Campus News

UGA College of Education presents advanced statistical workshops in June

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Education and Human Development will present two advanced statistical workshops: Advanced Multivariate Statistical Methods, to be held June 11-13, and Introduction to Multilevel Models, to be held June 14-16. Both workshops will be taught at the UGA Hotel and Conference Center at the Georgia Center.

The Advanced Multivariate Statistical Methods Workshop will offer a modern approach to multivariate data analysis, focusing on statistical techniques commonly used in empirical research and the commonalities, which tie them to the techniques developed and used historically, such as Multivariate ANOVA and classical clustering methods. It also will teach participants the tenets of modern multivariate thinking: the interplay between assumed statistical distributions and computationally intensive estimation techniques. An emphasis will be placed on how modern statistical analysis methods have used those principles to generalize methodology across many disciplines, including education, social and behavioral sciences, and the health fields.

The Introduction to Multilevel Models Workshop will highlight statistical methods with names such as hierarchical linear models and random or mixed affects models. The workshop also will feature multilevel models use in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. By attending the workshop, participants will gain a basic understanding of the modeling approach and will be able to conduct basic multilevel model analyses. The course will feature example handouts and syntax from several statistical packages for multilevel modeling, such as SAS, SPSS and Mplus.

COE faculty member Jonathan Templin, an associate professor in the research, evaluation, measurement and statistics program, will instruct both workshops. His quantitative program of research is focused on the expansion of diagnostic modeling in education and the social sciences. The main focus of his research is the development of statistical methods for classifying individuals with respect to psychological phenomena.

Knowledge of linear models is preferable for participants enrolling in the courses, and participants who have taken multivariate methods previously are encouraged to enroll as the workshops represent a significant departure from how statistical methods have been taught in the past.

Registration for the Multivariate Statistical Methods workshop ends May 29, and the last day for registering for the Multilevel Models workshop is May 31. Both workshops cost $525 per participant, which includes workshop materials, refreshment breaks, lunch and parking passes each day. Participants must bring their own laptop computers to take part in the workshops. For more information, see www.coe.uga.edu/events/category/institute-workshop/.

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