Statistics and Research Methods Workshops

The School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs is pleased to announce two fall semester programs under the Initiative on Statistics and Research Methods. The Initiative, led by Alan Clayton-Matthews, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, is intended to foster the development of cross-disciplinary social science quantitative techniques and research methods courses, offer workshops on statistics and methods for graduate students, and provide consultation on methodological issues in research.

We start the fall semester with two “basic tools” workshops offered by Prof. Clayton Matthews, and in October a short course on STATA by Michael Handel, Associate Professor of Sociology. These programs are directed to graduate students and faculty in the social sciences. Please forward this memo to any faculty or graduate students who might wish to participate.

Fall 2011 Workshops

1. Basic Tools: Two short “refresher” sessions on fundamental issues in statistics

• Expectations in probability and statistics

What they are, why they are important, and the basic rules of the algebra of expectations.
Tuesday, September 13 and Tuesday September 20, 2:00-3:30, Room TBD

• Overview of matrix algebra

A primer and review on reading matrix notation and doing matrix arithmetic: adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing matrices.
Tuesday, September 27 and Tuesday, October 4, 2:00-3:30, Room TBD

Space is limited. Register with Theresa Dolan (t.dolan@neu.edu) to reserve your seat.

2. Short Course of STATA

PPUA 6211 Research Toolkit for Urban and Regional Policy: Using STATA (1 credit)

CRN 16357
Michael Handel, Associate Professor of Sociology
October 4-October 27 3:30-5:00pm, Tuesday and Wednesday 418 CH
Introduces students to the use of the statistical package STATA in social science research.

• Sign up for PPUA 6211 through the student course registration system. Faculty may sit in depending on availability.

Coming in Spring 2012: a multiple session workshop on a selected topic in statistics and methods. Contact Professor Clayton-Matthews directly a.clayton-matthews@neu.edu on suggestions for the spring workshop or on related statistics or research methods issues.