QMSS: Workshops & Seminars

The workshops are led by two senior researchers and serve to train junior social scientists in the latest quantitative methods for social scientific data. They take place over one week. Participants consist of thirty junior researchers, fifteen with methodological research interests and fifteen working in substantives field applying quantitative methods. The workshops provide integrated training for both groups, providing opportunities for interaction between them, while facilitating also the development of the separate skills needed by each group.

The two senior researchers leading the workshops include one, primarily a substantive researcher, and one with more methodological statistical skills. Both are of high international standing in their field. Most workshops include computer-based sessions, using data, and the senior researchers are usually supported by an assistant, responsible for the organisation and support of such sessions. The data is usually either from large pan European studies which have internationally comparable data, for example the European Social Survey or the Luxembourg Income Study; or from some of the studies which take place in many European countries and can be broadly comparable, for example studies of elections.

Instruction takes usually place in the mornings, either with all thirty participants or divided into the two groups, and afternoons are devoted to group work and individual study, often computer-based.

At the end of the workshop the participants take part in a two day leading edge seminar on the topic addressed in the workshop at which the speakers are leading international researchers in the field. The papers are expected to feature data and refer to applications in a range of social science disciplines.

The combined duration of the workshop and seminar is nine days. They are held at various locations in Europe.