Question on region/country specification in SOP

[xsenia]

Hi dear PolSci forum,

I am an international applying to US programs this cycle, currently completing my SOP. I am having a hard time thinking about some details. My areas of interest in the widest sense include political psychology and public opinion with diverse quant methodology (eg. text-as-data + survey). I have some connected research projects in mind which I can fit into one broad research question, and which I believe are enough for the construction of a strong SOP. However, I am hesitant to write a region/country where I want to specialize since (1) I am not definitely sure about them (for example text analysis allows me to work either in languages I know or with texts translated by humans at least),  and more critically (2) if I am to write a region, some schools where I have good fit currently do not have professors specialized in those regions. I think specifying a region would lower my chances in those schools, but I also feel like I need to include one. Can I propose a broad question and rely more heavily on the methodological and theoretical contributions I am planning to make instead of explaining why XXX region is an interesting case, or should I take the risk and specify a region or a comparative case?

Edited October 9, 2022 by xsenia
spelling