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Addressing critical deficit in quantitative skills within the UK social sciences through specialized courses and workshops by NCRM at University of Southampton. Develop and support a national training infrastructure.
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Statistics Training and ESRC Chris Skinner National Centre for Research Methods University of Southampton
Background • 'critical deficit in quantitative skills within the UK’ Commission on the Social Sciences (2003) • quantitative social science a ‘strategically important and vulnerable subject’ HEFCE (2005)
Capacity Concerns • shortages of people and skills • quality of research
Challenges • to promote interest in quantitative research, motivation to take up opportunities for training and development • to provide opportunities for training and development, which address needs
ESRC Initiatives: Postgraduate • training guidelines • studentships (enhanced stipend of +£3k for advanced quantitative methods)
ESRC Programmes and Centres • Analysis of Large and Complex Datasets • Centre for Applied Social Surveys • Research Methods Programme • National Centre for Research Methods • Researcher Development Initiative • Quantitative Methods
Other ESRC Training linked to data resources, e.g. • Economic and Social Data Service Training linked to programmes, e.g. • Survey Design and Measurement • Understanding Population Trends and Processes • Teaching and Learning Research Programme
National Centre for Research Methods • Hub at University of Southampton • 6 Nodes including: • LEMMA (multilevel modelling) Bristol • Lancaster/Warwick (modelling) • BIAS (Bayesian methods) Imperial College • Courses in Applied Social Surveys (CASS) (Southampton)
NCRM/CASS: introductory courses • Descriptive and Inferential Statistics • Exploring Relationships • Regression Methods for Survey Data • Essentials of Survey Design and Implementation • Generalised Linear Models • Intro. to Multilevel Modelling • Intro. to Bayesian Inference using WinBUGS • Workshops at BERA, BSA etc.
NCRM/CASS: more specialized courses/workshops 1 • Structural Equation Modelling • Longitudinal Data Analysis • Duration Analysis • Event History Analysis • Bayesian Spatial Modelling • Spatial Data Analysis with R
NCRM/CASS: more specialized courses/workshops 2 • Recent Advances in Multilevel Modelling • Multilevel Discrete Event History Analysis • Bayesian Hierarchical Models using WinBUGS • Bootstrap Methods and their Application • Multi-dimensional Scaling
NCRM/CASS: more specialized courses/workshops 3 • Methods for Missing Data • Questionnaire Design • Design and Implementation of Telephone Surveys • Data Linkage: Exploring the Potential
Researcher Development Initiative • Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection • Longitudinal Data Analysis for Social Science Researchers • Tools and Training for Analysis of Multilevel Data with Missing Observations • Scottish Social Survey Network
Issues in Training • methods of training and adult learning: courses, ICT & e-learning, mentoring • embedding training in different research contexts and career trajectories • problem-based learning • discipline-based or cross-disciplinary
Training infrastructure • cascade models, training trainers, adding value • consumer-led or producer-led funding • regional vs. national (ESRC Regional Training Centres) • ESRC/EPSRC • academic/non-academic • timing issues, e.g. annual courses, sustainability
Issues of Level • heterogeneity of backgrounds • provision at different levels • progression
Challenges for NCRM developing and supporting a national training infrastructure (beyond PG level)
Coordinating Challenges for NCRM • information and communications • framework/curricula (building on PG training guidelines) • levels, pre-requisites and self-assessment • accreditation, CAT
Training the Trainers: supporting the teaching of research methods to postgraduate students in the social sciences Monday 4 June, Royal Statistical Society • National Centre for Research Methods www.ncrm.ac.uk • Researcher Development Initiative www.rdi.ac.uk