SBSRC Events

Monday, September 30, 2019 - 11:30amInnovations in QMM Research Methods I

The Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Interest Group is an interdisciplinary effort that brings together researchers to discuss these research methods, coordinate activities, and identify collaborative opportunities.

This event was an informative brown-bag methods workshop.

More info here: https://sbsrc.unl.edu/qualitative-mixed-methods-research-interest-group 

Sponsor: SBSRC, QM&M

Friday, August 2, 2019 - 10:00amSBSRC Faculty Writing Group

The SBSRC-hosted writing group meets EVERY Friday at 10 a.m. at the NIC Mill. Join Lisa PytlikZillig and other social and behavioral scientists in this mentoring opportunity. All are welcome!

Sponsor: SBSRC

Monday, May 6, 2019 - 9:00am to Friday, May 10, 2019 - 5:00amMay 6-10, 2019: SBSRC Interdisciplinary Workshop Series

The Interdisiciplinary Workshop Series provided opportunities for participants to focus on research design and analysis skills in three unique workshops.  

Monday, May 6th, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Practical Tools for Nonresponse Bias Studies - Kristen Olson

This course was designed to help researchers design and conduct nonresponse bias studies. Practical tools were described and examples were used to illustrate methods that can be used to conduct these studies, including use of benchmark comparisons, frame and external data, nonresponse follow-ups, and methods using data collected while monitoring nonresponse during data collection (i.e., paradata). The advantages and disadvantages of these methods were presented, and the value of having multiple approaches was highlighted. The need to devise strategies for nonresponse and for its analysis in the planning stage, prior to completing the survey were emphasized. Survey researchers in any discipline and in many sectors (government, business and academia) who wanted to learn methods for diagnosing the risk of nonresponse bias in important survey estimates were encouraged take this course.

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Tuesday, May 7th, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Introduction to Social Network Analysis - Jeffrey Smith

This class offered a one-day seminar on network analysis. Network analysis has experienced a dramatic increase in popularity over the last 15 years, with network techniques utilized by a wide range of academic disciplines (including sociology, anthropology, physics, biology, computer science, economics, political science, etc.) as well as by some of the most successful companies in the world. Network analysis is a unique approach as the focus is on the relationships connecting actors, rather than on the properties of the actors themselves. This workshop covered the theoretical, methodological and substantive underpinnings of network analysis and then offered an introductory tutorial in R. The R tutorial covered basic data management, network construction, plotting and simple measures. Participants were required to bring a laptop in order to practice using R.

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Thursday - Friday, May 9th - 10th,  9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day

Conducting Successful Mail and Web Surveys - Jolene Smyth

This two-day workshop, jointly sponsored by SBSRC and BOSR, focused on how to design questionnaires and implementation materials for self-administered mail and web surveys.  The course included an overview of sources of survey error and covered topics such as writing nominal, ordinal, and open-end questions; visual design of questionnaires; design considerations specific to mail and web surveys; designing mixed-mode surveys; and designing implementation materials (i.e., recruitment letters, emails, etc.).  Empirical evidence and examples were provided, and participants applied what they learned through several activities. 

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Sponsor: Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium; Bureau of Sociological Research

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 - 12:00pm to 1:00pmMarch 13, 2019: CBPR Best Practices

In the second session in our Interdisciplinary Brown Bag Series on Community-Based Participatory Research,  we discussed best practices. This conversation included a broad look at data management plans, research ethics and human subjects protections, IRBs, designing the study to serve the interests of researcher and community, and more.

For the last session in this series, join your colleagues at noon on April 10th to share your experiences with Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). The sessions will be held in the UNL City Campus Union; please bring your lunch!

Files and Resources:

View a Zoom recording of the workshop

• We encourage video participants to take our survey.

Dr. Dan Hoyt, Director of SBSRC, talks about community empowerment and building a study that relies on the respective expertise of the researcher and community partners. "Hire from within the community as much as possible and provide research training to community members," Dr. Hoyt suggested.

Attendees discuss their own experiences and challenges with designing a study that builds in the respective expertise of both the researcher and the community partners.	Dr. Hoyt leads a discussion on community readiness and the occasional need to engage in preliminary community awareness work.