The Workshop in Methods (WIM) was created in 2009 with the mission of providing introductory education and training in sophisticated research methods to graduate students and faculty in the social sciences at Indiana University. The initial idea for WIM began with Scott Long, who discussed his vision with Dr. William Alex Pridemore. Pridemore created WIM and directed the series until 2013.
Browse workshops from the 2009-2010 academic year below. All of the workshop videos have also been compiled in a playlist on Media Collections Online.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Navigating IRB
John Kennedy
10:00am-12:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
The role of Institutional Review Boards on campuses across the country is often misunderstood. While many view the IRB with trepidation and as an administrative hurdle to be cleared, few will deny that the protection of human subjects is of utmost importance. Apropos of this presentation, attendees may wish to read the lead article, entitled “Understanding bureaucracy in health science ethics: Toward a better Institutional Review Board,” in the most recent (September) issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
John Kennedy has directed the IU Center for Survey Research since 1987. He is currently the associate chair of the IUB IRB and chairs the IUB research integrity committee. He chaired the American Sociological Association’s Committee on Professional Ethics for three years during which the committee re-wrote the association’s ethics code. He received a PhD in sociology from Penn State and was employed at the US Census Bureau for four years.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
How can IU's Stat/Math Center help you? Statistical, Mathematical and GIS Software Support at Indiana University
John Samuel
12:00-1:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
The mission of Indiana University’s Stat/Math Center is to support IU faculty, students, and staff as they employ statistical analyses and advanced mathematical operations in their university work. Their services include, among other things, support and consulting for a wide range of statistical and mathematical and qualitative software, in-depth consulting services for applied statistics, and instructional services for faculty who are integrating statistical and mathematical software into their classes.
In spite of the Stat/Math Center’s great work, however, many faculty and graduate students across campus are unfamiliar with the Center’s services. John Samuel, the Director of the Center, will provide an overview of these services and answer any questions you may have about how the Stat/Math Center can aid you in your work.
John Samuel is the Director of the Stat/Math Center at Indiana University.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Indiana Statistical Consulting Center services
Stephanie Dickinson and Katie Whitlock
Materials available by email (presentation slides)Friday, November 13, 2009
Building Theory in the Social Sciences
Alan Dennis
1:30-3:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
In many social science disciplines, theory is what gets papers published. Data is interesting, but it is the theory that makes the contribution, even in empirical papers. In this workshop, we will look at what theory is and what theory is not, and discuss how to build theory. Since this is a workshop, we will have time for participants to work in groups to critique samples of "theory" and to think about and solicit comments on their own theory building work.
Alan Dennis is Professor of Information Systems and holds the John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems in the Kelley School of Business. He is a Senior Editor at MIS Quarterly and Co-Director of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics. He is the author of numerous articles, including several theory articles. He teaches a Ph.D. seminar on dissertation proposal writing and theory building.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Principles of Workflow in Data Analysis
J. Scott Long
4:00-6:00pm, Woodburn Hall 220C
The workflow of data analysis encompasses the entire process of scientific research: Planning, documenting, and organizing your work; creating, labeling, naming, and verifying variables; performing and presenting statistical analyses; preserving your work; and (perhaps, most important) producing replicable results. Most of our work in statistics classes focuses on estimating and interpreting models. In most “real world” research projects, these activities involve less than 10% of the total work. Professor Long’s talk is about the other 90% of the work. An efficient workflow saves time, introduces greater reliability into the steps of the analysis, and generates replicable results. A recent entry on a blog discussing Professor Long’s recent book, The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata, claimed: “The publication of [this book] may even reduce Indiana’s comparative advantage of producing hotshot quant PhDs now that grad students elsewhere can vicariously benefit from this important aspect of the training there.” Can you afford to miss this talk?
Dr. J. Scott Long is a Chancellor's Professor of Sociology and Statistics and the Associate Vice Provost for Research at Indiana University.
Materials available by email (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, December 4, 2009
Meta-analysis and systematic reviews
David Wilson
10:00am-12:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
Meta-analysis is a statistical method of synthesizing quantitative results across studies examining a common research question. This talk will focus on the logic and methods of meta-analysis. A key feature of meta-analysis is the effect size, which encodes study findings on a common index, such as the standardized mean difference, correlation coefficient, or odds-ratio. Analysis of these effect sizes considers not only the central tendency of effects across studies but also the relationship of study features to variability in effects. Both fixed- and random-effects models will be discussed, as well as approaches to moderator analysis.
David B. Wilson, is Associate Professor and Chair of the Administration of Justice Department at George Mason University and co-Director of the Research Program on Systematic Reviews. His Ph.D. is in applied social psychology from Claremont Graduate University. His research interests include the effectiveness of offender rehabilitation and crime prevention efforts, program evaluation methodology, and meta-analysis. His has undertaken research on the effectiveness of juvenile delinquency interventions, school-based prevention programs, correctional boot-camps, court-mandated batterer intervention programs, and drug-courts. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Experimental Criminology, a consulting editor for Psychological Bulletin, and was awarded the Marcia Guttentag Award for Early Promise as an Evaluator by the American Evaluation Association.