Social Sciences Research Methods Programme course timetable
Wednesday 27 February 2019
| 09:00 |
This intensive one-day course on structural equation modelling will provide an introduction to SEM using the statistical software Stata. The aim of the course is to introduce structural equation modelling as an analytical framework and to familiarize participants with the applications of the technique in the social sciences. The application of the structural equation modelling framework to a variety of social science research questions will be illustrated through examples of published papers. The examples used are drawn from very recent papers, as well as publications from the early days of the technique; some use path analysis using cross-national data, others confirmatory factor analysis, and other still full structural models, to test particular hypotheses. Some example papers may be found below, though they should not be treated as the gold standard, rather as an illustration of the variety of approaches and reporting techniques within SEM.
Students will engage in a critique of such examples, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the SEM framework, as well as its application to real-life data. To further facilitate this application focus, the theoretical introduction will be accompanied by practical examples based on real, publicly-available data. |
| 14:00 |
This intensive one-day course on structural equation modelling will provide an introduction to SEM using the statistical software Stata. The aim of the course is to introduce structural equation modelling as an analytical framework and to familiarize participants with the applications of the technique in the social sciences. The application of the structural equation modelling framework to a variety of social science research questions will be illustrated through examples of published papers. The examples used are drawn from very recent papers, as well as publications from the early days of the technique; some use path analysis using cross-national data, others confirmatory factor analysis, and other still full structural models, to test particular hypotheses. Some example papers may be found below, though they should not be treated as the gold standard, rather as an illustration of the variety of approaches and reporting techniques within SEM.
Students will engage in a critique of such examples, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the SEM framework, as well as its application to real-life data. To further facilitate this application focus, the theoretical introduction will be accompanied by practical examples based on real, publicly-available data. |
Thursday 28 February 2019
| 14:00 |
This module is shared with Geography. Students from the Department of Geography MUST book places on this course via the Department; any bookings made by Geography students via the SSRMC portal will be cancelled. This workshop series aims to provide introductory training on Geographical Information Systems. Material covered includes the construction of geodatabases from a range of data sources, geovisualisation and mapping from geodatasets, raster-based modeling and presentation of maps and charts and other geodata outputs. Each session will start with an introductory lecture followed by practical exercises using GIS software. |
Monday 4 March 2019
| 11:00 |
Factor Analysis
Finished
This module introduces the statistical techniques of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is used to uncover the latent structure (dimensions) of a set of variables. It reduces the attribute space from a larger number of variables to a smaller number of factors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) examines whether collected data correspond to a model of what the data are meant to measure. STATA will be introduced as a powerful tool to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. A brief introduction will be given to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
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| 14:00 |
Factor Analysis
Finished
This module introduces the statistical techniques of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is used to uncover the latent structure (dimensions) of a set of variables. It reduces the attribute space from a larger number of variables to a smaller number of factors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) examines whether collected data correspond to a model of what the data are meant to measure. STATA will be introduced as a powerful tool to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. A brief introduction will be given to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
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Public Policy Analysis
Finished
The analysis of policy depends on many disciplines and techniques and so is difficult for many researchers to access. This module provides a mixed perspective on policy analysis, taking both an academic and a practitioner perspective. This is because the same tools and techniques can be used in academic research on policy options and change as those used in practice in a policy environment. This course is provided as three 2 hour sessions delivered as a mix of lectures and seminars. No direct analysis work will be done in the sessions themselves, but some sample data and questions will be provided for students who wish to take the material into practice. |
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| 16:00 |
Meta Analysis
Finished
In this module students will be introduced to meta-analysis, a powerful statistical technique allowing researchers to synthesize the available evidence for a given research question using standardized (comparable) effect sizes across studies. The sessions teach students how to compute treatment effects, how to compute effect sizes based on correlational studies, how to address questions such as what is the association of bullying victimization with depression? The module will be useful for students who seek to draw statistical conclusions in a standardized manner from literature reviews they are conducting. |
Tuesday 5 March 2019
| 14:00 |
Secondary Data Analysis
Finished
Using secondary data (that is, data collected by someone else, usually a government agency or large research organisation) has a number of advantages in social science research: sample sizes are usually larger than can be achieved by primary data collection, samples are more nearly representative of the populations they are drawn from, and using secondary data for a research project often represents significant savings in time and money. This short course, taught by Dr Deborah Wiltshire of the UK Data Archive, will discuss the advantages and limitations of using secondary data for research in the social sciences, and will introduce students to the wide range of available secondary data sources. The course is based in a computer lab; students will learn how to search online for suitable secondary data by browsing the database of the UK Data Archive. |
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A Critical Analysis of Null Hypothesis Testing and its Alternatives (Including Bayesian Analysis)
Finished
This course will provide a detailed critique of the methods and philosophy of the Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) approach to statistics which is currently dominant in social and biomedical science. We will briefly contrast NHST with alternatives, especially with Bayesian methods. We will use some computer code (Matlab and R) to demonstrate some issues. However, we will focus on the big picture rather on the implementation of specific procedures. |
Wednesday 6 March 2019
| 09:30 |
Multilevel Modelling
Finished
In this module, students will be introduced to multilevel modelling, also known as hierarchical linear modelling. MLM allows the user to analyse how outcomes are influenced by factors acting at multiple levels. So, for example, we might conceptualise children's educational process as being influenced by individual or family-level factors, as well as by factors operating at the level of the school or the neighbourhood. Similarly, outcomes for prisoners might be influenced by individual and/or family-level characteristics, as well as by the characteristics of the prison in which they are detained.
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| 14:00 |
Multilevel Modelling
Finished
In this module, students will be introduced to multilevel modelling, also known as hierarchical linear modelling. MLM allows the user to analyse how outcomes are influenced by factors acting at multiple levels. So, for example, we might conceptualise children's educational process as being influenced by individual or family-level factors, as well as by factors operating at the level of the school or the neighbourhood. Similarly, outcomes for prisoners might be influenced by individual and/or family-level characteristics, as well as by the characteristics of the prison in which they are detained.
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Monday 11 March 2019
| 10:00 |
Evaluation Methods
Finished
This course aims to provide students with a range of specific technical skills that will enable them to undertake impact evaluation of policy. Too often policy is implemented but not fully evaluated. Without evaluation we cannot then tell what the short or longer term impact of a particular policy has been. On this course, students will learn the skills needed to evaluate particular policies and will have the opportunity to do some hands on data manipulation. A particular feature of this course is that it provides these skills in a real world context of policy evaluation. It also focuses primarily not on experimental evaluation (Random Control Trials) but rather quasi-experimental methodologies that can be used where an experiment is not desirable or feasible. Topics:
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| 13:45 |
Evaluation Methods
Finished
This course aims to provide students with a range of specific technical skills that will enable them to undertake impact evaluation of policy. Too often policy is implemented but not fully evaluated. Without evaluation we cannot then tell what the short or longer term impact of a particular policy has been. On this course, students will learn the skills needed to evaluate particular policies and will have the opportunity to do some hands on data manipulation. A particular feature of this course is that it provides these skills in a real world context of policy evaluation. It also focuses primarily not on experimental evaluation (Random Control Trials) but rather quasi-experimental methodologies that can be used where an experiment is not desirable or feasible. Topics:
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| 14:00 |
Conversation and Discourse Analysis
Finished
The module will introduce students to the study of language use as a distinctive type of social practice. Attention will be focused primarily on the methodological and analytic principles of conversation analysis. (CA). However, it will explore the debates between CA and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), as a means of addressing the relationship between the study of language use and the study of other aspects of social life. It will also consider the roots of conversation analysis in the research initiatives of ethnomethodology, and the analysis of ordinary and institutional talk. It will finally consider the interface between CA and CDA.
Topics:
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Public Policy Analysis
Finished
The analysis of policy depends on many disciplines and techniques and so is difficult for many researchers to access. This module provides a mixed perspective on policy analysis, taking both an academic and a practitioner perspective. This is because the same tools and techniques can be used in academic research on policy options and change as those used in practice in a policy environment. This course is provided as three 2 hour sessions delivered as a mix of lectures and seminars. No direct analysis work will be done in the sessions themselves, but some sample data and questions will be provided for students who wish to take the material into practice. |
Tuesday 12 March 2019
| 10:00 |
Evaluation Methods
Finished
This course aims to provide students with a range of specific technical skills that will enable them to undertake impact evaluation of policy. Too often policy is implemented but not fully evaluated. Without evaluation we cannot then tell what the short or longer term impact of a particular policy has been. On this course, students will learn the skills needed to evaluate particular policies and will have the opportunity to do some hands on data manipulation. A particular feature of this course is that it provides these skills in a real world context of policy evaluation. It also focuses primarily not on experimental evaluation (Random Control Trials) but rather quasi-experimental methodologies that can be used where an experiment is not desirable or feasible. Topics:
|
| 13:30 |
Evaluation Methods
Finished
This course aims to provide students with a range of specific technical skills that will enable them to undertake impact evaluation of policy. Too often policy is implemented but not fully evaluated. Without evaluation we cannot then tell what the short or longer term impact of a particular policy has been. On this course, students will learn the skills needed to evaluate particular policies and will have the opportunity to do some hands on data manipulation. A particular feature of this course is that it provides these skills in a real world context of policy evaluation. It also focuses primarily not on experimental evaluation (Random Control Trials) but rather quasi-experimental methodologies that can be used where an experiment is not desirable or feasible. Topics:
|
Wednesday 13 March 2019
| 09:30 |
Standard statistical techniques in the social sciences are good at uncovering relationships between variables, but less good at establishing whether these relationships are causal. If A and B are correlated, does that mean A "causes" B? That B "causes" A? Or could both A and B be driven by a third factor C? Randomised controlled trials are a type of study often considered to be the gold standard in uncovering this kind of causality. Many students and early-career researchers avoid RCTs, assuming they are complex and expensive to run. However, that need not be the case. This module will explain the theory of RCTs, how they are implemented, and will encourage participants to think about how they might design an RCT in their own field of work. |
| 11:00 |
Factor Analysis
Finished
This module introduces the statistical techniques of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is used to uncover the latent structure (dimensions) of a set of variables. It reduces the attribute space from a larger number of variables to a smaller number of factors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) examines whether collected data correspond to a model of what the data are meant to measure. STATA will be introduced as a powerful tool to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. A brief introduction will be given to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
|
| 14:00 |
Standard statistical techniques in the social sciences are good at uncovering relationships between variables, but less good at establishing whether these relationships are causal. If A and B are correlated, does that mean A "causes" B? That B "causes" A? Or could both A and B be driven by a third factor C? Randomised controlled trials are a type of study often considered to be the gold standard in uncovering this kind of causality. Many students and early-career researchers avoid RCTs, assuming they are complex and expensive to run. However, that need not be the case. This module will explain the theory of RCTs, how they are implemented, and will encourage participants to think about how they might design an RCT in their own field of work. |
|
Factor Analysis
Finished
This module introduces the statistical techniques of Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) is used to uncover the latent structure (dimensions) of a set of variables. It reduces the attribute space from a larger number of variables to a smaller number of factors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) examines whether collected data correspond to a model of what the data are meant to measure. STATA will be introduced as a powerful tool to conduct confirmatory factor analysis. A brief introduction will be given to confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
|
Wednesday 9 October 2019
| 16:00 |
SSRMP Student Induction Lecture
Finished
This event details how the SSRMP works, more about the modules we offer, and everything you need to know about making a booking. NB. ALL STUDENTS WISHING TO TAKE SSRMP COURSES THIS YEAR ARE EXPECTED TO ATTEND THIS INDUCTION SESSION |
Thursday 10 October 2019
| 10:00 |
This module is shared with Psychology. Students from the Department of Psychology MUST book places on this course via the Department; any bookings made by Psychology students via the SSRMP portal will be cancelled. The course focuses on practical hands-on variable handling and programming implementation using rather than on theory. This course is intended for those who have never programmed before, including those who only call/run Matlab scripts but are not familiar with how code works and how matrices are handled in Matlab. (Note that calling a couple of scripts is not 'real' programming.) MATLAB (C) is a powerful scientific programming environment optimal for data analysis and engineering solutions. More information on the programme and its uses can be found here More information on the course can be found here |
| 14:00 |
This module is shared with Psychology. Students from the Department of Psychology MUST book places on this course via the Department; any bookings made by Psychology students via the SSRMP portal will be cancelled. The course focuses on practical hands-on variable handling and programming implementation using rather than on theory. This course is intended for those who have never programmed before, including those who only call/run Matlab scripts but are not familiar with how code works and how matrices are handled in Matlab. (Note that calling a couple of scripts is not 'real' programming.) MATLAB (C) is a powerful scientific programming environment optimal for data analysis and engineering solutions. More information on the programme and its uses can be found here More information on the course can be found here |
Friday 11 October 2019
| 10:00 |
This module is shared with Psychology. Students from the Department of Psychology MUST book places on this course via the Department; any bookings made by Psychology students via the SSRMP portal will be cancelled. The course focuses on practical hands-on variable handling and programming implementation using rather than on theory. This course is intended for those who have never programmed before, including those who only call/run Matlab scripts but are not familiar with how code works and how matrices are handled in Matlab. (Note that calling a couple of scripts is not 'real' programming.) MATLAB (C) is a powerful scientific programming environment optimal for data analysis and engineering solutions. More information on the programme and its uses can be found here More information on the course can be found here |
| 14:00 |
This module is shared with Psychology. Students from the Department of Psychology MUST book places on this course via the Department; any bookings made by Psychology students via the SSRMP portal will be cancelled. The course focuses on practical hands-on variable handling and programming implementation using rather than on theory. This course is intended for those who have never programmed before, including those who only call/run Matlab scripts but are not familiar with how code works and how matrices are handled in Matlab. (Note that calling a couple of scripts is not 'real' programming.) MATLAB (C) is a powerful scientific programming environment optimal for data analysis and engineering solutions. More information on the programme and its uses can be found here More information on the course can be found here |