UL Summer School in Social Science Research Methods

Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June 2023

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods Training

Training in quantitative and qualitative methods appropriate to PhD-level research.

The School consists of parallel qualitative and quantitative streams, each of five full-day sessions, and will be available for audit or credit (10 ECTS credits, subject to assessment of work done after the summer school).

Organised by the Sociological Research Methods Cluster, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick.

REGISTRATION (external link)

Fees:

  • Audit: €400
  • For credit (EU): €800
  • For credit (non-EU): €1800

For further information, contact Anne McCarthy.

Qualitative Stream

The qualitative stream will consist of five full days on the following plan:

Provisional schedule

  • Mon 29 May
    • 09.30–13:00: Introduction to Qualitative Research – Mary O’Donoghue
    • 14.30–17:00: Ethical Considerations in Research – Amanda Haynes
  • Tues 30 May
    • 09:30–13:00: Ontological and Epistemological Foundations of Qualitative Research – Lindsey Garrett
    • 13.00: Welcome Lunch
    • 14:30–17:00: Interviewing and focus groups – Sindy Joyce
  • Wednesday 31 May
    • 09:30–13:00: Conducting qualitative research online – Gabriella Avram
    • 14:00–17:00: Discourse analysis – Helen Kelly Holmes
  • Thursday 1 June
    • 09:30–13:00: Mixed Methods – Amy Healy
    • 14:00–17:00: Ethnography – Lee Monaghan
  • Friday 2 June
    • 09:30–13:00: Data analysis – Paul Conway
    • 14:00–15:00: Concluding session – open forum – Mary O’Donoghue

Students taking the stream for credit will be required to submit three pieces of work for assessment. A transcript issued by the University of Limerick will be available after the examination period for those registered for credit.

Quantitative Stream

The quantitative stream will consist of five full days on the following plan:

Provisional schedule

  • Intensive refresher (1 day): a quick refresher on basic data analysis and statistical inference, with an introduction to the Stata software package.
  • Regression modelling for social scientists (1.5 days): the theory and practice of modelling continuous response variables with multiple explanatory variables.
  • Categorical data analysis for social scientists (1 day): a quick introduction to regression modelling of binary, multi-category and ordinal outcomes.
  • Mixed methods (half day, shared with the qualitative stream): how to integrate qualitative and quantitative methods in a research project, from design to execution.
  • Special topics (final day): Multi-level modelling; Dealing with missing data.

Students taking the stream for credit will be required to submit three pieces of work for assessment: two exercises based on the methods learnt in the summer school, and a mini-project analysing a data set of the student's choice. A transcript issued by the University of Limerick will be available after the examination period for those registered for credit.