Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences 2 QMSS2 Anuska Ferligoj Member of the QMSS2 Steering Committee 1

A research network programme QMSS2 is led by Angela Dale (Univ. of Manchester), runs from , and represents a follow-on from its predecessor, QMSS (2003-7) led by Chris Skinner (Univ. of Southampton). QMSS2 aims to: – increase the capacity of European social scientists in quantitative methods – develop strong inter-disciplinary and international networks around selected methods-related themes We achieve this by running seminars (20 in total) and training summer schools (11 in total) 2

The five themes The network programme focuses on five areas of critical importance in quantitative methods: Social interactions and social networks Lifecourse analysis Cross-national comparisons Immigration and population dynamics Survey design and survey quality Each theme has a leader and a project team who are responsible for the seminars and summer schools 3

The seminars The seminars bring together specialists from different disciplines and different countries to identify and promote cutting-edge methods – they also introduce new scholars and junior researchers to the network and thus stimulate further cross-European collaboration – a seminar is held each year in each of the five thematic areas (20 seminars in total; 16 held so far); participants 4

The summer schools The summer schools disseminate cutting edge methods to junior social scientists A total 10 summer schools have been funded (two from each theme); they: – last eight days, 25 participants – but some more – provide hands-on training to junior researchers – facilitate cross-country collaborations Funds are available for follow-up short-visits to prepare collaborative papers 5

Participation There are 19 participating ESF countries list of 890 subscribers who receive information about events Seminars and summer schools are both heavily over-subscribed Good balance of participants across countries Newsletters that disseminates information about programme 6

Evaluation Evaluation survey completed by participants at each summer school; results reported to Steering Committee Survey of all QMSS2 participants completed in summer 2010 – 131 respondents, response rate of 36% – Responses very positive 7

Results of evaluation survey – QMSS2 Seminars: Key motivating factors – scientific quality; over 60% very satisfied; almost 100% very or quite satisfied – opportunity to discuss methods used in the respondent’s research; 46% very satisfied; 95% very or quite satisfied – QMSS2 Summer schools key motivating factors – Ability to learn new quantitative method; 59% very satisfied; 98% very or quite satisfied – Scientific quality; 69% very satisfied; 100% very/quite satisfied 89% of survey respondents have recommended QMSS/2 events to others 8

End of programme conference: New horizons in quantitative methods in the social science Application submitted under ESF Research Conference Scheme (ESF/LiU) Will bring together: – Invited speakers across the five themes and – Early stage researchers from summer schools Programme also includes: – Poster session – New Directions and Forward Look discussions Summer 2012 – added contribution from QMSS under- spend 9