The 4th LCSR Summer School on “Categorical Data Analysis”
Отчет о летней школе
The 4th LCSR Summer School on “Categorical Data Analysis” took place in from June 29 to July 12 2014 in Zelenogorsk, Saint-Petersburg. The event wass attended by participants from different Russian universities, and also from Belarus, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the USA.
The Summer School-2014 was devoted to studying different methods of categorical data analysis which are relevant for comparative social research. The goal of this summer school was to provide assistance for graduate students, University faculty, and social scientists which are interested in developing their skills in quantitative methods of research in various fields. As a part of the School Jacques Hagenaars (Tilburg University, the Netherlands) explained the basic principles of dealing with categorical data. Among others, several topics such as log-linear analysis of contingency tables, logistic regression, latent class analysis, factor analysis with observed categorical variables were covered during the course. The course was accompanied by practical lessons using Latent Gold and LEM free software. Zsuzsa Bakk (a PhD student at the Tilburg University) assisted to Professor Hagenaars on practical part of the course.
Three smaller optional courses were scheduled for the both weeks of the summer school. The first optional course was Political Support and Democratic Values in cross-national perspective”. It was delivered by the prominent German political scientist Hans-Dieter Klingemann (Social Science Research Centre (WZB), Berlin). During the course Hans-Dieter spoke about the key accomplishments in the field of political sociology which took place during the last two decades. The second course was called “ Modernization and Cultural Change ”. This one was delivered by the scientific supervisor of LCSR Ronald Inglehart (University of Michigan, LCSR HSE). During the lectures Professor Inglehart briefly described the basics of integrated modernization theory. The last additional course on “ Changes in attitudes and religiosity: how to measure them ” wasbe given by Kirill Zhirkov (LCSR NRU HSE). He provided the listeners with the mainstream techniques directed towards operationalizing and measuring individual religiosity in cross-country research.
The members of the LCSR international research network also presented progress reports on their projects during after-lunch sessions of the Summer School. This conference part included ten sections on various fields of social research such as subjective well-being, gender issues, religiosity, and civic engagement.
The LCSR welcomes all the interested parties to take part in the 2015 Summer school. The most up-to-date information is available on the Lanoratory website http://lcsr.hse.ru/