Good research requires a solid methodology. The ECPR has always pushed this concept as part of its vision for the development of political research.
The ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques (SSMT), launched in 2006 and currently held in Ljubljana (Slovenia), provides high quality up-to-date training in a broad range of specially selected methods across the whole spectrum of approaches employed within the Social Sciences. It especially offers intermediate-level main courses.
The SSMT courses emphasise those methods which are particularly salient for research questions in political science and neighboring disciplines, as well as dealing with all stages of a project and catering to the needs of research set at the macro and at the micro level. They cover both “quantitative” and “qualitative” designs as well as more positivist and more interpretative perspectives.
The Summer School comprises of an intensive programme of seminars and lab sessions which require a strong commitment from participants. The teaching language is English, and therefore all participants must be fluent in spoken English.
The Main courses consist of either five or ten teaching days (1-week or 2-week courses) and three hours teaching is scheduled for each day. In addition, participants are given from three to four hours’ additional work (reading and supplementary practical work) each day.
Prior to the Main courses, some refresher courses are also offered, in a format of three teaching days, each of which is scheduled to last six hours. Last but not least, the SSMT also hosts a lively plenary and social programme.
Course list:
Refresher Courses
A1 Introduction to SPSS
A2 Introduction to R
A3 Mathematics: Linear Algebra and Calculus
A4 Basics of Inferential Statistics for Political Scientists
A5 Probability Theory
A6 Research Designs
2 Week Courses
B1 Multivariate Statistical Analysis and Comparative Crossnational Surveys Data
B2 Multiple Regression Analysis
B3 Experimental Methods
B4 Political Game Theory
B5 Methodologies of Case Studies
B6 Event History and Survival Analysis
B7 QCA and Fuzzy Sets: Basics and Advanced Issues in Set-Theoretic Methods
B8 Introduction to Network Analysis with Pajek
B9 Network Analysis: Applications in Political Science
B10 Introduction to Structural Equation Modelling
1st Week Courses
C1 Expert Interviews for Qualitative Data Generation
C2 Process Tracing Methodology
C3 Strategies of Interpretive/Qualitative Political Research
C4 Deliberative Polling and the Empirics of Deliberation
C5 Data Problems and Solutions. Social Science Statistics in Practice
C6 Issues in Political, Policy and Organisational Ethnography
C7 Introduction to Bayesian Inference course outline (pdf)
2nd Week Courses
D1 Analysing Discourse – Analysing Politics: Theories, Methods and Applications
D2 Missing Data
D3 Simultaneous Equation Models
D4 Analysing Text, Sound and Image with Nvivo9
D5 Participatory and Deliberative Methods: From Data Collection to Data Analysis
D6 Content Analysis
The first of August at 6 pm will be held at the Faculty of Social Science lecture Data Archives under the ECPR Summer School: Finding secondary data for my research.
Secondary data analysis saves time that would otherwise be spent collecting data and, provides larger and higher-quality databases that would be unfeasible for any individual researcher to collect on their own. In addition, analysts of social and economic change consider secondary data essential, since it is impossible to conduct a new survey that can adequately capture past change and/or developments (Wikipedia, 2012).
Advantages and disadvantages of secondary analysis will be discussed. Emphasis will be given on data services that provide social science data. We will present several services, their main collections and access to data.
