Data analysis support – opportunities with AQMeN Applied Quantitative Methods Network Alistair Geddes (Dundee University)

A collaborative network to raise quantitative expertise and capacity in social sciences within Scotland

AQMeN staff (University of Edinburgh) Susan McVie Director Helen Brown Senior Statistician Angie Dickson Admin and Communications Officer Heather Alexander Training and Knowledge Exchange Officer

Funded Partners Prof Lindsay Paterson Dr Cristina Iannelli Dr Andy Thompson Prof Gwilym Pryce Prof Vernon Gayle Dr Anthony Glendinning Dr Alistair Geddes Prof Robert Raeside Dr Mark Shephard Dr Stephen Tagg

Other collaborators Other Scottish Universities: Scottish Government Local authorities Voluntary sector Private sector members and growing

Objectives Boost capacity in quantitative methods in social sciences in Scotland Facilitate communication and knowledge exchange Encourage collaboration between: –disciplines –institutions –academics and non-academics Further exploit existing Scottish datasets

AQMeN activities Programme of training and events Interactive and informative website Quarterly newsletter Learning resources Statistical advisory service Small grants scheme Encourage communication and networking between members

Programme of events Developed in response to feedback from survey and consultation Training courses –Intermediate to advanced techniques in social science –Free to staff and students of Scottish Universities, charge for non- academics Knowledge exchange events (lectures/seminars) –Free for all to attend

Recent events PhD events –16 th May PhD Conference –17-19 th May Presenting Research to Different Types of Audience Core Training –JulyGrouping Methods (Clustering and Latent Class Analysis) –SeptemberStructural Equation Modelling –DecemberGeographically Weighted Regression

Local events Edinburgh –3 rd May: Institutional legitimacy and offending behaviour: Can police behaviour affect the contexts within which people think about crime? –6 th June: Using the Scottish Crime and Justice Survey 2008/09 Napier –6 th April: Description and analysis of typical data from scale questions in questionnaires –12 th April: Obtaining regression based models from questionnaire data

Local events Dundee –March 2010: Changing face of Scotland BioSS –4 th May: Graphical Methods for Multivariate Data

Statistical advisory service For AQMeN members Provided by AQMeN team or network members with relevant expertise Advice given recorded for future use

Encouraging collaboration Between disciplines and organisations Assistance with: –identifying opportunities for collaborative research –bringing relevant parties together Small grants: –collaborative research using AQMeN training –3 grants of £3000 per year –4th call just opened - deadline 29 th July 2011

Recent collaborative grants Development of new tool for the study of risk in farm business decision Scottish Agricultural College & University of Edinburgh Development of online annotated demonstration analyses of multivariate methods for longitudinal data Centre for Families & Relationships & Scottish Centre for Social Research Development of a method for mapping potential volunteering participation at the local level,linking the Scottish Household Survey to local area statistics University of Stirling and Volunteer Development Scotland

Exploiting existing Scottish datasets Scotland has a lot of under-used data –Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) –Scottish Crime Survey –Scottish Social Attitudes Survey –Scottish Health Survey –Scottish Household Survey –Scottish components of large UK datasets Potential for more in-depth quantitative analysis

Skills Needed to Use Statistical Methods Data management Understanding of statistical techniques Software Recognise when to: –ask advice from a statistician –work collaboratively using a statistician to carry out analyses

AQMeN & You Join via AQMeN website – free!

Analyst Training Event £3k Edinburgh University Knowledge Exchange grant AQMen Edinburgh-Dundee + Fife analysts 2 days training (June) Tailored to needs / data

Analyst Training Event Day 1 1.Theory: Understanding statistical techniques 2.Practical: Using statistical techniques 3.Theory: Prediction and forecasting 4.Practical: Prediction and forecasting 5.Theory: Evaluating police initiatives 6.Practical: Evaluating police initiatives

Analyst Training Event Day 2 1.Theory: Crime hotspots 2.Practical: Techniques for hotspot mapping 3.Theory: Hotspots for evaluating and predicting 4.Practical: Hotspots and policing strategies

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