Social Sciences Research Methods Programme course timetable

The course will provide students with an introduction to the popular and powerful statistics package Stata, a program commonly used in both social and natural sciences.

This foundational course is for graduate students who have no prior training in statistics.

Topics covered include: the notion of variables and how they are measured; ways of describing the central tendency and the dispersion of a variable; and the principles of hypothesis testing and statistical significance. The course also introduces students to the software Stata. The day consists of a lecture, and a computer lab session with exercises in Stata.

Bookings

All students wishing to book a place on this module must complete the SSRMC Skill Check before a place can be booked for them.

Students that have already completed the Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Students for whom this module is not compulsory can make a booking via the Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.

In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.

Week 2 - The Janus-Faced nature of Nationalism

This module will start by analyzing the so-called ‘Dark side’ of Nationalism often associated with xenophobia, ethnic cleansing and racism. In contrast, the Democratic side of Nationalism will be connected with the quest for recognition of national and ethnic minorities in the West.

Key questions: What are the major strengths of Nationalism? What do we mean by Nationalism? In which circumstances can we refer to nationalism as an ideology of inclusion and exclusion?

Week 3 - Globalization and National Identity

Identity is a definition, an interpretation of the self that establishes what and where the person is both in social and psychological terms. We will explore the contrast between Individual and Collective forms of identity. Key theories of nationalism will be will be taken and discussed in class into account the relevance of Nationalism in modern History.

Week 4 - The Rise of the Radical Right in Europe

We are witnessing a widening gap between the elites and the unemployed. In this context, feelings of vulnerability, fear of immigrants and resentment towards both the state and society come to the fore. Inequality comes to the fore and, in this context, the Radical Right is able gain support.

Key Questions to be debated in class:

1. How to generate national identity in peace time?
2. Identify some key connections between ‘nationalism and war’
3. In your view, what are the main reasons that explain the rise of the radical right?

This module introduces students to four of the most commonly used statistical tests in the social sciences: correlation, chi-square tests, t-tests, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Building upon the univariate techniques introduced in the Foundations in Applied Statistics module, these sessions aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of statistical methods designed to test associations between two variables (bivariate statistics). Students will learn about the assumptions underlying each test, and will receive practical instruction on how to generate and interpret bivariate results using Stata.

Bookings

Before a place can be booked for them, all students wishing to book a place on this module must have either:

• Completed the SSRMC Skill Check

OR

• Have successfully completed Foundations in Applied Statistics (FiAS)

Students that have already completed the SSRMC Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Students for whom this module is not compulsory can make a booking via the Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.

In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.

Face-to-face interviews are used to collect a wide range of information in the social sciences. They are appropriate for the gathering of information on individual and institutional patterns of behaviour; complex histories or processes; identities and cultural meanings; routines that are not written down; and life-history events. Face-to-face interviews thus comprise an appropriate method to generate information on individual behaviour, the reasons for certain patterns of acting and talking, and the type of connection people have with each other.

The first session provides an overview of interviewing as a social research method, then focuses on the processes of organising and conducting qualitative interviews. The second session explores the ethics and practical constraints of interviews as a research method, particularly relevant when attempting to engage with marginalised or stigmatised communities. The third session focuses on organisation and analysis after interviews, including interpretation through coding and close reading. This session involves practical examples from qualitative analysis software. The final session provides an opportunity for a hands-on session, to which students should bring their interview material (at whatever stage of the process: whether writing interview questions, coding or analysing data) in order to receive advice and support in taking the interview material/data to the next stage of the research process.

The module aims to provide students with an introduction to and overview of survey methods and its uses and limitations. It will introduce students both to some of the main theoretical issues involved in survey research (such as survey sampling, non-response and question wording) and to practicalities of the design and analysis of surveys. Students who attend this course will be able to design their own evaluate research that uses surveys, in particular to understand issues concerning sample selection, response bias and data analysis; to appreciate and use basic principles of questionnaire design; and to trace appropriate sources of data and appropriate exemplars of good survey practice.

The analysis of policy depends on many disciplines and techniques and so is difficult for many researchers to access. This module provides a mixed perspective on policy analysis, taking both an academic and a practitioner perspective. This is because the same tools and techniques can be used in academic research on policy options and change as those used in practice in a policy environment. This course is provided as three 2 hour sessions delivered as a mix of lectures and seminars. No direct analysis work will be done in the sessions themselves, but sample data and questions will be provided for students who wish to take the material into practice.

This module will introduce you to the theory and practice of multivariate analysis, covering Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and logistic regressions. You will learn how to read published results critically, to do simple multivariate modelling yourself, and to interpret and write about your results intelligently.

Half of the module is based in the lecture theatre, and covers the theory behind multivariate regression; the other half is lab-based, in which students will work through practical exercises using statistical software.

To get the most out of the course, you should also expect to spend some time between sessions having fun by building your own statistical models.

Bookings

Before a place can be booked for them, all students wishing to book a place on this module must have either:

• Completed the SSRMC Skill Check

OR

• Have successfully completed Foundations in Applied Statistics (FiAS) and Basic Quantitative Analysis (BQA) modules

Students that have already completed the SSRMC Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Students for whom this module is not compulsory can make a booking via the Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.

In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.

Week 2 - The Janus-Faced nature of Nationalism

This module will start by analyzing the so-called ‘Dark side’ of Nationalism often associated with xenophobia, ethnic cleansing and racism. In contrast, the Democratic side of Nationalism will be connected with the quest for recognition of national and ethnic minorities in the West.

Key questions: What are the major strengths of Nationalism? What do we mean by Nationalism? In which circumstances can we refer to nationalism as an ideology of inclusion and exclusion?

Week 3 - Globalization and National Identity

Identity is a definition, an interpretation of the self that establishes what and where the person is both in social and psychological terms. We will explore the contrast between Individual and Collective forms of identity. Key theories of nationalism will be will be taken and discussed in class into account the relevance of Nationalism in modern History.

Week 4 - The Rise of the Radical Right in Europe

We are witnessing a widening gap between the elites and the unemployed. In this context, feelings of vulnerability, fear of immigrants and resentment towards both the state and society come to the fore. Inequality comes to the fore and, in this context, the Radical Right is able gain support.

Key Questions to be debated in class:

1. How to generate national identity in peace time?
2. Identify some key connections between ‘nationalism and war’
3. In your view, what are the main reasons that explain the rise of the radical right?

Face-to-face interviews are used to collect a wide range of information in the social sciences. They are appropriate for the gathering of information on individual and institutional patterns of behaviour; complex histories or processes; identities and cultural meanings; routines that are not written down; and life-history events. Face-to-face interviews thus comprise an appropriate method to generate information on individual behaviour, the reasons for certain patterns of acting and talking, and the type of connection people have with each other.

The first session provides an overview of interviewing as a social research method, then focuses on the processes of organising and conducting qualitative interviews. The second session explores the ethics and practical constraints of interviews as a research method, particularly relevant when attempting to engage with marginalised or stigmatised communities. The third session focuses on organisation and analysis after interviews, including interpretation through coding and close reading. This session involves practical examples from qualitative analysis software. The final session provides an opportunity for a hands-on session, to which students should bring their interview material (at whatever stage of the process: whether writing interview questions, coding or analysing data) in order to receive advice and support in taking the interview material/data to the next stage of the research process.

The module aims to provide students with an introduction to and overview of survey methods and its uses and limitations. It will introduce students both to some of the main theoretical issues involved in survey research (such as survey sampling, non-response and question wording) and to practicalities of the design and analysis of surveys. Students who attend this course will be able to design their own evaluate research that uses surveys, in particular to understand issues concerning sample selection, response bias and data analysis; to appreciate and use basic principles of questionnaire design; and to trace appropriate sources of data and appropriate exemplars of good survey practice.

The analysis of policy depends on many disciplines and techniques and so is difficult for many researchers to access. This module provides a mixed perspective on policy analysis, taking both an academic and a practitioner perspective. This is because the same tools and techniques can be used in academic research on policy options and change as those used in practice in a policy environment. This course is provided as three 2 hour sessions delivered as a mix of lectures and seminars. No direct analysis work will be done in the sessions themselves, but sample data and questions will be provided for students who wish to take the material into practice.

The module will introduce students to the study of language use as a distinctive type of social practice. Attention will be focused primarily on the methodological and analytic principles of conversation analysis. (CA). However, it will explore the debates between CA and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), as a means of addressing the relationship between the study of language use and the study of other aspects of social life. It will also consider the roots of conversation analysis in the research initiatives of ethnomethodology, and the analysis of ordinary and institutional talk. It will finally consider the interface between CA and CDA.

This module is an extension of the three previous modules in the Basic Statistics stream, covering the theory and practice of multivariate analysis. Students will gain deeper knowledge of interaction effects in regression models and its interpretation as well as introduction to ordered and categorical regression models. You will learn why and when to use interaction between explanatory variables, to do simple marginal effects of interaction variables, to understand the principles for employing multinomial and ordered categorical models, to perform simple models or these kind, and to interpret and write about your results intelligently. Half of the module is based in the lecture theatre, and covers the theory behind interaction effects, multinomial and ordered categorical models. The other half is lab-based, in which students will work through practical exercises using Stata statistical software.

All students wishing to book a place on this module must have either:

• Completed the SSRMC Skill Check

OR

• Have successfully completed Foundations in Applied Statistics (FiAS), Basic Quantitative Analysis (BQA) and Doing Multivariate Analysis (DMA)

before a place can be booked for them.

Students that have already completed the SSRMC Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Bookings for this module can also be made via:

• The Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.
• In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.

This module is an extension of the three previous modules in the Basic Statistics stream, covering the theory and practice of multivariate analysis. Students will gain deeper knowledge of interaction effects in regression models and its interpretation as well as introduction to ordered and categorical regression models. You will learn why and when to use interaction between explanatory variables, to do simple marginal effects of interaction variables, to understand the principles for employing multinomial and ordered categorical models, to perform simple models or these kind, and to interpret and write about your results intelligently. Half of the module is based in the lecture theatre, and covers the theory behind interaction effects, multinomial and ordered categorical models. The other half is lab-based, in which students will work through practical exercises using Stata statistical software.

All students wishing to book a place on this module must have either:

• Completed the SSRMC Skill Check

OR

• Have successfully completed Foundations in Applied Statistics (FiAS), Basic Quantitative Analysis (BQA) and Doing Multivariate Analysis (DMA)

before a place can be booked for them.

Students that have already completed the SSRMC Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Bookings for this module can also be made via:

• The Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.
• In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.

This module is an extension of the three previous modules in the Basic Statistics stream, covering the theory and practice of multivariate analysis. Students will gain deeper knowledge of interaction effects in regression models and its interpretation as well as introduction to ordered and categorical regression models. You will learn why and when to use interaction between explanatory variables, to do simple marginal effects of interaction variables, to understand the principles for employing multinomial and ordered categorical models, to perform simple models or these kind, and to interpret and write about your results intelligently. Half of the module is based in the lecture theatre, and covers the theory behind interaction effects, multinomial and ordered categorical models. The other half is lab-based, in which students will work through practical exercises using Stata statistical software.

All students wishing to book a place on this module must have either:

• Completed the SSRMC Skill Check

OR

• Have successfully completed Foundations in Applied Statistics (FiAS), Basic Quantitative Analysis (BQA) and Doing Multivariate Analysis (DMA)

before a place can be booked for them.

Students that have already completed the SSRMC Skill Check may have had a place booked for them by their Department. Students can check this by typing their CRSid into the search box at the very top right of this page, hitting the enter key then clicking on their name. This will show all module(s) that they are booked onto, as applicable.

Bookings for this module can also be made via:

• The Basic Statistics Stream Booking Form on the SSRMC website.
• In cases where you have a problem or a clash, please contact the SSRMC Administrator who will try to help you.