Training the Trainers: Genetics and Political Behavior

最近将经验、生物学和遗传学方法引入政治学，有必要对更大的政治科学界进行这些新方法的培训。然而，尽管进行了大规模的数据收集工作，并发表了大量关于政治和遗传学的出版物，但很少有政治学家接触到审查、评估或参与这一新研究领域所需的具体方法。对于对这个日益增长的政治行为领域感兴趣的老牌教员来说，进行培训的途径寥寥无几。因此，该项目的中心目标是为政治学家提供用于政治行为分析的应用统计遗传学方面的培训。对政治学家进行培训，教授他们的培训项目中没有的新方法和新理论，将提高未来的学术水平，并扩大关于遗传学和政治行为之间关系的知识。行为遗传学协会每年在科罗拉多博尔德大学举办一次研讨会，旨在培训跨学科的初级和高级教师，学习行为遗传学入门知识。该项目将派20名副教授或有经验的助理教授参加2010年双胞胎和家庭研究方法论国际研讨会。该项目将包括与会者的旅费、住宿费和学费，以及研讨会额外一名教员的部分费用(以适应超负荷)。派遣教师参加研讨会的长期影响是，它无疑将在这些领域产生新的兴趣，创造将未来的学生送到BGA研讨会的长期兴趣，并在遗传学和政治行为领域产生更多人力资本。

The recent introduction of empirical biological and genetic methods into political science necessitates the need for training the larger political science community in these new methods. However, despite large scale data collection efforts, and the numerous publications in politics and genetics, very few political scientists have been exposed to the specific methodologies needed to review, evaluate, or take part in this new area of research. For established faculty members interested in this growing area of political behavior there are few avenues to pursue training. The central goal of this project therefore is to offer training to political scientists in applied statistical genetics to be used on political behavior analyses. Training political scientists in new methods and theories that are unavailable in their training programs will improve future scholarship and expand knowledge about the relationship between genetics and political behavior. Every year the Behavior Genetics Association hosts a workshop at the University of Colorado Boulder, aimed at training junior and advanced faculty, across disciplines, in introductory behavior genetics. This project would send 20, mostly mid career associate professors or experienced assistant professors, to the 2010 International Workshop on Methodology of Twin and Family Studies. The project will cover travel, lodging, and tuition for attendees, and a portion of the expenses for one extra faculty member of the workshop (to accommodate the overload). The long term impact of sending faculty to the workshop is that it will undoubtedly spawn new interest in these areas, create a long term interest in sending future students to BGA workshops, and generate more human capital in the area of genetics and political behavior.