The summer Methods Cafe series explores new and emerging methodologies, both qualitative and quatitative, in the social sciences. This brown-bag workshop series aims to provide a non-technical introduction to a relatively new analytical tool each week, with a focus on teaching the method in a particular context and providing information about the tool's potential usefulness outside of that initial domain. Topics span the range of techniques introduced in the last approximately 10 years. All workshops will be held on Zoom.
Call for Presenters
The Methods Cafe series invites self-nominations for participants from any social science or allied field to present on methodology topics that are either currently emerging or that have emerged in roughly the last decade, where working researchers may not have had time or opportunity to learn about them. Both faculty and graduate students are welcome to present. This could be a particularly valuable opportunity for graduate students wanting to go on the job market as able to teach advanced methods but whose institutions do not offer any opportunities to do so. All presenters will receive a letter of acknowledgement. More guidelines will be provided for presenters once the schedule is finalized. To apply to present, please complete the Google form. Respondents will be notified on or about May 1 of the status of their proposals.
Recruitment for the summer 2023 series is now open. If you are interested in presenting in this series, please complete the brief Google form. We are particularly interested in participants with backgrounds in economics, sociology, criminal justice, and anthropology. For the latter, qualitative methods for both fieldwork and interviewing are of particular interest.
Topics of Particular Interest
Bayesian Process TracingConjoint Experiments
Strategies for Content Analysis
Strategies for Discourse Analysis
Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis
Dimension Reduction (Principal Component Analysis, Factor Analysis, etc.)
Intro to Bayesian Models/Logic
Network Analysis
Machine Learning
Text as Data
Difference-in-Differences
Digital Qualitative Fieldwork Techniques
Hierarchical Linear Modeling
Regression Discontinuity
Sensitive Issues in Survey Measurement
Survey Experiments
Other topics in qualitative methods are particularly welcome. Potential participants may also propose their own topics, which will be accommodated as best as possible (i.e., after avoiding substantial overlaps with other topics). A paper or a paper/chapter excerpt is appreciated in advance of the talk, but is not necessary. Slides are likewise appreciated for audience participants' later reference.
The schedule of presenters and topics will be released during the first week of May. You can also subscribe to the Google Calendar for the series, which contains presenters, topics, Zoom links, and any supporting materials (papers, slides, etc.). The calendar is updated weekly during the season.
To subscribe to the Methods Cafe digital calendar and get automatic notification of topics, sessions, and Zoom links, please visit https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/1?cid=Y19vczZ0NWZscHZwc2UxYzlyY2FvMnVzZXRrc0Bncm91cC5jYWxlbmRhci5nb29nbGUuY29t (Google & Outlook) or https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/c_os6t5flpvpse1c9rcao2usetks%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics (iCal/ics format).
Sponsorship
The Methods Cafe is sponsored by Leanne C. Powner Coaching and Editing. We are seeking an institutional co-sponsor to help host on days when Leanne can't be there and to co-sign the acknowledgement letters. Please contact Leanne if interested.