Introduction to Quantitative Methods

2-4 June 2025

Dre Elisa Volpi, UNIGE

Prof. Levente Littvay

Are you running advanced statistical models and feel like you have major holes in your knowledge? Are you a qualitative researcher who would like to develop foundations in quantitative research but never got yourself to do it on your own? Do you think that you need these foundations, but the thought of sitting in on an MA class sounds like the worst torture you can imagine putting yourself through? This workshop is for you. It is tailored for PhD students, designed for people who already know what research is, and will cover the basics, minimizing (though not entirely eliminating) math and focusing on the concepts necessary to build a strong basis in quantitative social science research. We truly start at the beginning, covering measures of central tendency (the mean), dispersion (variance) and understand what is at the core of probability theory that allows us to make statistical inferences. Then we go through hypothesis testing, inference, difference of means tests, nonparametric analysis, correlations, bivariate and multiple regression with a strong focus on the assumptions made, the utility and the limitations of these methods. We tie back these techniques to research design and finish with an overview of what else is out there in the world of statistics and what problems (inevitably discussed at some point during this workshop) will be solved by those more advanced methods.

TBA

Genève

15