Summer Courses Offered (2012)
Class List
Survey Research Methodology Primer
Statistics Primer
Fundamentals of Survey Sampling
Data Collection Methods
Computer-assisted Survey Data Analysis
Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Grant Writing
Technical English Writing
Survey Research Methodology Primer
(Chun, Carter) - 2 credit hours
This course is designed to provide an overview of the theory and practice of sample survey research methods applicable to most academic disciplines and professions where statistical analysis and quantitative methods are required. For example, survey research methods are used in the United States and Europe as a primary tool of collecting and analyzing survey and census data that inform public policy in economics, marketing, trade, education, and public health as well as science and information technology. The course covers fundamentals regarding each phase of the sample survey lifecycle from planning and preparation to implementation, analysis, and dissemination. Topics covered include: questionnaire design, sampling design, data collection methods, data analysis, and quality control. For each phase of the survey lifecycle, the challenges faced when designing and implementing surveys in international and multicultural settings will also be discussed. This will include challenges faced in translation and adaptation of questionnaires, implementing proper sampling techniques, quality assurance in multi-national studies, and cultural variations in response styles. Various strategies to deal with typically encountered challenges will be addressed.
Examples will be drawn from the U.S. government surveys and censuses, academic surveys and large-scale international surveys. In addition to exercises and assignments that will be geared to each topic, course participants are required to prepare and present a team class project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, which awards grants to proposals for interdisciplinary research that takes advantage of science, technology, finance, business, and survey research methodology, among others. The project will provide an opportunity to apply the course material in an integrated fashion. To simulate real-life survey contexts, course participants will work in teams for the class project.
Statistics Primer
(Gwartney, Costello, Paulson, Blom, Molnar, Bak ) - 2 credit hours
Research in the sciences has increasingly come to rely on statistical concepts in the presentation and analysis of data. The application of a wide variety of research designs, including both experimental and non-experimental designs, requires real understanding of fundamental statistical concepts. The primary purpose of this course is to provide a rigorous introduction to statistics in the context of these differing designs. Instruction will emphasize practical understandings and uses of statistics rather than theoretical derivations. Its main objective is to develop a deep, conceptual understanding of statistical reasoning rather than to foster rote application of statistical formulae. This course exposes students to the fundamentals of statistics and assumes little to no previous knowledge of the topics. First, univariate descriptive statistics along with numerical and graphical summaries will be reviewed. Students learn level of measurement, measures of central tendency and variability, probability and the normal distribution, and properties of samples and populations. Then inferential statistics will be the main focus of the course through the use of hypothesis testing and confidence intervals in many 1-sample and 2-sample settings. Students learn Chi-Square test, Fisher’s Exact Test, nonparametric tests of significance, ANOVA, and correlation. Slightly more advanced analyses such as regression and ANCOVA will be introduced.
Fundamentals of Survey Sampling
(Fisher, Gill, Blom, Ucar) - 2 credit hours
Applied Survey Sampling will cover the fundamental techniques used in sampling practice: simple random sampling, cluster sampling, stratification, systematic selection, and probability proportional to size sampling. The course will also cover sampling frames, cost models, sampling error estimation techniques, and compensating for nonresponse. It focuses on design of survey samples and estimation of descriptive statistics rather than the analysis of collected data, the topic addressed in computer analysis of survey data. Emphasis is on practical considerations rather than on theoretical derivations, although understanding of principles requires review of statistical results for sample surveys. Examples will be drawn mostly from sampling human populations. In addition to exercises and assignments associated with each topic, students are required to prepare and present a team sampling project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, agriculture, and survey research methodology, among others.
Data Collection Methods
(Gwartney) - 2 credit hours
This course reviews data collection methods used in surveys, including self-administered mail surveys, interviewer-administered methods, and state-of-the-art online surveys. It concentrates on the impact these techniques have on the total survey error, including measurement error properties, nonresponse, and coverage errors. The course reviews the literature on data collection methods, focusing on comparisons of major modes (face-to-face, telephone, mail, and web) and alternative methods of data collection (diaries, administrative records, direct observation, etc.) The implications of mode decisions for data quality and the data collection process are discussed. Special attention is paid to pretest methods that inform and guide the design of data collection methods, by drawing on the interdisciplinary literatures on questionnaire design. Current advances in computer-assisted survey information collection -- including Computer Assisted Telephone Interview, Computer Assisted Personal Interview, Touchtone Data Entry, and Voice Recognition -- will be reviewed.
In addition to reading assignments associated with each topic, students are required to prepare and present a class project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, agriculture, and survey research methodology, among others. Students will be asked to select a mode of data collection or a multi mode of data collection to answer real-life survey data collection issues in DPRK sectors of science, technology, business, international trade, agriculture, or the student’s chosen field of interests.
Computer Analysis of Survey Data
(Pennings, Bak, Carter, Fisher, Griffin, Zafarana) - 2 credit hours
The course begins with a broad overview of research designs frequently used by survey researchers. It then focuses upon measures of sample variability, unbiased estimates of sampling error, kinds of sampling designs, and sampling distributions of sums, means, and percents for random samples. A short paper will be assigned in which students will be asked to analyze data from a previously conducted survey and to report their results using principles of sampling statistics learned in the course. In the last part of the course, data analytic techniques most commonly used in the context of these research designs are presented from the perspective of sampling statistics. Topics include z-tests and t-tests for one and two groups, correlation, and regression analysis. Additional course topics include normal approximations, measurement error, hypothesis testing, probability samples, and the calculation of sample size for specified precision levels.
Students will have hands-on experience in computer lab, learning application of methods taught in this course using statistical software (e.g, open-source R-software, SAS, and SPSS) to obtain results from complex sample survey data. Some attention to interpretation of results will be included. The course will cover data file preparation and manipulation, exploring data structure preparatory to index construction, index construction and evaluation, data exploration using descriptive and data visualization techniques, bivariate and multivariate regression and logistics analyses, and contingency table analysis.
Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Grant Writing
(Chun) - 2 credit hours
The course addresses interdisciplinary research methods used to answer complex questions that cannot be easily handled in a single discipline. This intensive course is an introduction to the methods of interdisciplinary research intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are considering applying to the Da Vinci Grant Program or employing interdisciplinary research methods for their own research projects. The course addresses the definition of interdisciplinary studies, the role of the disciplines in interdisciplinary research, and the process and outcomes of integrating the disciplines. Students will familiarize themselves with a number of research methodologies ranging across scientific innovations as well as quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g, surveys, focus groups, cognitive interviews), and various traditions of humanities and social science. The course aims to develop and employ the students’ own interdisciplinary approaches to creative thinking. Students will form research teams and engage in an intensive research project, culminating in a new better understanding of the team’s chosen research question. Students are expected to craft a team research project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, health, education, and agriculture as well as survey research methodology and statistics, among others.
Technical English Writing
(Paulson, Molnar) - 2 credit hours
This intensive course explores the resources of students’ imaginations, sharpens their critical and verbal skills, and develops a professional attitude towards thesis and research writing. At the heart of the program is the workshop, where in small, roundtable classes, peers and instructors critique student work. The workshops emphasize constructive criticism and the incorporation of criticism in revision. The workshop process helps students practice their craft, experiment, and grow as writers of theses and refereed research papers. Students complete their writing projects, working one-on-one throughout the course with a lead instructor.
Survey Research Methodology Primer
Statistics Primer
Fundamentals of Survey Sampling
Data Collection Methods
Computer-assisted Survey Data Analysis
Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Grant Writing
Technical English Writing
Survey Research Methodology Primer
(Chun, Carter) - 2 credit hours
This course is designed to provide an overview of the theory and practice of sample survey research methods applicable to most academic disciplines and professions where statistical analysis and quantitative methods are required. For example, survey research methods are used in the United States and Europe as a primary tool of collecting and analyzing survey and census data that inform public policy in economics, marketing, trade, education, and public health as well as science and information technology. The course covers fundamentals regarding each phase of the sample survey lifecycle from planning and preparation to implementation, analysis, and dissemination. Topics covered include: questionnaire design, sampling design, data collection methods, data analysis, and quality control. For each phase of the survey lifecycle, the challenges faced when designing and implementing surveys in international and multicultural settings will also be discussed. This will include challenges faced in translation and adaptation of questionnaires, implementing proper sampling techniques, quality assurance in multi-national studies, and cultural variations in response styles. Various strategies to deal with typically encountered challenges will be addressed.
Examples will be drawn from the U.S. government surveys and censuses, academic surveys and large-scale international surveys. In addition to exercises and assignments that will be geared to each topic, course participants are required to prepare and present a team class project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, which awards grants to proposals for interdisciplinary research that takes advantage of science, technology, finance, business, and survey research methodology, among others. The project will provide an opportunity to apply the course material in an integrated fashion. To simulate real-life survey contexts, course participants will work in teams for the class project.
Statistics Primer
(Gwartney, Costello, Paulson, Blom, Molnar, Bak ) - 2 credit hours
Research in the sciences has increasingly come to rely on statistical concepts in the presentation and analysis of data. The application of a wide variety of research designs, including both experimental and non-experimental designs, requires real understanding of fundamental statistical concepts. The primary purpose of this course is to provide a rigorous introduction to statistics in the context of these differing designs. Instruction will emphasize practical understandings and uses of statistics rather than theoretical derivations. Its main objective is to develop a deep, conceptual understanding of statistical reasoning rather than to foster rote application of statistical formulae. This course exposes students to the fundamentals of statistics and assumes little to no previous knowledge of the topics. First, univariate descriptive statistics along with numerical and graphical summaries will be reviewed. Students learn level of measurement, measures of central tendency and variability, probability and the normal distribution, and properties of samples and populations. Then inferential statistics will be the main focus of the course through the use of hypothesis testing and confidence intervals in many 1-sample and 2-sample settings. Students learn Chi-Square test, Fisher’s Exact Test, nonparametric tests of significance, ANOVA, and correlation. Slightly more advanced analyses such as regression and ANCOVA will be introduced.
Fundamentals of Survey Sampling
(Fisher, Gill, Blom, Ucar) - 2 credit hours
Applied Survey Sampling will cover the fundamental techniques used in sampling practice: simple random sampling, cluster sampling, stratification, systematic selection, and probability proportional to size sampling. The course will also cover sampling frames, cost models, sampling error estimation techniques, and compensating for nonresponse. It focuses on design of survey samples and estimation of descriptive statistics rather than the analysis of collected data, the topic addressed in computer analysis of survey data. Emphasis is on practical considerations rather than on theoretical derivations, although understanding of principles requires review of statistical results for sample surveys. Examples will be drawn mostly from sampling human populations. In addition to exercises and assignments associated with each topic, students are required to prepare and present a team sampling project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, agriculture, and survey research methodology, among others.
Data Collection Methods
(Gwartney) - 2 credit hours
This course reviews data collection methods used in surveys, including self-administered mail surveys, interviewer-administered methods, and state-of-the-art online surveys. It concentrates on the impact these techniques have on the total survey error, including measurement error properties, nonresponse, and coverage errors. The course reviews the literature on data collection methods, focusing on comparisons of major modes (face-to-face, telephone, mail, and web) and alternative methods of data collection (diaries, administrative records, direct observation, etc.) The implications of mode decisions for data quality and the data collection process are discussed. Special attention is paid to pretest methods that inform and guide the design of data collection methods, by drawing on the interdisciplinary literatures on questionnaire design. Current advances in computer-assisted survey information collection -- including Computer Assisted Telephone Interview, Computer Assisted Personal Interview, Touchtone Data Entry, and Voice Recognition -- will be reviewed.
In addition to reading assignments associated with each topic, students are required to prepare and present a class project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, agriculture, and survey research methodology, among others. Students will be asked to select a mode of data collection or a multi mode of data collection to answer real-life survey data collection issues in DPRK sectors of science, technology, business, international trade, agriculture, or the student’s chosen field of interests.
Computer Analysis of Survey Data
(Pennings, Bak, Carter, Fisher, Griffin, Zafarana) - 2 credit hours
The course begins with a broad overview of research designs frequently used by survey researchers. It then focuses upon measures of sample variability, unbiased estimates of sampling error, kinds of sampling designs, and sampling distributions of sums, means, and percents for random samples. A short paper will be assigned in which students will be asked to analyze data from a previously conducted survey and to report their results using principles of sampling statistics learned in the course. In the last part of the course, data analytic techniques most commonly used in the context of these research designs are presented from the perspective of sampling statistics. Topics include z-tests and t-tests for one and two groups, correlation, and regression analysis. Additional course topics include normal approximations, measurement error, hypothesis testing, probability samples, and the calculation of sample size for specified precision levels.
Students will have hands-on experience in computer lab, learning application of methods taught in this course using statistical software (e.g, open-source R-software, SAS, and SPSS) to obtain results from complex sample survey data. Some attention to interpretation of results will be included. The course will cover data file preparation and manipulation, exploring data structure preparatory to index construction, index construction and evaluation, data exploration using descriptive and data visualization techniques, bivariate and multivariate regression and logistics analyses, and contingency table analysis.
Interdisciplinary Research Methods and Grant Writing
(Chun) - 2 credit hours
The course addresses interdisciplinary research methods used to answer complex questions that cannot be easily handled in a single discipline. This intensive course is an introduction to the methods of interdisciplinary research intended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are considering applying to the Da Vinci Grant Program or employing interdisciplinary research methods for their own research projects. The course addresses the definition of interdisciplinary studies, the role of the disciplines in interdisciplinary research, and the process and outcomes of integrating the disciplines. Students will familiarize themselves with a number of research methodologies ranging across scientific innovations as well as quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g, surveys, focus groups, cognitive interviews), and various traditions of humanities and social science. The course aims to develop and employ the students’ own interdisciplinary approaches to creative thinking. Students will form research teams and engage in an intensive research project, culminating in a new better understanding of the team’s chosen research question. Students are expected to craft a team research project that involves responding to the Da Vinci Grant Program, awarding interdisciplinary research proposals that take advantage of science, technology, finance, business, health, education, and agriculture as well as survey research methodology and statistics, among others.
Technical English Writing
(Paulson, Molnar) - 2 credit hours
This intensive course explores the resources of students’ imaginations, sharpens their critical and verbal skills, and develops a professional attitude towards thesis and research writing. At the heart of the program is the workshop, where in small, roundtable classes, peers and instructors critique student work. The workshops emphasize constructive criticism and the incorporation of criticism in revision. The workshop process helps students practice their craft, experiment, and grow as writers of theses and refereed research papers. Students complete their writing projects, working one-on-one throughout the course with a lead instructor.
PSI Schedule at PUST (2012)
