Workshops and Conferences 2012-2013

Dealing with Missing Data and Multiple Imputation

Date/Location: 17-18 June 2013, Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

Organiser: Michael Grätz - Mentor: Fabrizio Bernardi

Credits: 10

Guest Speaker: Raul Gomez Martinez (University of Derby)

Abstract: This workshop deals with missing data in quantitative research, especially (but not exclusively) in survey data analysis. Missing data refers to cases for which information is unknown, often because respondents do not know the answer or prefer not to say –or because that particular piece of information is simply not available for some particular cases (schools, regions, countries, etc). The existence of missing data is a serious challenge to statistical analysis, and ignoring them may lead to biased results. Even though strategies to deal with missing data have been greatly improved over the past few years, this knowledge is not always available to social scientists.

The aim of the workshop is threefold. First, it should allow participants to learn the theory behind missing data, learn how to identify the patterns in their own data and discuss different methods to deal with this problem. Second, participants will learn the reasoning behind Full-Information Maximum-Likelihood (FIML) and Multiple Imputation (MI) techniques. Third, the workshop will mainly focus on the theory and practical execution of MI techniques in STATA, which will be explained and conducted using examples. In summary, the workshop should allow participants to think carefully about the missing data problem in their own research and make them able to implement appropriate techniques.

Programme

Please register with Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu

Introduction to Experimental Methods for the Social Sciences

Date/Location: 12, 13, 14  June, Emeroteca (Badia)

Credits: 10

Organiser: Diego Gambetta

Guest Speaker: Wojtak Przepiorka

Abstract: The course covers the design, implementation and analytic tools necessary for conducting social science experiments with a focus on laboratory experiments. Upon completion of the course students should be able to (1) formulate research questions that can be addressed using experiments, (2) design and carry out experiments, and (3) analyse and interpret results from social sciences experiments.

Programme

Please register with Adele.Battistini@eui.eu

How Do Citizens Understand and Evaluate Democracy?

Date/Location: 12-13 June, Seminar Room 2 and Sala Del Capitolo (Badia)

Credits: 10

Organiser: Hanspeter Kriesi

Abstract: The aim of the workshop is to present and discuss theoretical approaches and exploratory analyses of pilot data in order to show how the ESS Round6 can be used for the study of the way European citizens understand and evaluate democracy. The papers presented at the workshop are written by the prospective contributors to an edited volume based on the ESS Round6 data (see the program of the workshop). At the time of the workshop, these data will not yet be available, which is why the papers presented will be very preliminary - discussing mainly theoretical approaches, the state of the literature and some exploratory analyses.

Requirements: Researchers are invited to participate in the workshop as discussants of the papers that are presented by the contributors to the edited volume. Researchers who wish to participate will be assigned one of the papers (the papers are expected to be available on May 31st) for discussion within the framework of the workshop (participants may indicate their preferences for these assignments). Participants need to write a three-pages comment (double-spaced) and are, of course, expected to present the comments also orally at the workshop. The written comments should be sent until June 7 to both Hanspeter Kriesi and Maureen.

Programme

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Political Change in the GIIPS

Date/Location: 11-12 June 2013, Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Organiser: Marco Valbruzzi - Davide Vampa (Mentor: Stefano Bartolini)

Abstract: The aim of the workshop is to understand how the party systems of Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, commonly known as GIIPS, have evolved over the last years. The economic crisis started in 2008 has particularly affected these countries and this has resulted in important political changes and increasing political instability. Many incumbent parties have collapsed and are on the verge of disappearing, whereas new political actors have emerged. More generally, we are witnessing a redefinition of, once relatively stable, cleavages shaping political competition in these countries. Although some articles and studies focusing on individual countries have been published in recent years, we still lack a truly comparative assessment of what is going on in European political systems that are under increasing financial pressure. The workshop will try to fill this gap by collecting the contributions of experts and having a debate that involves the broader academic community of the EUI.

The workshop will last two days, 11-12 June. For each country there will be one or two experts (the list is below) presenting a paper. Each paper will also have a discussant that will be selected among the participants on the basis of individual interest. Finally, the floor will be open to questions and comments for all the participants.

List of Country Experts:

Ireland:David Farrell and Conor Little (UCD); Spain: Jonathan Hopkin (LSE); Portugal: Antonio Costa Pinto (University of Lisbon);
Italy: Luca Verzichelli (University of Siena); Greece:Takis Pappas (EUI)

Programme

Please register with Martina.Selmi@eui.eu

Family Dynamics and Inequalities in Children’s Life Chances

Date/Location:

10 June 2013 Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

11 June 2013 Seminar Room 3, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Organiser: Fabrizio Bernardi

Abstract: This workshop deals with the effects of family forms and dynamics on children’s short- and long-term life chances and well-being. It is divided into two sessions. The first one focuses on parental separation and its implications for children’s well-being, educational attainment and, more in general, for the intergenerational reproduction of inequality. The second session discusses the role of parental practices for children’s well-being and inequality. In both sessions special interest is paid to research design that enable to identify causal effects of family dynamics on inequalities in children’s life chances.

Programme

Please register with Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu

Artistic Production and National Culture in Contemporary North Africa

Date/Location: 10-11 June, Emeroteca (Badia)

Credits: 10 credits

Organisers: Luc Chauvin - Jessica Northey - Mentor: Olivier Roy

Guest Speakers: Patrick Crowley (Cork Univ.) Catherine Cornet (Univ. Roma Tor Vergata), Yves Gonzalez de Quijano (Univ. Lyon), Khaoula Taleb Ibrahimi (Univ. of Algiers 2), Yacine Bouha (Univ of Oran/musician)

Abstract: This workshop focuses on artists (writers, film makers, dramatists and musicians) and their interactions with national and political institutions in the Mediterranean. It explores the imbrication of artistic production and its dissemination through cultural institutions and, increasingly, social media and seeks to analyse the relationship between these processes and the state. We ask if this process contributes to the formation of a social space and if what is emerging involves a redefinition of national culture, as viewed by the state and as analysed by Fanon. The workshop asks what kinds of identities have been imagined by such actors and the extent to which they challenge national narratives or confirm them differently. And in what way, if any, can we speak of the emergence of trans-Maghrebian perspectives?
Analysing the relationship between governments and cultural actors, the workshop seeks to explore the formation of new public spaces that take physical form (such as Tahrir Square), or subversive text (such as graffiti, hip-hop) or more conventional forms (such as the new independent publishing houses that have emerged). Who has access to these spaces, and what are the political implications of access? How does the role of artists fit in with the broader secularist/Islamist conflict? In examining the institutional framing of cultural production, and government funding of cultural projects and publishing houses, the workshop seeks to delineate the new shape and figures of national culture in North Africa.
We invite proposals that focus on the relationship between cultural production and institutions and how different actors question, challenge, and contribute to new conceptions of the nation and national culture. Contributions to the workshop may include, but are not limited to, institutional and cultural relationships within literary, cinematic, musical and artistic productions; national belonging and artistic production; language in artistic expression, humanism and religion in artistic production; new allegories for old national questions; the making-Mediterranean of the Maghreb; questions concerning national literatures, and the poetics of imagining communities...

Requirements: Credits are awarded for researchers presenting or discussing a paper, or participating and contributing to the debate over the two days of the workshop. Due to its regional focus, the workshop accepts papers given in French or in English and the organizers will do their best to offer summaries of French papers in English to enable as wide a participation as possible.

Programme: TBA

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Causal Inference

Date/Location: 6-7 June 2013, Seminar Room 2

Credits: 10

Organisers: Carolina Zuccotti, Chiara Comolli - Mentor: Fabrizio Bernardi

Abstract: This is a two-days course that will introduce students to an authoritative framework of causal inference in social sciences. The objective is to learn how statistical methods can help us to draw causal claims about phenomena of interest. By the end of the course, students will be in position to 1) critically read and evaluate statements about causal relationships based on some analysis of data; 2) apply a variety of design-based easy-to-implement methods that will help them draw causal inferences in their own research. 

Programme

Please register with Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu

Thoughts on Machiavelli

Master course

Credits: 20

Date/Location: 27 May – 7 June 2013, Seminar Room, Villa Sanfelice

Instructor: Stephen Holmes, NYU

Abstract: A Florentine diplomat and civil servant, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) drew upon his lifelong understanding of Roman history to interpret the colorful, tumultuous, duplicitous and often violent politics of Renaissance Italy.  This class will involve a reading and analysis of important passages from his two masterpieces, The Prince and The Discourses on Livy, in their historical context, with a focus on its principal theme, namely how and why republics and autocratic regimes succeed and fail militarily.

Programme

Please register with: Monika.Rzemieniecka@EUI.eu

Beyond Critique: Theoretical and Methodological Reflections on the Study of Religion and the Secular

Date/Locations: 30 May (Emeroteca) - 31 May - 1st June (Theatre, Badia Fiesolana)

Credits: 10 (for the full attendance of at least 2 days and a presentation or workshop paper

Organiser: Michal Matlak, Mentor: Olivier Roy

Abstract: .Political and social scientists often struggle with conceptualization of religion and various forms of secularisms as these terms are vague and difficult to define. Our main concern can therefore be expressed in the question: How can we incorporate religion into the social and political sciences without reducing it to identity, culture or other related phenomena? Another important question is of more practical nature: How to differentiate between religion, faith, belief and how to describe their relationship with culture, nation or ethnicity? Acknowledging that the way in which we operationalize religion in our research is already a politicized issue, we want to reflect upon dominant theoretical and methodological approaches to religion and secularism, and look for concrete new ways of approaching these topics.

We hereby invite researchers working on religion, secularism, and other related phenomena to present their papers during our workshop. Accepted papers will be organized into themed panels, followed by discussion with experts in the field, PhD researchers and other attendees. We are also happy to announce that our keynote speaker will be Veit Bader (Univ. of Amsterdam).

Proposals of no more than 500 words are requested by 29th March 2013 to: michal.matlak@eui.eu

The workshop is a part of the conference under the same title organized by Kristina Stoeckl and Maria Birnbaum in the framework of ReligioWest Project.

Programme

Please register with: Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

'In Between' - Hegemony and Rising Powers

Date/Location: 30-31st May, Seminar Room 3 (Badia)

Credits: 10 credits

Organiser: Katharina Meissner, Camille Brugier - Mentor: Ulrich Krotz

Guest Speaker: Stefan Schirm (Univ. Bochum), Sandra Desctradi (GIGA, Hamburg)

Abstract: The last few decades have witnessed the emergence of so called rising powers. These are commonly subsumed under the term BRICS which comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. These states have managed to appear visible on the international stage and challenge the present world order. The variance of terms used for these countries – ranging from rising powers, over regional leaders, to hegemons – reveals the unleashed academic discussion on these states. Despite the relatively recent emergence of these regional powers the concept of hegemony is far from new in international relations theories. The origin of the hegemonic stability theory has already been set in the 1970s by Kindleberger (1973) and Gilpin (1981). 
The workshop aims at clarifying the various concepts approached in the social sciences for the dominance of states in military, economic and ideational terms. More importantly, the workshop aims at examining the behavior of dominant states in the world order being either historical or present. Thereby the workshop will contrast the behavior of potential hegemons between regions as well as times. Thus, the workshop will contribute to the understanding of dominant states in the present world order and, in particular, the actions employed by the so called rising powers.

Programme

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

Workshop/Masterclass

Date/Location: 23-24 May, Seminar room 2 (Badia) 10:00-13:00 and 14:30-16:30 on both days

Credits: 10 credits

Organiser Magnus Schöller - Mentor: Adrienne Héritier

Guest Speaker: Claudius Wagemann (Univ. Frankfurt)

Abstract: QCA is a relatively new social science method that allows causal inferences on the basis of a mid-sized number of cases. It is firmly rooted in set theory and presents an alternative to conventional case studies and statistical analysis. Over the last three decades, it has become a broadly recognized and applied tool in the social sciences. Since it can be very helpful for a lot of researchers at the EUI who work comparatively - independently from their particular topics - a workshop with one of the current experts in the field (see above) would be of great value. The aim of the workshop is to enable the participants to use QCA properly in their own research. However, the usual presentations on behalf of the participants would not contribute efficiently to this aim. Therefore, alternative requirements in order to obtain credits are proposed, such as a final paper, in which epistomological reflections on QCA are combined with applications.

Programme: 1. What is QCA? What is Set Theory? 2. Sets and Set Membership Calibration. 3. Set Relations. 4. Truth Table Analysis. 5. Parameters of Fit. 6. Limited Diversity and Logical Remainders. 7. Standard Analysis, Enhanced Standard Analysis and Theory-Guided Enhanced Standard Analysis. 8. Extensions of QCA.

N.B. As for software, participants should bring their own laptop on which they have to download the software. It is freeware and can be found here: http://www.u.arizona.edu/~cragin/fsQCA/software.shtml. We only need the fsQCA software, not the older DOS version

Requirements: a short paper is required for the credit award.

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Political Psychology: Framing and Opinion Formation

Date/Location: 16-17 May 2013, Emeroteca, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Organisers: Céline Colombo, Pietro Castelli, Sanna Salò, Tomasz Siczek; Mentor: Hanspeter Kriesi

Guest Speakers: Marco Steenbergen (Univ. Zürich), Rune Slothuus (Univ. Aarhus), Robert Entman (George Washington Univ.)

Aim of the workshop:  The aim of the workshop is to discuss and understand political communication between elites and citizens. The workshop is divided in two parts. In the first part, we focus on political persuasion and in particular on the literature and theories of framing. How has the literature on framing over the course of the last couple of decades developed, and what is the current state of the art? What are the methodological approaches to study frames and what are recent promising innovations? While the first part covers the supply side of politics, the second part of the workshop covers the individual level – opinion formation. Are citizens capable of learning or do they lack a minimal amount of political awareness to engage in information processing? Can frames manipulate opinion with the result that citizens become misinformed about various aspects of politics? Under what circumstances are citizens available to change their opinion in light of new information and when are they immune against political attempts of persuasion? Those are questions of crucial importance which put modern theories of democracy to the test. Are liberal theories of democracy based on wrong assumptions about the human mind? Is deliberative democracy as envisaged by Habermas possible? By asking these questions the workshop brings together scholars interested in the micro- and the macro-level of public opinion formation in an exchange of their current knowledge and research.

Programme (provisional)

Requirements:  Each participant should discuss one of the papers. The discussion is meant to last about 10 minutes. Registered participants , would  receive the papers in advance and hand in their written comments to H. Kriesi as well as the organisers.in advance.

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Multilevel Modeling

Date/Location: 16-17 May 2013, Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Organiser: Hans-Peter Blossfeld

Guest speaker: Tenko Raykov (Michigan State University)

Abstract: The workshop will start with the intuition of causality, to move later on to the description of some common used strategies. In principle, we will start with instrumental variables (IV), but the instructor is also open to suggestions by the students.

Programme

Please register with Alina.Vlad@eui.eu

Theoretical, Methodological, Ethical and Practical Issues of Field Research

Date/Location: 15-16 May 2013, Seminar Room 4, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Organisers: Juan Masullo/Christine Isabel Andrä - Mentors: Donatella della Porta/ Diego Gambetta

Guest speaker: Elisabeth Wood (Yale University), Tony Robben (University of Utrecht)

Abstract: The workshop will deal with the main theoretical, methodological, ethical and practical aspects of field research. We will discuss field research as an important part of research design, cover basic techniques for data collection through field research and for subsequently interpreting and analyzing these data, point out related political and ethical dilemmas and best practices for coping with them, and address the host of practical steps that need to be taken before, during and after being in the field. Although these topics pertain to all kinds of field research, the emphasis will be on field research in war-affected areas or otherwise risky social contexts, highlighting the specific difficulties, opportunities and trade-offs that these contexts may entail. Workshop discussions will be based both on scientific literature and on actual fieldwork experiences of both speakers and participants. We aim to look at these topics from an interdisciplinary point of view. The two main speakers will be Elisabeth Wood (political science, author of Forging Democracy from Below: Insurgent Transitions in South Africa and El Salvador, 2000; and Insurgent Collective Action and Civil War in El Salvador, 2003) and Ton Robben (anthropology, editor –with C. Nordstrom- of Fieldwork under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival. 1995; and Iraq at a Distance: What Anthropologists Can Teach Us About the War, 2010).

Programme

Please register with Adele.Battistini@eui.eu

Research Skills for the World of Big Data

Date/Location: 30 April 2013 (Emeroteca, Badia Fiesolana), 2-3 May 2013 (Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana), 7-8 May 2013 (Cappella, Villa Schifanoia)

Credits: 20

Organisers: Alexander Trechsel, Jonathan Murray Bright

Guest speaker: Holger Döring (University of Bremen)

Abstract: This course is intended as an introduction to data handling and computer programming, geared towards data collection, manipulation and storage on a large scale, and created specifically with the needs of social scientists in mind.

Programme

Please register with Adele.Battistini@eui.eu

Windows Into the Soul: Surveillance and Society in an Age of High Technology

Date/Location: 22-23 April, 2013, Seminar Room 3 (Badia Fiesolana)

Credits: 10

Organiser: Gary Marx (MIT)

Abstract: This workshop will be based on my forthcoming book of the same title. The study is an inquiry into the social, political, cultural and ethical aspects of the new surveillance (articles at www.garymarx.net) are illustrative of my approach  --several are listed below). The emphasis is on a conceptual framework dealing with structures, processes, cultural meanings and experiences that can accommodate and help explain the variation in surveillance tools --whether they involve video, biometry, sensors, RFID chips, GPS, social media and big data sets to mention only a few.  My goals are normative, as well as social scientific,  as I seek frameworks for judging and evaluating public policy.

I will of course draw examples from the policing of protest and law enforcement more broadly, but also from other areas such as work, consumption, school, government. I am also concerned with comparative international questions and the correlates and consequences of technological  forms of surveillance which break traditional borders, as well as creating new ones  

http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/survhandbook.html  ("your papers please")

http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/forewordnotlikeweather.html  ("privacy is not quite like the weather")

http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/childrenandsurveillance.html  ("children as subjects and agents of surveillance") 

Programme: tba

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Parties, Party Systems and the Quality of Democracy

Workshop in honor of Peter Mair by his former Ph.D. supervisees

Date/Location: 26-27 February, 2013; 09:00-17:00, Theatre (Badia Fiesolana)

Conveners: Ferdinand Müller-Rommel (Leuphana Unvi. Lümeburg) currently part-time professor at the SPS Department, EUI), Fernando Casal Bértoa (Univ. Leiden)

Credits: 10

Description: This workshop presents new empirical findings on political parties, party systems and the quality of democracy in advanced democracies. It is initiated by former PhD students of Peter Mair from the EUI to whom he devoted a great part of his academic career: namely as professor, as PhD Supervisor, as mentor and  as co-author. His former students cannot think of a better place to pay tribute to their “academic father” than at the European University Institute, where most had the opportunity to meet him and spend at least four years of academic collaboration and personal interaction. By participating in this workshop with original papers and stimulating discussions the participants want to thank Peter Mair for his constant support both on academic and on personal level.

Requirements for the credit award for first and second-year researchers: write a short paper on the impact of the workshop (or single papers/presentations) on your own research topic.

Programme

Please register with Maureen.Lechleitner@eui.eu

Representative Democracy in the 21st Century

Organiser: Rainer Bauböck

Dates: 25-26 October 2012, Seminar Room 2, Badia Fiesolana

Credits: 10

Programme

Abstract: Our models of political representation are being continuously challenged by the ever quickening pace of socio-political changes. First, there has been the emergence of transnational governance institutions, in many ways existing independently of nation-state authority, to manage issues to do with globalization and European integration. Second, unelected interest groups and civil society organizations are having an increasing influence on the direction of national and especially transnational politics. Third, the decline of mass party politics has led to a greater emphasis on representative personalities and the reorganisation of party systems such that they are run more by party office experts and professionals rather than grassroots members. These three phenomena, and there are more, point to a proliferation of possible relationships between would-be representatives and those they purport to represent. Not only is the manner in which traditional elected representatives relate to their constituents becoming more plural and taking place in more contexts, such as the European Parliament; non-elected actors, ranging from the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to manufacturing lobbies and human rights groups, claim legitimacy for their political control or influence based on an appeal to the important interests they represent.

Please register with Monika.Rzemieniecka@eui.eu

Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences

Organiser: Donatella della Porta

Dates: 10 October 2012, Emeroteca / 12 October 2012 Seminar Room 3

Credits: 10

Syllabus

Abstract: The aim of this workshop is to discuss main approaches to political science and sociology, the principal steps in designing research, and some methods for data collection. In this sense, it aims at introducing all main choices that needs to be addressed in the preparation of the April prospectus. Taking into account the diverse national and disciplinary background of first year research, the seminar attempts to develop some common knowledge, without losing the richness of plurality. The seminar as a whole, as well as the individual sessions, aim at critically contrasting the advantages as well as problems of the various strategies in the construction of scientific knowledge.The seminar stems from SPS department’s commitment to methodological pluralism and informed debate. Specifically its aims are:

• To provide an overview of approaches in the social sciences, in order to help students to choose their own approach for the thesis, to justify this approach, and to situate it within the discipline;
• To ensure that PhD graduates become fully literate social scientists, able to read and understand work written within different traditions and approaches;
• To introduce researchers to the main issues of debate and contention in the methodology of social sciences and to demystify some of this debate, identifying commonalities, historic continuities, and genuine differences;
• To give first year researchers a common experience and socialization and to encourage them to discuss their own work across sub-disciplines and methodological approaches.

Please register with: Adele.Battistini@eui.eu