LCSR Summer School. How It Was.
by Ekaterina Turanova
The Third LCSR summer school has finished. More than 40 young scholars from universities and research centers of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Italy, Israel, US, Poland and Germany participated in the School this year.
Participants spent two weeks in Zelenogorsk on the shore of the Gulf of Finland where they were studying the basics of multilevel structural equation modeling. Professor Duelmer and his assistant Kirill Zhirkov have taught the main course. Additional courses by Alexander Kustov (LATEX for Social Scientists) and Irina Nikiforova (Data Analysis using R and SQL) were also of high interest for students. Participants highly appreciated lecturer’s assistance in learning rather complex techniques of data analysis and their advice concerning methodology of students’ research projects.
LCSR staff and associate researchers as well as new participants worked hard at the School’s lessons and successfully mastered up-to-date statistical methods of quantitative data analysis. The bravest students showed the results of their mini-projects conducted during the School workshops at the last lecture by professor Duelmer. Models elaborated by participants were highly evaluated by professor; he was impressed by diligence of the students.
LCSR Progress Reports Session, during which members of LCSR research network presented the results of their projects conducted under the auspices of the Lab, has also taken place during the School.
Some researchers presented final reports on their projects (papers which are almost ready for publication), namely Alexander Kustov (Princeton University), Natalia Soboleva (LCSR, Moscow), Ekaterina Lytkina (LCSR, Moscow), Vladimir Kozlov (HSE, Moscow). Lab’s experts considered these reports to be high quality papers which have the best chances to be published in leading Russian and international journals.
Prominent social scientists from different countries delivered guest lectures during the School. Yuri Saveliev (National Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv, Ukraine), Bogdan Voicu (Romania Academy of Science), Malina Voicu (GESIS, EUROLAB) and Francesco Sarracino (Ceps/Instead, Esch-sur-Alzette) presented their current research projects. Every lecture continued with discussion about theoretical and methodological aspects of these works.
Intense program of the School included not only lectures and workshops. Every evening participants gathered together to play volleyball and got to know each other better. One of the most impressive out-class event was excursion to the downtown of Saint-Petersburg and to a city suburb Peterhof. Even those participants who had visited the city before were excited to go sightseeing and have some rest after the first week of the School.
The administration and staff of the Lab are very thankful to all the participants and lecturers of our School! We hope that you have the best impressions from the event and we are looking forward to seeing you at the LCSR Summer School next year. We are also inviting everyone who would like to develop statistical skills and receive consultations from outstanding scholars concerning their own research projects to the LCSR Summer School, 2014.
by Ekaterina Turanova