Tag Archives: Lecturer Dr

Theoretical and Applied Aspects of Survey Sampling

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Stephanie Eckman (Institute for Employment Research/IAB)

Date: Thursday, 02/10/14 from 09.30-18.00 h

Max. number of participants: 20

Credit Points: 5 CP for participating in the whole IRWS

Language of instruction: English

Contents:

This course will cover various methods of sample selection, and their advantages and disadvantages. We will also discuss why it is important to analyze survey data using methods that account for its complex design, and how to do in Stata. Students should have had at least previous course in statistics – no prior knowledge of sampling theory is assumed, but students should be comfortable with statistical concepts such as hypothesis testing, variance, standard errors, confidence intervals, etc. In addition, basic knowledge of Stata is required.

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

Case Study Research

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Kamil Marcinkiewicz (University of Hamburg)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 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 8th International Research Workshop to participate in this course.

Structural Equation Modelling with R

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Holger Steinmetz (University of Paderborn)

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/German (depending on participants)

Contents:

Structural equation models (SEMs) have become a powerful tool in the behavioral sciences to test hypotheses about relationships between variables and implications of causal structures. This workshop offers an introduction to the background, principles, opportunities, and limitations of SEMs. These issues are illustrated using the lavaan package (latent variable analysis) that is run within the free software platform R. Lavaan has recently become a serious competitor to commercial software packages and is delivers almost everything a user needs to perform SEM. Participation to the course requires some basic knowledge of regression analysis, variances, covariances of variables, and inferential statistics. Knowledge of R is not necessary.

Course topics cover:

  • A short treatment of causality (the counter factual approach) and introduction to causal models and their illustration with path diagrams / causal graphs.
  • The principle behind estimating parameters and basis for evaluation the adequacy of the model (e.g., chi-square test) including Wright’s path tracing rules and Pearls d-separation.
  • Treatment and modeling of latent variables and the connection to theoretical constructs.
  • Explanation of the lavaan syntax and exercises (modeling own data / models of the participants is appreciated).
  • Reasons for misfitting models, evaluation, diagnostics, and re-specification.
  • The problem of endogeneity and the valuable role of instrumental variables in SEMs.

Required packages to be installed:

  • psych
  • car
  • Hmisc
  • MASS
  • QuantPsyc
  • Boot
  • Mnormt
  • Pbivnorm
  • quadprog
  • simsem
  • lavaan

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

Questionnaire Design

Institution: see Organisers & Acknowledgements

Programme of study: International Research Workshop

Lecturer: Dr. Timo Lenzner (Gesis – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)

Date: Monday, 29/09/14 – Wednesday, 01/10/14 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 objective of this course is to give participants a thorough grounding in the psychological processes involved in answering survey questions and to introduce them to principles that can be applied to write effective survey questions. It covers the general principles of questionnaire design, question wording and construction of answer formats, special issues faced in writing factual, attitudinal and sensitive questions, and an introduction to various methods of questionnaire pretesting. Sessions combine lectures with practical exercises and discussion.

Please note that the course does not cover the psychometric principles of item or scale development. The course does not require any previous knowledge.

Recommended literature and pre-readings:

  • Krosnick, J. A. & Presser, S. (2010). Question and Questionnaire Design. In P. V. Marsden & J. D. Wright (Eds.), Handbook of Survey Research (2nd ed.) (pp. 263-313). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Fowler, Floyd J., Jr. and Carol Cosenza (2008). “Writing effective survey questions”, in: De Leeuw, Edith D., Joop J. Hox and Don A. Dillman (eds.), The international handbook of survey methodology, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 136-160. (http://joophox.net/papers/SurveyHandbookCRC.pdf)
  • Schaeffer, Nora Cate and Stanley Presser. 2003. “The Science of Asking Questions.” Annual Review of Sociology, 29: 65-88.

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 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.