Gentle introduction to using Understanding Society in Stata and R (F2F)

Who is the course for?

The course starts with a short introduction to the key aspects of Understanding Society, including study design, content, data structure, and weighting, along with basic data management skills such as merging data files from different waves and linking household-level data to individual-level data. These topics will be introduced in an accessible way, minimising specialist jargon and explaining the content step-by-step with practical examples. (If you are looking for a more thorough introduction to the Study consider Introduction to Understanding Society)

This course is particularly valuable for academic and non-academic researchers:

• starting their journey with quantitative social survey data and seeking inspiration for research topics and suitable datasets, especially undergraduate and master’s students, as well as those considering or beginning a PhD
• researchers who have never worked with longitudinal data or have very limited experience with it but would like to learn more about its potential

This course will be delivered in person at the University of Essex campus in Colchester. The workshop is free to attend, but you will need to pay for your own travel and accommodation.

Prerequisites:

• Interest in and some experience with social research using cross-sectional survey data.
• Basic working knowledge of your preferred statistical software: Stata or R (including R Studio).
• Willingness to learn and use syntax/code scripts.

What will I learn?

The course consists of two parts: a 1-hour lecture and a 5-hour interactive, hands-on practical session. During the practical session, participants will work through exercises with guidance and support from the tutor, focusing on the advantages of the longitudinal and household nature of the data through real examples.

The course is designed for people with some prior experience using cross-sectional survey data but assumes only basic knowledge and skills in data analysis (cross-tabulation, basics of OLS regression) and statistical software (basic skills and a willingness to learn to use syntax commands/code).

Please note: we will NOT cover advanced panel-data models (e.g., fixed-effects and random-effects). If you would like to learn more about these, then consider Introduction to linear panel data methods)

Course materials
Participants will be provided handouts of the presentation slides, worksheets and syntax files (in the software of their choice) to accompany the worked-out exercises.

Software and technical requirements
Participants should bring their own laptop with the following software installed (depending on the chosen software):

• Stata Version 13 or higher
• R version 3.6.1 or above; R studio version 1.1.4 or higher

Making our events accessible

At Understanding Society we want everyone who attends our events to feel welcome and included. This short guide will tell you how we plan and deliver events that are accessible for everyone.

Other Understanding Society workshops

You may be interested in other Understanding Society workshops, so please have a look at our Training Hub