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 2011-2012 academic year below. All of the workshop videos have also been compiled in a playlist on Media Collections Online.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Principles of Workflow in Data Analysis
Dr. J. Scott Long
2:30-4:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
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%. An efficient workflow saves time, introduces greater reliability into 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. Longreceived his PhD in Sociology from Cornell. He is Distinguished Professor and Chancellor's Professor of Sociology and Statistics at Indiana University, Bloomington. He teaches quantitative methods both at Indiana University and at the ICSPR Summer Program. His earlier research examined gender differences in the scientific career. In recent years, he has collaborated with Eliza Pavalko, Bernice Pescosolido, John Bancroft, Julia Heiman and others in studies of health and aging, stigma and mental health, and human sexuality.
Materials available by email [2010 version] (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video [2010 version] (Media Collections Online)
Saturday, September 10 and Saturday, September 17, 2011
Introduction to R, I and II
Thomas Jackson
1:00-3:00pm, Library 503
Thomas Jackson is from the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center. Registration required ($10.) WIM is co-sponsoring this software workshop in partnership with the IU Department of Statistics and the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Ethical and Political Considerations in Doing Research In Communities of Color
Dr. John H. Stanfield II
1:30-3:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
Political and ethical dos and don'ts in doing interviewing (survey and oral history) , observational (ethnographic), and historical (archival) research in impoverished urban communities of color will be discussed as well as practical strategy options to build inter-cultures of trust and rapport. Also, some political and ethical problems culturally different and middle class researchers of the same cultural ancestry may experience while "in the community" and while attempting to get feedback while in the community and after departing.
Dr. Stanfieldis a sociologist, historian, and religious studies scholar in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Indiana University, where he is also Director of The Research Program on Transcultural and Intercultural Philanthropic Studies. He is a historical sociologist of knowledge and a community oriented public sociologist who has written extensively on the politics and ethics of epistemologies, theories, and methods in qualitative and quantitative research in non-white communities. His most recent publications, a trilogy, will be published by Left Coast Press this summer: Historical Foundations of Black Reflective Sociology; Black Reflective Sociology: Epistemologies, Theories, and Methods; and Rethinking Race and Ethnicity in Research Methods.
Materials available by email (event flyer)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Tuesday, September 27, and Tuesday, October 4, 2011
General Linear Model Workshop, I and II
Stephanie Dickinson
4:00-6:00pm, Ballantine 118
Stephanie Dickinson is from the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center. WIM is co-sponsoring this software workshop in partnership with the IU Department of Statistics and the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center. Registration required. $10 fee.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Defining and Confronting Research Misconduct
Dr. John R. Baumann
3:00-4:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
"Because the conduct of research rests on the foundation of intellectual honesty, violations call into question not only the validity of the particular research project but the social context in which it is conducted." So reads the introductory paragraph of IU's policy on research misconduct. This workshop aims to introduce and explore the idea of research misconduct, focusing on its definition, the process for responding to allegations of research misconduct, and its impact on the immediate research team as well as the broader research community and the public at large.
John Baumann is Executive Director of Research Ethics, Education and Policy (REEP) at Indiana University. REEP is a university-wide research support office developed to lead efforts to enhance the ethical and responsible conduct and administration of research through policy, process, and education. Prior to this, he was vice provost for research at U. of Missouri – Kansas City and Deputy Executive Director of National Development and Research Institutes, a private not-for-profit science research institute with a focus on substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and related social problems. Dr. Baumann received his PhD in sociology from the Graduate Center of City University of New York and has over 20 years of experience in all aspects of the administration of research and sponsored programs and with the integration of research compliance/responsible conduct of research into the enterprise of research and research administration.
Materials available by email (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Saturday, October 1, and Saturday, October 8, 2011
Introduction to Stata Workshop, I and II
Jin Chen
1:00-3:00pm, Library 503
Instructor Jin Chen is from the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center. WIM is co-sponsoring this software workshop in partnership with the IU Department of Statistics and the Indiana Statistical Consulting Center. Registration required ($10).
Friday, October 7, 2011
Introduction to Regression Models for Panel Data Analysis
Dr. Patricia A. McManus
3:00-5:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
Panel data contain many individual units that are observed at more than one point in time. This workshop covers the basic theory underlying the analysis of panel data along with essential terminology, an overview of the kind of data that are appropriate for panel analysis, examples from various disciplines, and a list of common mistakes made when working with panel data models. We then work through an example of a practical application of the linear error components model from assumptions to estimation, specification tests and interpretation of the first difference model, fixed effects model, and random effects model. The workshop concludes with a brief discussion of limitations, extensions, and related approaches.
Dr. McManusis Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, where she studies inequality, poverty and mobility. She teaches graduate courses in applied statistics for the social sciences, including a course on panel data analysis at the University of Michigan’s ICPSR and a spring semester course on longitudinal data analysis. Her work on social mobility processes using longitudinal data techniques has appeared in American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and Social Forces.
Materials available by email (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, October 21, 2011
The General Social Survey and the International Social Survey Program: Monitoring America Across Time and in Comparative Perspective
Dr. Tom W. Smith
2:30-4:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
The National Data Program for the Social Sciences (NDPSS) is the largest and longest-term program supported by the Sociology Program at the National Science Foundation. This talk describes the evolving structure of the NDPSS and new features that are being implemented. Attention is also devoted to describing some of the societal change that has occurred across the last four decades.
Dr. Smitha principal investigator of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences and director of its General Social Survey (GSS) at the National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Smith was co-founder and Secretary General of the International Social Survey Program (1997-2003).
Materials available by email (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, October 28, 2011
Designing Case Study Research: Lessons from a Grant Reviewer
Dr. Andrew Bennett
10:00–11:30am, Woodburn Hall 200
This session will cover the essential tasks of designing case study research (specifying the puzzle, identifying alternative explanations, specifying the variables and measuring them, selecting cases, and formulating questions to ask of each case). It draws on the lecturer's experience reviewing hundreds of grant proposals for the National Science Foundation and the US Institute of Peace to identify ten common flaws in case study research designs.
Materials available by email (event flyer)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, October 28, 2011
Using Typological Theorizing to Address Causal Complexity and Select Cases for Study
Dr. Andrew Bennett
2:00-3:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
This session will discuss how typological theories, or theories on different configurations of variables that constitute "types," can help address complex causal relations such as high order interaction effects and equifinality even when there is limited diversity of cases. The discussion will emphasize operational issues such as how to develop typological theories, how to iterate between theorizing and initial empirical case study examples, and how to use typological theories to clarify case selection for qualitative research projects. The session will focus on two extended examples that participants may want to review in advance, though it is not essential order to follow the discussion. The first is an article on burden sharing in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (Bennett, Lepgold, and Unger, International Organization, Winter 1994), and the second is an article on military occupations (Edelstein, International Security, Summer 2004).
Dr. Bennett is Professor of Government at Georgetown University. He is the author, with Alexander George, of "Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences" (MIT Press, 2005), and President of the Institute on Qualitative and Multimethod Research (IQMR, easy to find on Google), a two-week training institute at Syracuse University that hosts over 150 PhD students each year. Professor Bennett has reviewed and critiqued over 500 case study research designs for PhD students and grant-awarding organizations.
Materials available by email (event flyer)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, November 4, 2011
Theory Construction in the Social Sciences
Dr. Alan R. Dennis
2:00-3:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
In many social science disciplines, theory is what gets papers published. Data are 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.
Dr. Dennisis Professor of Information Systems and holds the John T. Chambers Chair of Internet Systems in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. 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.
Materials available by email (event flyer, presentation slides)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Friday, November 11, 2011
Fat Chance: Adventures in Debunking
Dr. Russell Lyons
2:30-4:00pm, Woodburn Hall 200
A series of recent highly touted papers by Christakis and Fowler claim to have demonstrated the existence of transmission via social networks of various personal characteristics, including obesity, smoking cessation, happiness, and loneliness. Those papers also assert that such influence extends to three degrees of separation in social networks. However, their statistical methodology is so flawed that the only reliable conclusion one can make is that we need to improve statistics education. In this talk, I explain the background and describe the reactions of journals when I tried to publish my critique. I also describe reactions to my eventually published paper, including media attention and adoption as reading material in graduate courses.
Dr. Lyonsis Professor of Mathematics and Adjunct Professor of Statistics at Indiana University. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1983.
Materials available by email (event flyer)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Best Practices in Focus Group Research
Dr. Richard Krueger
2:30-4:30pm, Woodburn Hall 200
Dr. Richard Krueger has been conducting focus groups for over 30 years. He brings a wealth of experience in conducting focus groups in the academic, public, non-profit, government and education environments. After conducting thousands of focus groups he has identified a number of best practices that they will share on November 30. He will be sharing those tips and answering questions. Focus group interviews look easy, but they are challenging to organize, conduct and analyze. Dr. Krueger will review essential elements and successful practices that results in quality focus group research.
Materials available by email (event flyer)
Video (Media Collections Online)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Using Stories for Research and Evaluation
Dr. Richard Krueger
10:00-11:30am, Indiana Memorial Union, Maple Room
Stories are powerful. A well-told story grabs us and keeps us interested. It can help us remember. It can help us understand. It can help us feel. It can help us learn. It can help us share what we know with others. Stories can breathe life into numbers. Stories help lay people understand research—whether it is in medicine, economics, psychology, business, or science. In addition, stories can help organizations convey their goals, successes and needs to the public. But these short narrative accounts are sometimes dismissed as fiction, unreliable, untrue and mere anecdotes. This lecture will present strategies that allow the researcher or evaluators to use stories in a credible, defensible manner using accepted principles of qualitative research.
Dr. Kruegeris professor emeritus and senior fellow in evaluation studies in the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Dr. Krueger is a former president of the American Evaluation Association and the author of books on qualitative research and focus group interviewing. He is the author of several books on focus group research, including “Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research,” 2009, Sage Publishing.
Materials available by email (event flyer)