Methodology training workshops

From the February 2009 GSA newsletter (Amber Watts, Secretary):

A topic I commonly hear discussed among graduate students and other emerging scholars is the difficulty of keeping up with the newest research methods. Maybe you saw a great paper at GSA and wanted to learn how they did that with their data! Sometimes the courses you need are not offered. Other times you run into snags when you actually try to apply what you’ve learned in class to real data using new and complex data analysis programs. Maybe there is no one in your department who has the time to sit down with you and help you get your programs running or interpret the meaning of your results output.

One good way to get training and assistance is by attending one of the many statistical methodology workshops offered in several regions around the country and abroad. Most of these workshops offer an opportunity to learn about new methods, statistical software programming, and get personalized attention to your specific research questions. Many allow you to bring your own data and get assistance running your analyses. Courses are offered using a variety of different data analysis software packages including SAS, LISREL, Mplus, and others. This is great for help with dissertation data or writing research papers. If you are looking for opportunities to use publicly available datasets, for example the Health and Retirement Study (HRS-AHEAD), often there are courses for that purpose as well that can teach you how to get permission to use the data and how to use it.

These workshops are usually hosted by universities or professional organizations (like GSA) and many are offered in the summer time so they won’t interfere with your academic calendar. It is also a great opportunity for networking with other scholars in and outside of your area of research who use similar methods. It is a great addition to your CV and it couldn’t hurt to go check out other universities for potential future employment opportunities. Some programs offer student rates, scholarships, or may be partly financed through your graduate program. It is not too soon to start thinking about registering for summer workshops now.

Topics that have recently been covered include:
Structural Equation Modeling, Multilevel Modeling, Longitudinal Data Analysis Techniques, Meta-Analysis, Item Response Theory, Social Network Dynamics, Factor Analysis, Categorical Data Analysis, Growth Curve Modeling, Missing Data Analysis, Survival Analysis

There are many courses available, some of which are listed on GSA’s events calendar starting in the month of June 2009.

You can also check with your own university for available courses. If you know of other courses that you’d like to share with ESPO or GSA members, contact us (amberwatts@ku.edu) or add them to the GSA events calendar.