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Career Exploration

Political Scientists

What they do:

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.

On the job, you would:
  • Teach political science.
  • Maintain current knowledge of government policy decisions.
  • Develop and test theories, using information from interviews, newspapers, periodicals, case law, historical papers, polls, or statistical sources.
On the job, you'll need:

Safety and Government

  • law and government

Arts and Humanities

  • English language
  • history and archeology

Education and Training

  • teaching and course design

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Basic Skills

  • reading work related information
  • figuring out how to use new ideas or things

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it

Verbal

  • read and understand what is written
  • communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Analytical Thinking
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Initiative
  • Persistence
  • Attention to Detail
  • Integrity

Analytical or scientific software

  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • SAS

Presentation software

  • Microsoft PowerPoint

Information retrieval or search software

  • EBSCO Publishing Political Science Complete
  • Sage Reference Online

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $128,020

Education

Doctoral degree is usually needed.