AQMeN - Applied Quantitative Methods Network

Signups for this event are now closed.  Successful applicants will be notified by noon on Friday 13th August.

Three Day Training Course

7th - 9th September 2010
Chrystal MacMillan Building, University of Edinburgh

Course Presenters:
Helen Brown (University of Edinburgh),  Lindsay Paterson (University of Edinburgh), Paul Norris (University of Edinburgh), Rebecca Pillinger (LEMMA, University of Bristol)

Course Content:
This course will explore the use of multilevel models and will emphasise their practical application in social sciences.  The main focus will be on multilevel models for continuous, binary and multinomial outcomes, with shorter introductory sessions on models for ordinal and count outcomes.  Analyses will be illustrated using MLwiN (a package dedicated to multilevel modelling available free to academics) and lectures will be combined with practical sessions in order to reinforce concepts.

Click here to see a draft programme.  Course delegates will receive a final programme prior to attending the course.

Who should attend?
This course is directed at people working in social sciences who already have a good understanding of regression methods and wish to extend their knowledge to multilevel models.

Why attend?
Multilevel models are becoming an increasingly popular method of analysis and there are many situations where greater insight is obtained compared to simpler methods such as ANOVA or multiple regression.  Potential advantages include:

• a wider inference: for example, in a study of school attainment, results can be related to a population of schools rather than just those assessed;
• more appropriate estimates of standard errors, by taking account of the fact that observations within the same group tend to be positively correlated with each other: for example, pupils in the same school tend to be more similar than pupils in different schools;
• more appropriate mean estimates, with the risk of spurious outlying results for small groups reduced;
• a more efficient analysis with smaller standard errors particularly when there are few observations per group;
• avoidance of problems caused by missing outcomes: this is an advantage in longitudinal studies, for example panel studies, where there are often dropouts;
• use of more appropriate variances and correlations: for example, in a longitudinal analysis the correlation between observations on the same person may become less for measurements that are further apart in time.

However, as with any quantitative technique a firm understanding is important to allow its effective application and to obtain a clear interpretation of results.

Course Objectives:

• To refresh participants' knowledge of using single-level regression for both linear and non-linear outcomes.
• To introduce participants to the use of multilevel techniques.
• To provide hands on experience of analysing data using the multilevel package MLwiN and interpreting the output.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will be able to understand the principles and assumptions underlying multilevel models for analysing continuous, binary and multinomial outcomes, and gain an appreciation of multilevel models for ordinal and count outcomes.
• Participants will be able to conduct analysis of continuous, binary and multinomial outcomes using MLwiN and understand and interpret the resulting output.

Application Process:

There are 25 places available on this course.   Places will be allocated following a process of application and priority will be given to students and academic staff in Scotland who meet the selection criteria, and for which the course is free to attend.

Non-academics and academics from outside Scotland may apply and will be placed on a waiting list to be allocated any remaining places.  There will be a charge for non-academics and academics outside Scotland as follows:

• Academic students and staff in Scotland - FREE
• Students and Academic staff outside Scotland - £50
• Public and Voluntary Sector - £150
• Private Sector - £300

To apply for the course:

1. Sign up for the event using the link below AND
2. Complete the application form attached at the bottom of this page and return to events@aqmen.ac.uk by 5pm on Sunday 8th August.

Download the application form

Successful applicants will be notified by 5pm on Thursday 12th  August at the latest.

Criteria for Selection: 
Participants should already be experienced in carrying out statistical analyses using basic quantitative techniques (for example t-tests, chi-squared tests, ANOVA), and additionally multiple linear regression.

Further information:
For further information contact events@aqmen.ac.uk