General Sessions Class List
First General Session: June 8-July 2, 2026
First Session Week 1 : Math and Computing Lectures
Math for Social Scientists, Introductory Review
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- To define core mathematical concepts through theory and examples.
- To apply mathematical relationships to statistical terms and theories.
- To analyze and review solutions to mathematical problems within statistical context.
Learning Outcomes:
- Describe introductory/intermediate mathematical concepts.
- Solve introductory/intermediate mathematical problems.
- Synthesize mathematics and statistics.
- Develop skills for advanced concepts.
Prerequisites: This introductory-level course has no prerequisites. The course assumes no prior knowledge in statistics.
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: None
Math for Social Scientists, Intermediate Review
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- To review and learn statistical and mathematics concepts prior to seeing them in the formal courses.
- Increase your statistical and mathematical vocabulary in order for a deeper understanding of the statistics courses taken during the first session.
Learning Outcomes:
- Participants will become familiar with concepts of Matrix Algebra, Calculus, and Categorical and Continuous Probability Distributions and how this math is used throughout statistics.
Prerequisites: Participants should have some mathematics knowledge and experience. It is an intense week but will provide students with greater confidence to learn more in their more formal courses.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: None
Introduction to Computing for Data Analysis
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce participants to core computing concepts and solutions applicable to analysis packages, particularly directed to participants having limited experience.
- Introduce participants to the dataset development process, from beginning to end, examining real-world issues in creating and maintaining datasets through examples across disciplines.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand core procedures in three statistical software packages
- How to implement the dataset development process
- Understand connections between concepts in developing datasets and practical issues.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites required for the course. The course will be particularly beneficial for participants who have had limited experiences with creating their own datasets and/or using statistical software, or have been dependent upon having others assist in creating datasets and software commands for analysis, or are more advanced users now confronting new issues with datasets they wish to develop.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: SAS, SPSS, STATA/MP, StatTransfer, Excel, PowerPointv
Introduction to Python
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce the student o the main logic and syntax of the Python Language
- Use Python code to create basic data manipulation
- Give foundational knowledge to help students to continue to learn and use Python for more advanced applications
Learning Outcomes:
- Know the basic structure and logic of the python programming language
- Write functions and import libraries in Python
- Scrape web pages and access APIs
- Data manipulation with pandas
Prerequisites: While any coding knowledge would be helpful, this course is designed as an introduction for the complete beginner.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: Python
Introduction to the R Statistical Computing Environment
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce participants to the R statistical environment through applied examples.
- Familiarize participants with the fundamentals related to coding in R.
- Cover introductory and intermediate tasks that social scientists frequently use in R.
Learning Outcomes:
- Recognize introductory/intermediate coding in R.
- Code in R to manipulate data, run introductory/intermediate statistical routines, and generate graphics.
- Substantively interpret R output.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. The course assumes no prior knowledge in R.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud)
Introduction to the LaTeX Text Processing System
First General Session Lecture
Dates: June 8-12, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce participants to the LaTeX markup language through applied examples.
- Cover introductory to advanced environments, functions, and practices commonly observed among quantitative social scientists.
- Prepare participants to use LaTeX in their assignments and projects.
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify introductory to advanced environments and functions in LaTeX.
- Practice coding in LaTeX through applied examples.
- Typeset their own documents in LaTeX
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. The course assumes no prior knowledge in LaTeX.
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: LaTeX distribution and an editor (OS Specific)
First Session Weeks 2-4 : Methods Courses
Bayesian Modeling for the Social Sciences I: Introduction and Application
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- How to apply Bayesian models to the study of social scientific questions and interpret the results
- Practical Bayesian implementations of the (hierarchical) generalized linear model
- Learn to use R for programming, data management, and visualization with RStudio as an IDE.
Learning Outcomes:
- A basic understanding of Bayesian inference
- How to implement Bayesian regression and hierarchical models in R/STAN
- How to interpret and troubleshoot Bayesian model outcomes”
Prerequisites: A course on basic probability theory and linear regression / the generalized linear model would be helpful.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), STAN
Causal Inference for the Social Sciences I
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Understand Fisher’s and Neyman’s counterfactual models of random assignment studies, the utility of these models in clarifying causal inferences’ scope and prior commitments, and their contribution to the rise of the randomized controlled trial as a model research design
- Practice the use of R to estimate or test hypotheses about treatment effects in experiments and non-confounded observational studies
- Understand and practice the combination of matching with hidden variable sensitivity analysis to address both overt and hidden confounders in non-randomized studies.
Learning Outcomes:
- Articulate, differentiate and critique essential assumptions of causal estimation and hypothesis testing that flow from research design.
- Apply forms of randomization inference appropriate to randomized trials featuring clustered or stratified treatment allocation and/or imperfect compliance. Appropriately adapt the same inference strategies to observational studies, and to diagnostics including covariate imbalance.
- Implement, critique and defend statistical adjustments for non-randomized studies using the linear model (i.e. “controlling for”) and/or post-stratification (i.e. “matching”).
- Implement testing, estimation, and adjustment methods covered in the course using R, in replicable scripts combining R and markdown.
Prerequisites: The course assumes basic familiarity with R and previous knowledge of statistical concepts, such as probability distributions, statistical inference, estimation, and hypothesis testing. The course will rely on R for computation and to demonstrate concepts.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R
Evaluating Model Robustness
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Conceptualize the idea of robustness beyond sign and significance
- Develop ways to measure robustness of model parameters across different model contexts
- Apply robustness evaluation across a wide set of models and contexts.
Learning Outcomes:
- Conceptualize robustness of models and model parameters
- Measure parameter and effect robustness in R
- Evaluate robustness to model specification choices for lots of different models.
Prerequisites: Students should have a solid understanding of the linear model. We will discuss other modelling contexts, but I will provide some basic information about the extension of the linear model to these other contexts.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud)
Data Visualization
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Empower students to work with data
- Transform data analyses into accurate and compelling data graphics.
Learning Outcomes:
- Tidy and wrangle data.
- Understand the principles of great visualization
- Learn to create compelling, informative graphics in R.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R, Just a tiny bit of Javascript
Machine Learning: Applications in Social Science Research
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Introducing participants to the mechanics of machine learning methods, particularly focusing on supervised learning techniques.
- Demonstrating how these techniques can be applied to social science research to enhance model prediction accuracy.
- Providing hands-on experience in estimating and interpreting machine learning models using R.
Learning Outcomes:
- The theory underlying of machine learning
- How to implement various machine learning techniques (focusing on tree-based methods) in R
- Strategies to interpret results from “black box” methods.
Prerequisites: The workshop assumes a basic understanding of statistical concepts and the R programming language. While not strictly necessary, prior experience with regression analysis and data manipulation in R would be beneficial.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R
Maximum Likelihood Estimation I: Generalized Linear Models
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Introducing the method of maximum likelihood for statistical modeling
- Teaching the usefulness of generalized linear models for statistical analysis
- Learning how to specify, and interpret the results of, limited dependent variable models
Learning Outcomes:
- Benefits and limitations of ML for statistical inference
- Specify, interpret, apply and communicate the the results of theoretically informed models
- Data visualization navigate and master Stata and R
Prerequisites: The mathematical background needed for the course is multiple regression using linear algebra. Attendance at the Mathematics for Social Scientists II lectures should prove useful
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R, STATA/MP
Measurement, Scaling, and Dimensional Analysis
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Provide participants the tools to properly measure social scientific constructs.
- Learn multiple specific models and general strategies for developing new measures of social scientific constructs, ensuring the reliability and validity of such measures, and investigating the dimensionality of such measures.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to explore the dimensionality of a dataset
- How to produce statistically reliable and valid measures
- How to present results, including using graphs
- How to develop a new measure from the bottom up
Prerequisites: Participants should be very familiar with the linear model/OLS. Ideally, students will have some exposure to maximum likelihood estimation and the R statistical computing environment (the primary software environment we’ll use to estimate the models we discuss), though neither experience is assumed/required.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R, SPSS, STATA/MP
Multilevel Models I: Introduction and Application
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce participants to the different kinds of questions that one can ask and answer with multilevel models
Learning Outcomes:
- How to determine whether data are appropriate for multilevel models, and how to prepare data for multilevel models
- How to fit multilevel models and interpret results
Prerequisites: A prior course on regression is necessary
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, SPSS
Network Analysis I: Introduction
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Study systems that are interconnected, including networks of friendship, social media sharing, political ties, organizations, and more
- Introduce fundamentals of network analysis.
Learning Outcomes:
- Conceptualize and model research in which observations are connected
- Describe properties of networks and the methods for studying them
- Employ network analysis in R
Prerequisites: This course has no prerequisites and is open to people from all disciplines and research interests.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: R
Race, Ethnicity, and Quantitative Methodology I
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Provide an overview of theories and methodological approaches to the study of race and ethnicity in policy and public opinion.
- Introduce participants to methodological tools that are commonly observed in the study of race and ethnicity.
- Develop strategies toward developing and executing original research ideas related to race and ethnicity.
Learning Outcomes:
- Theoretical debates in the study of race/ethnicity.
- Methodological approaches in the study of race/ethnicity.
- Replication/extension.
- Develop a comprehensive research approach.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. This course assumes a basic knowledge of statistics with some familiarity with linear regression. If a student does not have a prior methodological training, concurrent enrollment in the “Regression Analysis I” course should be sufficient. In addition, students might want to take the “Introduction to the R Statistical Computing Environment” and “Introduction to Computing” lectures to supplement their statistical software knowledge in R or Stata or both.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), STATA/MP
Rational Choice Theories of Politics and Society
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- A critical understanding of the purposes of using formal models.
Learning Outcomes:
- A detailed & proper understanding of the scope and nature of formal models in social & political inquiry.
Prerequisites: None beyond a willingness to examine commonly held assumptions about social and political inquiry.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: None
Regression Analysis
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Empower participants to grow comfortable with and master introduction and intermediate regression analysis.
Learning Outcomes:
- Learn how to perform linear regression and test assumptions through regression diagnostics, correcting for violations of assumptions
- Participants will also be introduced to MLE.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites, although some basic statistical background would be helpful.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R
Statistics and Data Analysis I
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Increase understanding of data set creation and coding
- Develop an understanding of how to describe and display the main characteristics of the data being studied
- Begin to test basic hypotheses in relation to patterns in the data
Learning Outcomes:
- Create datasets
- Generate and interpret descriptive statistics and data visualizations
- Create and test basic hypotheses using standard tests seen in more advanced models moving forward
Prerequisites: No prerequisites; Need to know what software they will plan to use for engaging with the lab session portion of the course.
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: R, SPSS, STATA/MP
Introduction to Time Series and Panel Data Analysis
First General Session Methods Course
Dates: June 15-July 2, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce statistical models for time series and panel data
- Offer a comprehensive guide to estimation and inference using time series and panel data models
- Provide practical guidance on how to conduct time series and panel data analyses using R and Stata
Learning Outcomes:
- How to measure dynamic phenomena over time
- How to build statistical models of dynamic phenomena
- How to use dynamic models to test hypotheses about dynamic phenomena
Prerequisites: Regression 1; A basic understanding of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R, STATA/MP
Second General Session: July 6-31, 2026
Second Session Week 1: Math and Computing Lectures
Matrix Algebra, Calculus, and Probability: Introduction and Review
Second General Session Lecture
Dates: July 6-10, 2026
Goals:
- Provide a broad and generalizable foundation in Matrix Algebra, Calculus, and Probability that will enhance learning in subsequent ICPSR Summer Program courses.
Learning Outcomes:
- Introductory and advanced Matrix Algebra.
- Differential and Integral Calculus.
- Discrete and Continuous Probability distributions.
Prerequisites: Proficiency in basic mathematics (e.g., rudimentary algebra and summation notation) is assumed but not required. We will begin with a brief review of fundamental mathematics and probability.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: None
Introduction to Python
Second General Session Lecture
Dates: July 6-10, 2026
Goals:
- Write functions in Python
- Import and use libraries in Python
- Scrape web pages
Learning Outcomes:
- Feel comfortable working with text data in Python
- Access APIs with Python
- Manipulate data with pandas
Prerequisites: None, background in R may be useful
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: Google Colab
Introduction to Computing for Data Analysis
Second General Session Lecture
Dates: July 6-10, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce participants to core computing concepts and solutions applicable to analysis packages, particularly directed to participants having limited experience.
- Introduce participants to the dataset development process, from beginning to end, examining real-world issues in creating and maintaining datasets through examples across disciplines.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand core procedures in three statistical software packages
- How to implement the dataset development process
- Understand connections between concepts in developing datasets and practical issues.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites required for the course. The course will be particularly beneficial for participants who have had limited experiences with creating their own datasets and/or using statistical software, or have been dependent upon having others assist in creating datasets and software commands for analysis, or are more advanced users now confronting new issues with datasets they wish to develop.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: SAS, SPSS, STATA/MP, StatTransfer, Excel, PowerPoint
Introduction to the R Statistical Computing Environment
Second General Session Lecture
Dates: July 6-10, 2026
Goals:
- Understand the workflow in R using R Studio
- Know the basic structure and logic of the R programming language
Learning Outcomes:
- Perform data wrangling with R
- Use data visualization tools such as base plot and ggplot
- Be familiar with the tidyverse suite of tools
- Learn the basics of estimating statistical models in R
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge required
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud)
Introduction to the LaTeX Text Processing System
Second General Session Lecture
Dates: July 6-10, 2026
Goals:
- To learn how to create and format documents using the LeTeX language
Learning Outcomes:
- Know the basic structure and logic of the LaTeX programming language
- Understand the basic flow of the online Overleaf editor
- Create and format documents with LaTeX
- Include references using BibTeX
Prerequisites: No prior knowledge needed.
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Software: LaTeX; Overleaf
Second Session Weeks 2-4: Methods Courses
Bayesian Modeling for the Social Sciences II: HLMs, GLMs, and LLMs
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Move from a solid understanding of Bayesian methods to cutting-edge applied techniques
Learning Outcomes:
- Work with simple Bayesian models analytically
- Implement Bayesian models computationally
- Conceptualize Large Language Models in NLP
- Implement basic chatbots and RAGs
Prerequisites: Exposure to linear models, maximum likelihood, and first semester Bayesian statistics. Experience coding in R or Python.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, Python, LangFlow and vector databases via HuggingFace
Categorical Data Analysis: Models for Categorical, Ordinal, and Count Outcomes
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Understand how, when, and why to use various techniques with categorical and limited dependent variables.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to apply statistical estimators with limited dependent variables;
- When to use specific estimators given data characteristics;
- How to interpret statistical output in substantive terms.
Prerequisites: Helpful to have some familiarity with linear regression.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R
Data Science and Text Analysis
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- This course provides an introduction to data science for social data and problems, with a focus on utilizing text as data.
- Learn through hands-on projects the fundamental tools of data science and apply them to a wide range of political and policy-oriented questions.
Learning Outcomes:
- Have a good understanding of the landscape and frontier of text analysis and ML methods
- Be able to identify and conduct the appropriate methods for their research questions.
Prerequisites: Participants in this class should have prior knowledge of research design and statistics at introductory to intermediate levels. While some experience with programming would make the course less challenging, it is NOT required.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: Python
Empirical Modeling of Social-Science Theory
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Teach empirical modeling of/for social-science theory (& why “causal-inference” testing is not enough.
- Learn many useful empirical-modeling techniques/methods, incl. linear & nonlinear & interactions, random-coefficient/multilevel models, dynamic models including VARs, spatial-econometrics, instrumental variables & systems of equations, etc.
Learning Outcomes:
- Difference testing for existence of causal effects v. estimating causal responses
- How methods appropriate to latter differ from former
- Many specific theory/substance-motivated models&methods
Prerequisites: While not strictly required as we will review, albeit extremely quickly, prior coursework in quantitative empirical-methods through linear regression and maximum-likelihood for binary outcomes — roughly a first semester or two graduate course(s) — will be extremely helpful.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), STATA/MP, Mainly in R with Rstudio, but Stata code for most things also provided
Theoretical Modeling for the Social and Behavioral Sciences
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Give students an understanding of how to incorporate theoretical modeling into their research process.
- Introduce students to the mathematical and coding foundations of modeling
- Give students practical examples of good research involving theoretical modeling.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to turn theoretical intuitions into models.
- The math behind game theory and agent-based modeling.
- The vocabulary to talk coherently about complex social systems.
Prerequisites: No prerequisites
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: NetLogo (though no prior experience is required)
Panel Data and Longitudinal Analysis
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Gain an overview of prominent approaches to working with panel and longitudinal data
- Develop skills needed to diagnose threats to inference and to identify appropriate analysis strategies for particular panel/longitudinal datasets common in the social sciences
- Develop R and Stata skills to implement the approaches covered
Learning Outcomes:
- When using panel and longitudinal data, understand: threats to inference; prominent approaches to modeling; how to apply different identification strategies using statistical software.
Prerequisites: A basic linear regression course is preferred, but not required. Experience with R and/or Stata is desirable, but not required
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, STATA/MP
Race, Ethnicity, and Quantitative Methodology II
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Provide an overview of definitions and measurements used in academic research related to race and ethnicity
- Explore the connection between theory and Research Design using data available through the ICPSR repository
- Offer participants the opportunity to make progress, present, and receive feedback on a research proposal.
Learning Outcomes:
- Definitions, theories, and measures of race and ethnicity across disciplines, publicly available datasets, development of feedback and presentations
- Tools for fact-based, respectful discourse.
Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites – there will be some overlap with REQM I (offered in the first session of ICPSR), REQM I is NOT a pre-requisite for REQM II. Some familiarity with Stata and R encouraged, but not required.
Difficulty Level: Suitable for all levels
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), STATA/MP
Causal Inference for the Social Sciences II
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Provide a thorough introduction to recent methodological developments to study causal inference in non-experimental settings.
Learning Outcomes:
- Methodological and practical training in reweighting methods, regression discontinuity designs, difference-in-differences, synthetic controls and causal machine learning.
Prerequisites: It is assumed that participants have elementary working knowledge of statistics, econometrics and policy evaluation. It would be useful, but not required, if participants were familiar with basic results from the literature on program evaluation and treatment effects. This course is nonetheless meant to be self-contained and hence most underlying statistical concepts and results are introduced and explained in class.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, STATA/MP
Maximum Likelihood Estimation II: Modeling Space and Time
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Practical learning and application of methods to answer important research questions.
- Understanding appropriate methods for modeling spatially/temporally dependent data.
- Investigating the role of maximum likelihood estimation concerning modeling dependent data.
Learning Outcomes:
- Modeling data with a nesting structure, events occurring in time, and spatial/temporal characteristics.
- Understand the issues modeling dependent data via ordinary least squares (OLS).
Prerequisites: Participants need to be familiar with probability theory, linear algebra, calculus, descriptive and inferential statistics, and ordinary least squares regression. Prior familiarity with maximum likelihood estimation is encouraged but not required.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), STATA/MP, Python
Multilevel Models II: Advanced Topics
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Give everyone a solid grounding in the basic toolkit of models for multilevel data structures
- Give everyone practical code to analyze complex multilevel data
- Give everyone the ability to break incredibly complex problems down into manageable pieces.
Learning Outcomes:
- How to analyze multilevel data in R.
- How to talk about and think about assumptions and when/why/how models break
- How to create an analysis plan for complex multilevel research questions
Prerequisites: Students should have taken an introductory class on multilevel modeling OR longitudinal data analysis. A background with maximum likelihood models will be helpful but isn’t strictly required.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Software: R, STATA/MP, We mostly use R but I can provide Stata code when needed.
Network Analysis II: Advanced Topics
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Introduce students to advanced statistical models for network analysis.
- Build hands-on skills applying these models using R.
- Enable critical evaluation and application of these methods in research.
Learning Outcomes:
- Researchers in social sciences, political science, or sociology working with network data.
- Anyone with a foundational knowledge of network analysis and statistical modeling.
- Scholars interested in applying advanced network models to their research questions.
Prerequisites: Basic understanding of network analysis concepts, familiarity with statistical modeling principles, and proficiency in R programming.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: R
Regression Analysis
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Have an applied and intuitive understanding of OLS Regression.
- Apply and use basic and more advanced OLS Regression.
- Critically identify potential problems related to OLS Regression.”
Learning Outcomes:
- Specify an OLS Regression model.
- Test the assumptions of OLS Regression.
- Use and interpret interactions and categorical variables.
- Deal with nonlinearity.
Prerequisites: It is assumed that students are comfortable with very basic algebra and introductory-level statistics and now want to learn OLS Regression for their own research and to understand the work of others.
Difficulty Level: Intermediate
Software: Examples are in SPSS, but students can use any software package of their choosing.
Statistics and Data Analysis II
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Participants will learn the theoretical underpinnings, assumptions, and mechanics of Ordinary Least Squares (OLS).
- Participants will develop the ability to utilize OLS in their own research projects confidently.
- Participants will acquire the skills necessary to explore and learn more advanced statistical topics.
- Participants will review the basics of statistical inference and measures of bivariate association.
Learning Outcomes:
- A basic understanding of the theory and math behind OLS.
- How to interpret OLS results.
- How to apply OLS in one’s research.
- Modern software techniques for OLS, including graphics.
- A refresher in statistical inference and bivariate association.
Prerequisites: Only familiarity with introductory statistics, probability, and basic algebra is assumed.
Difficulty Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Software: R, STATA/MP
Structural Equation Models with Latent Variables
Second General Session Methods Course
Dates: July 13-31, 2026
Goals:
- Provide participants with the skills necessary to utilize structural equation modeling with latent variables in their own research
- Critically evaluate contemporary social science research using advanced quantitative approaches.
Learning Outcomes:
- Recursive & nonrecursive models
- Measurement/latent variable models (CFAs)
- Model specification & identification, model fit, model evaluation
- Mediation, multiple groups, latent class, longitudinal
Prerequisites: Participants should have a solid understanding of linear regression. Some background in matrix algebra, covariance algebra, and even factor analysis would be helpful but are not required.
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Software: Mplus w/Combo, R, Rstudio/Posit (Cloud), SAS, STATA/MP