Methodologies for the Social Sciences II: Quantitative (advanced course)
Prerequisites
Compulsory for the 1st year students of the PhD Programme in "Political Science and Sociology"
Compulsory for the 1st year students of the PhD Programme in "Transnational Governance"
Optional for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year students of the PhD Programmes in "Political Science and Sociology" and in "Transnational Governance"
Optional for the 4th and 5th year students of the MA Programme in "Political and Social Sciences"
Programme
Compulsory - if not attending the course 'Methodologies for the Social Sciences II: quantitative'
The course covers some of the most popular methodologies for the quantitative analysis of social and political phenomena using observational data. More specifically, it consists in short lectures followed by laboratory sessions using the software STATA, one of the most powerful statistical software for quantitative data analysis.
The course places particular emphasis on the empirical work related to the statistical elaboration of the data used by the MA/PhD students in their master or doctoral research projects. Otherwise, other popular datasets are used to work on and apply widely used statistical techniques.
The course offers participants an applied perspectives on topics that will be previously defined by students’ research interests. Broadly speaking, it is focused on the analysis of the relationships between independent and dependent variables, the presentation of the results (also graphically) and their interpretation. The course will cover regression analysis, moving beyond ordinary least squares regression, and will explore other techniques such as time-series regression and survival analyses.
Educational aims
- Develop an advanced understanding of quantitative methodologies for the Social Sciences
- Appreciate and select the appropriate techniques to analyse quantitative datasets
- Use statistical software to analyse and interpret statistical analyses and, whenever possible, own data
Bibliographical references
Alan Agresti, Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, 5th edition. Pearson (2021)
J. Scott Long and Jeremy Freese,Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables Using Stata, Third Edition, STATA Press (2014)
To start working with STATA:
Alan C. Acock, A Gentle Introduction to Stata, Revised Sixth Edition, STATA Press (2023)