Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Jonas Buche (Goethe-University Frankfurt)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 from 14.30 – 18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Since the publication of the seminal work “The Comparative Method” by Charles Ragin in 1987, set-theoretic methods and especially Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) have become a common research strategy in the social sciences. Set-theoretic methods analyze cases with regard to the identification of sufficient and necessary conditions and assume set relations to be equifinal, conjunctural and asymmetric. Not least since so-called fuzzy sets have been introduced to the method, there has been a rising interest in QCA as a welcome alternative to both small-n case studies and large-n statistical analyses. In short, QCA is recommended if ‘if…then’ hypotheses are analyzed; if the goal is to derive sufficient and necessary conditions; if a comparison is planned; and if there is a mid-sized number of cases (between 10 and 60+).

The course offers a comprehensive introduction to QCA and is both conceptually and technically oriented. It starts off from an overview of the basics of set theory and demarcates QCA as a case oriented methods from both the quantitative and the interpretive-qualitative research paradigm. Through the notion of necessary and sufficient conditions and of truth tables, the single elements are built into the Truth Table Algorithm. However, this algorithm is not free of problems. Therefore, some pitfalls and strategies how to overcome them are presented. At the third day, the software tool fsQCA will be introduced and applied to published studies.

No prior knowledge is required. We will use the software fsQCA2.5 which can be downloaded at www.fsqca.com. Please note that the software does only operate on Apple Products with parallels!

Pre-readings:

• Cebotari, Victor, and Maarten P. Vink (2013). “A Configurational Analysis of Ethnic Protest in Europe.” In International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 54(4), 298-324.
• Emmenegger, Patrick. (2011). “Job Security Regulations in Western Democracies. A Fuzzy Set Analysis.” In European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 50(3), 336-64.
• Freitag, Markus, and Raphaela Schlicht (2009). “Educational Federalism in Germany. Foundations of Social Inequality in Education.” In Governance, Vol. 22(1), 47-72.

Literature:

• Schneider, Carsten Q./Wagemann, Claudius, 2012. Set-Theoretic Methods for the Social Sciences. A Guide to Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Ragin, Charles C., 2008. Redesigning Social Inquiry. Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Goertz, Gary/Mahoney, James, 2012. A Tale of Two Cultures: Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Social Sciences. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: PD Dr. Elke Holst (DIW Berlin & University of Flensburg), Andrea Schäfer, SOCIUM/Universität Bremen)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 from 14.30 – 18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households, located at the German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin. Every year, there were nearly 11,000 households, and about 30,000 persons sampled. The data provide information on all household members, consisting of Germans living in the Old and New German States, Foreigners, and recent Immigrants to Germany. The Panel was started in 1984. Some of the many topics include household composition, occupational biographies, employment, earnings, health and satisfaction indicators. The course starts with an overview of the SOEP 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 aim of the second part of this course is to give an introduction to the topic of survival analysis and use SOEP data to illustrate how to plot non-parametric estimates, test for differences between groups and how to fit a Cox’s semi-parametric proportional hazard model. General statistical concepts and methods in this course include e.g. types of censoring and truncation, survival and hazard functions, and semi-parametric proportional hazards model. Finally, we explore the motivation, strength and limits of Cox’s semi-parametric proportional hazard model.

Required: intermediate statistical knowledge, basic Stata skills

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

• John P. Haisken-DeNew & Joachim R. Frick (Eds.): DTC Desktop Companion to the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Version 8.0 – Dec 2005, Updated to Wave 21 (U). This documentation is intended to give novice users a “jump start” in understanding the SOEP, its structure, depth, and research potential.
• SOEP-Homepage: Getting familiar with SOEP dataset and documents:http://www.diw.de/en/soep,
  http://www.diw.de/en/diw_02.c.221180.en/research_data_center_soep.html
• Allison, P. A. (2014): Event History and Survival Analysis. Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. SageCleves, M.; W. Gould, R. G. Gutierrez, and Y. V.
• Marchenko (2010): An Introduction to Survival Analysis Using Stata, (3nd ed), Stata Press.
• Sandra Gerstorf, Jürgen Schupp (Eds.) (2015): SOEP Wave Report 2015. Berlin: DIW Berlin/SOEP.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Kamil Marcinkiewicz (University of Hamburg)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 from 14.30 – 18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The case study research is frequently applied in the social sciences. It is particularly popular among political scientists, especially those specializing in area studies. The ubiquity of the case study research contrasts with the scarcity of theoretical reflection on its core methodological aspects. Also the benefits of comparative analyses are often underestimated. In this course participants will have an opportunity to learn more about what the case study research is, what are its weakness and strengths and how should we go about the core question in designing a case study: selection of cases. The course combines lectures with practical exercises and discussion of students’ projects.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

• Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research: Principles and Practices (pp. 17-63). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• George, A. L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences (pp. 1-34). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Rueschemeyer, D. (2003). Can One or a Few Cases Yield Theoretical Gains? In J. Mahoney and D. Rueschemeyer (Eds.), Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences (pp. 305-337) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Hall, P.A. (2008). Systematic Process Analysis: When and How to Use it. European Political Science, 7(3), 304-317.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Timo Friedel Mitze (University of Southern Denmark/Department of Business and Economics)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 from 14.30 – 18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 30

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The course is basically divided into two parts: Part 1) Analyzing panel data. Part 2) Spatial Data Analysis

Part 1): Analysis of Panel Data:

This part of the course is an introduction to the panel data analysis and it provides some insights into why we use panel data. What kinds of models are available for panel data and how do we estimate such models. It also covers some extensions to the basic panel data models and finally there will be a session where you will learn how to estimate panel data using STATA.

Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of Econometrics. OLS, GLS. Please bring your laptop computers with STATA installed on it.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

• Relevant Chapters in Cameron, A.C. und Trivedi, P.K. Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications, 2005, Cambridge University Press, Chapter V

Part 2): Spatial Data Analysis

In research fields such as regional science, quantitative sociology and business analysis as well as real estate, labor and health economics (to name just a few), researchers are increasingly aware of the fact that “space matters”. Thus, the goal of this workshop module is to equip participants with the basic knowledge about methods and tools currently available in “spatial statistics” and “spatial econometrics”. Besides presenting the general logic and theoretical foundations of these modeling approaches for variables with an explicit geographical context, a strong focus lies on illustrating the potential for applied work with these tools in the software package STATA. The module is structured as follows: After a brief introduction of the historical evolution of spatial data analysis, different research settings in economics and related research fields are outlined, which may call for the explicit use of spatial estimation techniques, for instance, in order to identify the importance of space-time autocorrelations and neighboring effects (spatial spillovers). Following this introduction, the concept of the spatial weighting matrix is introduced and statistical approaches to measure and visualize the degree of spatial dependence for a variable under study are presented. Moving from univariate to multivariate modeling techniques, the course then derives estimation techniques used in the field of spatial econometrics and links this theoretical knowledge with hands-on applications for different spatial datasets. Finally, to serve as an outlook on future research possibilities, state-of-the-art concepts such as spatial panel data models and spatial limited dependent variable models will be presented. Datasets and STATA ado-files will be provided ahead of the course and should be installed on the participants’ computers.

Prerequisite: Basic knowledge of Econometrics. OLS, GLS.  Please bring your laptop computers with STATA installed on it.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Sascha Albers (University of Antwerp)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 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:

All research is based on theory, but not all theory is based on research. If this claim is true, it is essential for every scholar to understand what theory is, what theory is not, which types of theory there are, how to skillfully apply, extend, build on and connect extant theories and even, how to develop new theory. In this course we will examine why this is the case and work to systematically build understanding on how to develop theory and conceptual contributions. In working on theory and conceptual paper development we intend to deepen participants’ appreciation of theory building and to assist them to craft potentially valuable and effective research papers. The course has a practical orientation in that it is application centered. It is not a philosophy of science course.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

• Bettis, R. A., Gambardella, A., Helfat, C., & Mitchell, W. 2014. Theory in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 35(10): 1411-1413.
• Corley, K. G. & Gioia, D. A. 2011. Building Theory about Theory Building: What Constitutes a Theoretical Contribution? Academy of Management Review, 36(1): 12-32.
• Whetten, D. A. 1989. What Constitutes A Theoretical Contribution? Academy of Management Review, 14(4): 490-495.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Detlef Steuer (Helmut Schmidt University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg)

Date: Thursday, 29/09/16 (09:30 – 18:00)

Max. number of participants: 15

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

How do you guarantee a colleague will get the same results if trying to re-create your analysis? How do you guarantee you remember all the details auf the simulations behind your nice paper? That is where Reproducible Research comes to the rescue.

The first part of the workshop will give an introduction into the ideas and concepts of reproducible research. It will be explained why RepRes is a wonderful idea and why we have the tools at hand, if we use R and RStudio.

In the second part the learned should be applied. The participant should type some reproducible documents and such gain some hands-on experience. A computer with R / RStudio should be brought to get the most out of the course.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. David Richter (German Institute for Economic Research – DIW Berlin)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 from 14.30 – 18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The course aims to provide an overview of the theoretical basics and empirical evidence related to questionnaire design. The cognitive process of survey responding, challenges of designing effective survey questions including aspects of proper question wording and optimal response formats, as well as pretest techniques for evaluating survey questions will be discussed.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Nicolas Legewie (German Institute for Economic Research – DIW Berlin)

Date: Monday, 26/09/16 – Wednesday, 28/09/16 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:

In this course, participants will learn the basics of qualitative interviewing. We will work with a standard guided interviewing technique. In three sessions we will cover issues of research design (research questions and case selection), designing interview guidelines, conducting interviews, and analyzing qualitative interview data. The structure of the course follows a workshop format, with participants practicing design, interviewing, and analytic skills in individual and group exercises.

Participants who attend this workshop will have familiarized themselves with relevant methodological and practical issues of qualitative interviewing and gathered first experiences designing, conducting, and analyzing qualitative interviews.

Basic knowledge on methods of empirical social research are required. No previous knowledge on qualitative methods is necessary.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Andrea Knecht (Independent Researcher)

Date: Thursday, 29/09/16 (09:30 – 18:00)

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

The focus of social network analysis lays on relations among actors. These relations may merge, show specific structures, have effects, and evolve. Applications of social network analysis can be found in various fields of social research. The workshop is intended to give an introduction to fundamental ideas and applications. Participants become familiar with relevant theoretical arguments and basic statistical methods. We address typical issues related to social network analysis in practice and (if applicable) discuss research projects of participants. Prior knowledge is not required but does not present an obstacle.

Course topics cover

• Classic and typical applications of sna
• Fundamental concepts and theoretical approaches
• Methods for data collection
• Basic statistics on the individual and network level
• Discussion of network projects

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

• Freeman, L. (2004). The development of social network analysis. A Study in the Sociology of Science.
• Scott, J. (2012). Social network analysis. Sage.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Institution: see Organisers & Supporters

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Jonathan Mole, (Europa-Universität Flensburg)

Date: Thursday, 29/09/16 (09:30 – 18:00)

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

Writing an academic text can be a daunting and complex task requiring knowledge of a range of accepted writing conventions as well as the ability to construct sentences that are idiomatically and grammatically correct. This course aims to highlight a range of important components in the writing process through analysis and practice using authentic academic texts. Topics covered include: academic style (formality, impersonal and objective language, passive voice, caution, nominalisation); structure at sentence, paragraph and document level; reporting verbs and their forms; coherence and cohesion.

Requirement of students: Please supply at least two weeks before the workshop begins an abstract or proposal for your research project, or a similar extract of academic text that you have written. English language skills on CEFR level B2/C1.

You have to register for the 10th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.