May 29th—Etienne Ollion: Machine Learning, Econometrics, and the Future of Quantification

For our last meeting of the year, the Exploring (Mixed) Methods Study Group is pleased to present:

The Great Regression:  Machine Learning, Econometrics, and the Future of Quantification
Etienne Ollion, Ph.D
Visiting professor in Sociology

Tuesday, May 29th 3:30-4:50 PM
Rosenwald 329

→ RSVP Here ←

Summary
What can machine learning do for (social) scientific analysis, and what can it do to it? A contribution to the emerging debate on the role of machine learning for the social sciences, this article offers an introduction to this class of statistical techniques. It details its premises, logic, and the challenges it faces. This is done by comparing machine learning to more classic approaches to quantification – parametric regression in the first place –, both at a general level and in practice. An intervention in the contentious debates about the role and possible consequences of adopting statistical learning in science, the article argues that the revolution announced by many and feared by others will not happen any time soon, at least in the terms that both proponents and critics of the technique have spelled out. Rather than ushering in a radically new scientific era, the growing use of machine learning is fostering an increased competition between the two approaches, which results in more uncertainty with respect to quantified results. Surprisingly enough, this may be good news for knowledge overall.

Professor Ollion will deliver a presentation, which will be followed by a discussion. An accompanying paper-in-development will be posted on the blog by the end of the week, for those cannot make it to the meeting or who would like to delve into the material in more detail.

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if I can facilitate your participation in any way.

Best,
Sanja

Dear All,
The (Mixed) Methods study group is excited to host a series of practice talks by second-year PhD students in comparative human development. The talks are based on their master’s thesis research, span a variety of methodological approaches and aim to connect with a broad audience.
This is a great opportunity to learn about some new student work, and think about that move from question to method we’ve been discussing across the year, as well as the different ways we can communicate methods to others (across any boundaries that might pop up!)
Please  RSVP here to help me plan for snacks!
Best,
Sanja

Monday (April 30th) 1:30-2:50

  1. Stephanie Palazzo “Lateral Ministry: The Craft of Holding Space in Christian Birth Worlds”
  2. Almaz Mesghina “Children’s Math Learning Under Pressure: Testing an Expressive Writing Intervention”

Friday (May 4th) 3-4:20

  1. Krista Olson
  2. Natalie Dowling
  3. Zoe Berman “The problem is that we have not yet loved each other: on the Politics of Affect and Rwanda’s Post Genocide Generation”

Monday (May 7th) 1:30-2:50

  1. Helen Lee
  2. Hilary Tackie
  3. Layne Teska

March 9th: A Study of Contemporary Dancers in Germany by Anne-Sophie Reichert

Dear All,

Please join us on March 9th, 11:00-12:30 PM in Rosenwald 329 to workshop methods for Anne-Sophie Reichert’s (PhD Student, Anthropology) study of Contemporary Dancers in Germany.  As she’s grappling with an interesting object—body movement, and the way it moves across times and places—she’s looking to pin down an array of methods that will enable her to approach her topic in a most productive way.

To frame the discussion, she’s shared her NSF DDRIG application, and you can find it here. Bellow is the overview of her project:

How do dancers learn body movements and bodily skills? What are dancers’ methods for transferring specific body techniques from one body to another body? This research will investigate how contemporary dancers, who are experts in conscious body learning, develop new and adapt established body techniques. The Co-PI will study contemporary dancers in Berlin, Germany who are interested in the experiential-learning and the investigative rather than the performative potential of dance practice. Unlike musical notation, where the Western paradigm has become dominant, there is no universal notation system for body movement, neither in Germany nor globally. The Co-PI will therefore study how the dancers maintain and transfer body techniques across generations and locations. The Co-PI will employ participant observation, auto-ethnography, semi-structured and phenomenological interviews to study the experience, the concepts and the methods that make up the dancers’ body movement practice. An understanding of bodily learning provides anthropologists with a process-oriented approach to how social structures and norms are produced and reproduced in the movement and interaction of human bodies.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sanja

February 21st: Teaching Methods? Workshopping a Qualitative Methods Syllabus

Dear All,

Please join us on February 21st, 12:00-1:20 PM in Gates-Blake 212 to workshop a Michael Chladek’s (CHD PostDoc) syllabus on Qualitative Methods. This will be an exciting opportunity to think not only about how we ‘do methods’ but also how we can teach (about) methods—while sharing useful literatures and insights on methods in general.

You can find the syllabus here.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sanja

February 8th: Workshopping interview data analysis and qualitative coding

Dear All,

Please join us on February 8th, 2:00-3:20 PM in Rosenwald 329 to workshop a study in progress by Helen Lee (presenter), Sheena Crenshaw and Bridgette Davis (research team members).

The study focuses on early-career educators in high-needs, resource-scarce urban schools, specifically their experience working with students exposed to trauma and effects of long-term exposure to secondary traumatic stress.

They’ve conducted a series of interviews that they’re working on analyzing so the workshop will focus on their codebook (and more broadly on coding practice and qualitative data analysis). If time permits, we will also think about possible future (methodological) directions.

You can find the materials here.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Sanja

Nov 29th—workshopping methods for a study on adolescent suicide, with Prof Anna Mueller

Dear All,

I am very excited to invite you to our last study group meeting of the quarter, 12:30-1:30 PM on Wednesday, Nov 29th in Rosenwald 301.

With this last meeting, we’re moving away from our more theoretical discussions that took place in previous weeks, and we will be discussing Prof. Anna Mueller’s in-progress mixed-methods study on adolescent suicide and suicide clusters. To get us ready for the discussion, she has shared with us a project description from a recent grant application and a related article manuscript. To further focus our discussion, I’ve also compiled various measures and questionnaires into one document for you to check out. You can find all the materials here.

Let me know if you have any questions or need any assistance.

Finally, keep an eye out for an e-mail regarding scheduling for next quarter!

Sanja