SSRMC Training Programme 2014-15

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

The module aims to provide students with an introduction to and overview of survey methods and its uses and limitations. It will introduce students both to some of the main theoretical issues involved in survey research (such as survey sampling, non-response and question wording) and to practicalities of the design and analysis of surveys. Students who attend this course will be able to evaluate research that uses surveys, in particular to understand issues concerning sample selection, response bias and data analysis; to appreciate and use basic principles of questionnaire design; and to trace appropriate sources of data and appropriate exemplars of good survey practice.

*DO NOT book for this course if you are already booked for Foundations in Applied Statistics (which includes an introduction to R) as your booking will be cancelled

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This workshop introduces students to one of the most frequently used statistics packages for social sciences, R. Students will learn how to download and install R, enter simple data into R, how to load data sets from other statistical packages into R, how to use the R environment for simple calculations, elementary graphs and tables. The module will introduce the use of code for performing these operations. This module is intended primarily for students who have not previously used R and who also do not have much previous experience with statistics. This is not a statistical methods course.

The SSRMC Administrator will make all bookings for this module. If you would like to follow the module you must complete the SSRMC skills audit by 4pm on Thursday 9 October before a place can be booked for you.

If you have already completed the audit you may have had a place booked for you by your Department. Please check this by typing your CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on your name. This will show the module(s) you are booked for, as applicable.

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This foundational course is for graduate students who have no prior training in statistics.

Topics covered include: the notion of variables and how they are measured; ways of describing the central tendency and the dispersion of a variable; and the principles of hypothesis testing and statistical significance. The course also introduces students to the software R. Each session consists of a lecture part, and a computer lab part with exercises in R.

Bookings for this module open on THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER at 10:00 am
For more information see: http://www.ssrmc.group.cam.ac.uk/ssrmc-modules/core/making/windows

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

An introduction to some of the methodological issues involved in researching organisations; drawing on examples of studies carried out in a wide range of different types of organisation.

The SSRMC Administrator will make all bookings for this module. If you would like to follow the module you must complete the SSRMC skills audit before a place can be booked for you.

If you have already completed the audit you may have had a place booked for you by your Department. Please check this by typing your CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on your name. This will show the module(s) you are booked for, as applicable.

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module introduces students to four of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences: correlation, chi-square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Building upon the univariate techniques introduced in previous modules, these sessions aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of statistical methods designed to test associations between two variables (bivariate statistics). Students will learn about the assumptions underlying each test, and will receive practical instruction on how to generate and interpret bivariate results using Rstudio.

The final session on Thursday 4th December is a lecture-based session (no lab work involved) which will teach you how to read, understand and correctly interpret published work based on multivariate techniques. PLEASE NOTE: you have the option of attending this final session in one of two time slots (14:00-15:30 *OR* 16:00-17:30).

Bookings for this module open on THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER at 10:00 am
For more information see: http://www.ssrmc.group.cam.ac.uk/ssrmc-modules/core/making/windows

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module is designed to introduce methods to non-anthropologists. Those with anthropological training should attend more advanced sessions. The module reviews the history of ethnographic research in anthropology and other social sciences. We’ll look at ongoing debates about the nature of ethnographic practice (including writing and reading). What are the practical implications of these for research in different disciplines? How do we pick and/or mix different ethnographic strategies and styles? Participant observation and visual and material methods will also be covered.

*DO NOT book for this course if you are already booked for Foundations in Applied Statistics (which includes an introduction to R) as your booking will be cancelled

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This workshop introduces students to one of the most frequently used statistics packages for social sciences, R. Students will learn how to download and install R, enter simple data into R, how to load data sets from other statistical packages into R, how to use the R environment for simple calculations, elementary graphs and tables. The module will introduce the use of code for performing these operations. This module is intended primarily for students who have not previously used R and who also do not have much previous experience with statistics. This is not a statistical methods course.

The SSRMC Administrator will make all bookings for this module. If you would like to follow the module you must complete the SSRMC skills audit before a place can be booked for you.

If you have already completed the audit you may have had a place booked for you by your Department. Please check this by typing your CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on your name. This will show the module(s) you are booked for, as applicable.

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module introduces students to four of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences: correlation, chi-square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Building upon the univariate techniques introduced in previous modules, these sessions aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of statistical methods designed to test associations between two variables (bivariate statistics). Students will learn about the assumptions underlying each test, and will receive practical instruction on how to generate and interpret bivariate results using Rstudio.

The final session on Thursday 4th December is a lecture-based session (no lab work involved) which will teach you how to read, understand and correctly interpret published work based on multivariate techniques. PLEASE NOTE: you have the option of attending this final session in one of two time slots (14:00-15:30 *OR* 16:00-17:30).

Bookings for this module open on THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER at 10:00 am
For more information see: http://www.ssrmc.group.cam.ac.uk/ssrmc-modules/core/making/windows

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

Ethics is becoming an increasingly important issue for researchers. This module will demonstrate the practical value of thinking seriously and systematically about what constitutes ethical conduct in social science research. The sessions will involve some small-group work.

Bookings for this module open on THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER at 10:00 am
For more information see: http://www.ssrmc.group.cam.ac.uk/ssrmc-modules/core/making/windows

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

An introduction to some of the methodological issues involved in researching organisations; drawing on examples of studies carried out in a wide range of different types of organisation.

The SSRMC Administrator will make all bookings for this module. If you would like to follow the module you must complete the SSRMC skills audit before a place can be booked for you.

If you have already completed the audit you may have had a place booked for you by your Department. Please check this by typing your CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on your name. This will show the module(s) you are booked for, as applicable.

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module introduces students to four of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences: correlation, chi-square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Building upon the univariate techniques introduced in previous modules, these sessions aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of statistical methods designed to test associations between two variables (bivariate statistics). Students will learn about the assumptions underlying each test, and will receive practical instruction on how to generate and interpret bivariate results using Rstudio.

The final session on Thursday 4th December is a lecture-based session (no lab work involved) which will teach you how to read, understand and correctly interpret published work based on multivariate techniques. PLEASE NOTE: you have the option of attending this final session in one of two time slots (14:00-15:30 *OR* 16:00-17:30).

Bookings for this module open on THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER at 10:00 am
For more information see: http://www.ssrmc.group.cam.ac.uk/ssrmc-modules/core/making/windows

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module is designed to introduce methods to non-anthropologists. Those with anthropological training should attend more advanced sessions. The module reviews the history of ethnographic research in anthropology and other social sciences. We’ll look at ongoing debates about the nature of ethnographic practice (including writing and reading). What are the practical implications of these for research in different disciplines? How do we pick and/or mix different ethnographic strategies and styles? Participant observation and visual and material methods will also be covered.

The SSRMC Administrator will make all bookings for this module. If you would like to follow the module you must complete the SSRMC skills audit before a place can be booked for you.

If you have already completed the audit you may have had a place booked for you by your Department. Please check this by typing your CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on your name. This will show the module(s) you are booked for, as applicable.

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Centre training programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module introduces students to four of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences: correlation, chi-square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Building upon the univariate techniques introduced in previous modules, these sessions aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of statistical methods designed to test associations between two variables (bivariate statistics). Students will learn about the assumptions underlying each test, and will receive practical instruction on how to generate and interpret bivariate results using Rstudio.

The final session on Thursday 4th December is a lecture-based session (no lab work involved) which will teach you how to read, understand and correctly interpret published work based on multivariate techniques. PLEASE NOTE: you have the option of attending this final session in one of two time slots (14:00-15:30 *OR* 16:00-17:30).

This module is part of the Social Science Research Methods Course programme which is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences.

This module introduces students to the capture, display and statistical analysis of spatial data. The first two sessions deal with the construction of a geo-database (using secondary data) and data mapping in a GIS (Geographical Information System). The associated lectures include: descriptions of different spatial data types and spatial objects and a review of spatial data quality issues.

Session three asks what is special about spatial data when undertaking statistical analysis and the associated practical looks at spatial autocorrelation – one of the fundamental properties of spatial data. Session four introduces the principles and some of the methods of exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA). Session five looks at the topic of cluster or “hot spot” detection (identifying areas of excess risk in the context of disease and crime rates). Session six then considers the special issues that need to be recognized when fitting a regression model (to estimate the association between a dependent variable and a set of independent variables) using spatial data. The course concludes with two special topics – session seven looks at non-parametric methods of spatial interpolation (methods for constructing a map from sampled data) whilst eight looks at areal interpolation (methods for transferring data from one spatial framework to another sometimes referred to as the “change of support problem”).

Each session comprises a one hour lecture followed by a one hour practical class.