Install the app
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Menu
Install this application on your home screen for quick and easy access when you’re on the go.
Just tap then “Add to Home Screen”
Monday 25 – Friday 29 July 2022
2 hours of live teaching per day
10:00 – 12:00 CEST
This course provides a highly interactive online teaching and learning environment, using state of the art online pedagogical tools. It is designed for a demanding audience (researchers, professional analysts, advanced students) and capped at a maximum of 16 participants so that the teaching team can cater to the specific needs of each individual.
Quantitative data is becoming increasingly available, and publications are making the use of it more prevalent in political science. This course offers you the necessary tools to engage in and become an informed consumer of quantitative research. Its goal is to teach you the basic inferential statistical techniques used in political science research, allowing you to progress to more advanced techniques.
3 credits Engage fully with class activities
4 credits Complete a post-class assignment
Cristina Mitrea is an Associate Professor of Sociology. She earned her PhD in political science at Central European University.
Her research interests lie in the fields of political behaviour and political socialisation.
We begin with building blocks of statistical inference. We discuss the relationship between populations and samples, issues of measurements and scale, types of variables, basic distributions (with a focus on the normal distribution), as well as measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and variability (range, variance and standard deviation).
We continue to discuss normal distribution and the relationship between samples and populations, delving into the specifics of standardised scores and probability.
We explore the logic of hypothesis testing. You will learn how to formulate and test simple hypotheses, touching on uncertainty and errors in testing.
We progress to more complex hypothesis testing (t test and ANOVA) and explore comparisons to a given standard, comparisons between groups, and changes over time.
We test relationships between variables using correlations, bivariate regression and the Chi-Square test. We discuss the principles behind these statistical techniques, the interpretation of results and assumptions. This session gives you the foundation for multiple regression analysis.
The course is delivered using a combination of pre-class activities, live online interaction and post-class activities.
Before the course week, you will have access to readings and pre-recorded lectures which explain and clarify course material.
Daily live sessions will feature class discussions, Q&A, group exercises and tutorials on the application of statistical methods. We will use freely available software such as web apps and spreadsheets.
Post-class activities include exercises to practice course material. The Instructor and Teaching Assistant will also be available for individual consultations to answer queries, discuss research applications, and to offer additional support.
You need no prerequisite knowledge for this course beyond basic operations such as addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.
Each course includes pre-course assignments, including readings and pre-recorded videos, as well as daily live lectures totalling at least three hours. The instructor will conduct live Q&A sessions and offer designated office hours for one-to-one consultations.
Please check your course format before registering.
Live classes will be held daily for three hours on a video meeting platform, allowing you to interact with both the instructor and other participants in real-time. To avoid online fatigue, the course employs a pedagogy that includes small-group work, short and focused tasks, as well as troubleshooting exercises that utilise a variety of online applications to facilitate collaboration and engagement with the course content.
In-person courses will consist of daily three-hour classroom sessions, featuring a range of interactive in-class activities including short lectures, peer feedback, group exercises, and presentations.
This course description may be subject to subsequent adaptations (e.g. taking into account new developments in the field, participant demands, group size, etc.). Registered participants will be informed at the time of change.
By registering for this course, you confirm that you possess the knowledge required to follow it. The instructor will not teach these prerequisite items. If in doubt, please contact us before registering.