Lectures                 PDFs of slides are best viewed in Adobe Acrobat, rather than in your browser.

Topic 1

Introduction to the Course, Probability, and R

Supplementary material: You may want to read through Kevin Quinn’s matrix algebra and probability distribution reviews, or consult my undergrad lectures on discrete and continuous distributions. For a more general review, you can find the lecture notes for the CSSS Math Camp here.

There are also R code and data for exploratory data analysis using histograms and boxplots, code and data for a simple bivariate linear regression, and code and data for a multiple regression example.

Finally, you’ll find detailed instructions for downloading, installing, and learning my recommended software for quantitative social science here. Focus on steps 1.1 and 1.3 for now, and then, optionally, step 1.2.

Topic 2

Introduction to Maximum Likelihood

Supplementary material: There are additional slides on the Monty Hall problem in color and printable pdf formats. The R code to simulate heteroskedastic data and model that data using a heteroskedastic normal maximum likelihood is here.

Finally, for an extended discussion of Bayes Rule, with examples, see my undergrad lecture on probability.

Topic 3

Models of Binary Data

Supplementary material: There are separate R scripts for interpreting and selecting binary logit models, as well as an example dataset. The goodness of fit code also relies on R functions for computing the percent correctly predicted and making actual-versus-predicted plots, which you should place in your working directory.

Topic 4

Models of Ordered Data

Supplementary material: R code and data for an ordered probit, which produces this output.

Topic 5

Models of Nominal Data

Topic 6

Models of Count Data

Supplementary material: R code for count data models, including the Poisson, negative binomial, zero-inflated Poisson, and zero-inflated negative binomial models. The data for these examples comes either as a complete dataset, or a dataset with zero-count observations deleted.

Advanced Topic 1

Missing Data and Multiple Imputation

Advanced Topic 2

Introduction to Multilevel Models:
Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Approaches

Supplementary material: For the curious, the R script used to construct the example plots in the first half of this lecture is here.

Self-Study Lecture 1

Introduction to Contingency Tables

Supplementary material: This lecture and the two below it introduce log-linear models of tabular data, and will not be presented as part of POLS/CSSS 510. They are posted here for interested students, especially for the use of mosaic plots to investigate cross-tabulated data (in this lecture, and in the third lecture on multidimensional tables). Students interested in a CSSS course on log-linear models should investigate CSSS 536.

Self-Study Lecture 2

Log-linear Models of Contingency Tables: 2D tables

Self-Study Lecture 3

Log-linear Models of Contingency Tables: 3D+ tables

Student Assignments

Problem Set 1

Due in class October 10, 2012

Problem Set 2

Due in class October 17, 2012

Problem Set 3

Due in class November 5, 2012

Supplementary material: Data for problem 1 in comma-separated variable format.

Problem Set 4

Due in class November 14, 2012

Supplementary material: Data for problem 1 in comma-separated variable format.

Problem Set 5

Due in class November 26, 2012

Supplementary material: Data for problem 1 in comma-separated variable format.

Problem Set 6

Due in class December 5, 2012

Supplementary material: Data will be provided.

Final Presentation or Poster

November 28 to December 5

See the syllabus for presentation requirements. If the class is large, we will substitute a poster presentation for the traditional slide presentation.

Final Paper

Due December 12, 5:00 pm, in my Gowen mailbox

See the syllabus for paper requirements, and see my guidelines and recommendations for quantitative research papers.

Labs

Lab 1

R-Refresher

Supplementary material: code and data.

Lab 2

Heteroskedastic Normal Example, Monty Hall Simulation

Supplementary material: code.

Lab 3

Fitting and Interpreting Logit Model

Supplementary material: code.

Lab 4

Logit Model Goodness of Fit

Supplementary material: code.

Lab 5

Models of Ordered Choice

Supplementary material: code.

Lab 6

Modeling Nominal Outcomes: Multinomial Logit

Supplementary material: code.

Lab 6

Models for Counts

Supplementary material: code and data.