Advanced Research Methods

Data does not happen in a vacuum. No aspect of research or data analysis are outside of the established social system. This course will examine statistical tools in social context through the lens of equity. We will try to answer questions: How can we tell whether the data we come across is correct or not? What are the social impacts of data? How can we use data to inform social policy and effect social change? The focus will be on learning ways to investigate the complexities of data analysis and data interpretation from different perspectives. The course will cover descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using Excel. We are also going to discuss the differences between frequentist and Baysian approaches to inference. 

The course will meet for two intensive weekends though assignments will be assigned throughout the quarter including responses to readings and statistics homework. A final research project will be due at the end of the quarter.