Category Archives: IRWS Courses 2014

Courses during the International Research Workshop 2014

Introduction to Data Sets

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer:

SOEP: PD Dr. Elke Holst (German Institute for Economic Research/DIW Berlin)
ALLBUS: Dipl.-Soz. Michael Blohm (GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)
IAB Data: Dipl.-Vw. Stefan Seth (Institute for Employment Research/IAB)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 from 09.00-12.30 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Monday, 29/09/14: Introduction to the SOEP

The Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) is a longitudinal study of private households in Germany. The panel provides information on all household members and was started in 1984. In 2011, there were more than 12,300 households with more than 21,000 persons sampled. Some of the many topics include household composition, occupational biographies, employment, earnings, health, wellbeing, integration, values, lifestyles, and personality. The course gives an overview of the data structure and the research designs facilitated by longitudinal household studies that go beyond conventional surveys (household analysis, intergenerational analysis, life course research, etc.). The course provides an applied introduction into the data retrieval via SOEPinfo.

Required: statistical knowledge, basic Stata or SPSS skills.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

Tuesday, 30/09/14: Introduction to the ALLBUS

ALLBUS (Allgemeine Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften – German General Social Survey (GGSS)) is one of the foremost survey programs in Germany. It has been institutionalized as a part of GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The prototype for similar national data generation programs is the American General Social Survey (GSS).

Since 1980, ALLBUS/GGSS has provided a series of representative cross-sectional samples drawn from the adult population in Germany. These biennial surveys include partly replicative and partly innovative question modules and added value data for analyses of social structure, attitudes, values, and behavior in Germany. Moreover, users may find various possibilities for international comparisons. Currently, 19 ALLBUS/GGSS surveys (1980-2012) with a total of 57,723 respondents are available. A large part of the documentation has been translated into English.

In its first part the course gives an overview of the project as such. Basic sampling procedures, various question modules, and recent activities of the ALLBUS Research Data Center will be presented. The second part consists of hands-on exercises of chosen data. The analyses will be done primarily using Stata. Participants should have fundamental knowledge in data handling, in statistical data analysis and in using programs like Stata/SPSS via syntax. In addition, a report on the experience in ALLBUS/GGSS with Survey Nonresponse will be given.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

  • Alba, Richard, Peter Schmidt and Martina Wasmer (eds.) 2003: Germans or Foreigners? Attitudes Towards Ethnic Minorities in Post-Reunification Germany, New York und Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Blohm, Michael, Franziska Lerch, Ute Hoffstätter, Katharina Schmidt and Daniel Nowack 2013: ALLBUS-Bibliographie (27. Fassung), GESIS – Technical Reports 2013|06.
  • Davis, James Allen, Peter Ph. Mohler and Tom W. Smith 1994: Nationwide General Social Surveys, in: Borg, Ingwer and Peter Ph. Mohler (eds.), Trends and Perspectives in Empirical Social Research, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter: 17-25.
  • Smith, Tom W., Jibum Kim, Achim Koch and Alison Park 2005: Social-Science Research and the General Social Surveys, in: ZUMA-Nachrichten 56: 68-77.
  • Terwey, Michael 2000: ALLBUS: A German General Social Survey, in: Schmollers Jahrbuch 120: 151-158.
  • Terwey, Michael and Horst Baumann 2013: Variable Report German General Social Survey. ALLBUS / GGSS Cumulation 1980 – 2010, ZA-Study-No 4576, Cologne: GESIS, GESIS – Variable Reports No. 2013|2.

Wednesday, 01/10/14: Introduction to IAB Data

The Institute for Employment Research in Nuremberg has available a wealth of micro data on the German labor market and offers access to it in its Research Data Center (FDZ). The course’s goal is to arouse the participants’ interest in FDZ data and to guide their first steps into analyzing them. The focus will be on two large administrative data sets, namely the Sample of Integrated Employment Biographies (SIAB) and the Establishment History Panel (BHP). In hands-on sessions we will explore, cleanse and prepare the data, calculate durations, and implement simple imputation procedures. The course will also cover in some detail the IAB Establishment Panel, the FDZ’s most important survey data set, and the Linked Employer-Employee Dataset of the IAB (LIAB); other FDZ data will also be presented, but rather cursorily.

FDZ website
Overview of FDZ data

Basic to medium Stata skills required for the tutorial.

You have to register for the 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Expert Interviews

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Betina Hollstein (University of Hamburg)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 from 09.00-12.30 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Expert interviews are often used in empirical social research. Sometimes they are part of the preparatory stage of a study. Sometimes expert interviews are the main data source. The course will focus on theory and practice of expert interviews, i.e. methodological foundations and practical considerations when conducting expert interviews.

The course starts out with a brief overview on the specific characteristics of qualitative data and methods. We will discuss problems and challenges associated with qualitative interviewing and different ways to deal with these challenges. We will address different types of expert interviews (guided interviews, narrative interview), by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and discussing the crucial steps when preparing and conducting expert interviews. Finally, we will discuss how to get access to the field, ways of data management and different strategies for data analysis.

Required basic knowledge: Basic knowledge and skills in social research methods and methodology (Bachelor degree in a Social Science discipline).

You have to register for the 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Qualitative Research Methodology and Design Strategies

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Anna Brake (University of Augsburg)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 from 09.00-12.30 h

Max. number of participants: 18

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Methodological rigor is of vital importance for the success of an qualitative research project. Research question, methodological approach of data collection, sampling and strategies of (verbal) data analysis have to be well matched in order to ensure a compelling overall research process. The workshop aims at providing the opportunity to discuss methodological issues and questions of qualitative research designs in the light of the participant’s own dissertation projects. It addresses Ph.D. students who seek further clarification for their methodological rationale in their qualitative study regarding the appropriateness  of the underlying research question, sampling procedures, interview or observation techniques, approaches for data analysis and others. Thus, in the workshop we will not debate on general issues of methodological importance, but will focus on the methodologically demanding topics the participants are facing within their own qualitative study.

Participants should be well advanced in defining the particular purpose of their qualitative research. They are kindly asked to submit a research abstract no later than two weeks before the beginning of the workshop to anna.brake@phil.uni-augsburg.de

You have to register for the 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Data Analysis with Stata

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dipl.-Verw. Wiss. Tobias Gramlich (University of Duisburg-Essen)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 from 09.00-12.30 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Stata is a statistical program package widely used (not only) in the social and economical sciences; it is used for data management, statistical graphics and analysis of quantitative data. Statistical concepts will not be part of the course, so participants should have some very basic knowledge of statistics. The course should enable participants to prepare their data for analysis, perform adequate analysis using a statistical computer program and to document these tasks to keep them reproducible.

For Beginners with no or very little Stata knowledge!

Course topics cover:

  • “What You Type is What You Get”: Basic stata Command syntax
  • Getting (and Understanding) Help within stata: stata Bulit-in Help System
  • Basic Data Management: Load and Save stata Datasets, Generate and Manipulate Variables, Describe and Label Data and Variables, Perform Basic uni- and bivariate Analyses, Change the Structure of your Data
  • Basic stata Graphics: Scatterplot, Histogram, Bar Chart
  • Working with “Do-” and “Log-” Files

You have to register for the 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Data Analysis with R

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Marco Lehmann (University of Hamburg)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 from 09.00-12.30 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The course introduces the programming language R used for statistical analyses. The beginning of each lecture comes with a demonstration of programming and statistical functions that will be elaborated in the course of study. The students will then practice with many statistical examples. In addition to statistical functions the course will introduce the definition of R as a programming language and its syntax rules. Students will further learn to use R’s scripting capabilities. Successful participation requires basic knowledge in descriptive and inferential statistics. The students are encouraged to bring their own laptops with the free software R (www.r-project.org/) and RStudio (www.rstudio.com/) installed.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

  • Wollschläger, Daniel (2012). Grundlagen der Datenauswertung mit R (2. Aufl.). Berlin: Springer.

You have to register for the 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.