th percentile).
Required expreience: Varies by Company
Data source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Daily Tasks & Responsibilities
| Task Description | Category |
|---|---|
| Instruct college students in social sciences or humanities disciplines. | General |
| Advise others on matters of public policy. | General |
| Prepare information or documentation related to legal or regulatory matters. | General |
| Forecast economic, political, or social trends. | General |
| Advise students on academic or career matters. | General |
| Advise others on educational matters. | General |
| Serve on institutional or departmental committees. | General |
| Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations. | Communication |
| Present information to the public. | Communication |
| Plan social sciences research. | Analysis |
| Interpret research or operational data. | Analysis |
| Conduct research on social issues. | Analysis |
| Evaluate civic projects or public policies. | Analysis |
| Develop theories or models of physical phenomena. | Development |
| Review professional literature to maintain professional knowledge. | Maintenance |
Technology Requirements
| Technology | Description |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel | Spreadsheet software |
| Microsoft Office software | Office suite software |
| Microsoft Outlook | Electronic mail software |
| Microsoft PowerPoint | Presentation software |
| Adobe Acrobat | Document management software |
| IBM SPSS Statistics | Analytical or scientific software |
| Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP | Web platform development software |
| Microsoft SharePoint | Document management software |
| Microsoft Visio | Process mapping and design software |
| Microsoft Word | Word processing software |
| Python | Object or component oriented development software |
| R | Object or component oriented development software |
| SAP software | Enterprise resource planning ERP software |
| SAS | Analytical or scientific software |
| Data visualization software | Analytical or scientific software |
| DataMystic TextPipe Pro | Analytical or scientific software |
| EBSCO Publishing Academic Search Premier | Information retrieval or search software |
| EBSCO Publishing Political Science Complete | Information retrieval or search software |
| Email software | Electronic mail software |
| Europa World Plus | Information retrieval or search software |
| Gale Expanded Academic ASAP PLUS | Information retrieval or search software |
| JSTOR database | Information retrieval or search software |
| JudgeIt II | Analytical or scientific software |
| Microsoft Publisher | Desktop publishing software |
| Oxford Reference Online | Information retrieval or search software |
| ProQuest Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) database | Information retrieval or search software |
| ProQuest Worldwide Political Science Abstracts | Information retrieval or search software |
| Sage Reference Online | Information retrieval or search software |
| StataCorp Stata | Analytical or scientific software |
| WinBUGS | Analytical or scientific software |
| Word processing software | Word processing software |
| Microsoft Access | Data base user interface and query software |
| Tableau | Business intelligence and data analysis software |
| Bare Bones Software BBEdit | Data base management system software |
| CQ Press Political Reference Suite | Data base user interface and query software |
| FedStats | Data base user interface and query software |
| IDM Computer Solutions UltraEdit | Data base management system software |
| Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) database | Data base user interface and query software |
| Library of Congress E-resources Online Catalog | Data base user interface and query software |
| Structure query language SQL | Data base user interface and query software |