As per the institute’s research capacity building goal, our institute (ISER-N) is, in collaboration with the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at University of Michigan and other collaborating universities, regularly offering various short courses on Survey Methods. ISR is the world’s largest university based research institute devoted to the study of the social sciences. Working together over one and half decades now, ISER-N and ISR has developed advanced research and teaching expertise and infrastructures including a sophisticated long distance learning center. The courses offered at ISER-N are designed to provide theoretical understanding as well as practical applications of the state-of-the-art survey research methods and analytical techniques. They build upon a combination of both long-term in-house expertise in Nepal and expertise of its collaborating institutions. This strategy has been highly successful in utilizing culturally appropriate setting specific expertise as well as cutting-edge research methods and analytical techniques that have been continuously developed and rigorously used in advanced countries. In order to maintain excellence and keep up to date its research capacity, ISER-N adopts a collaborative capacity building strategy with academic institutions around the world and has been successfully completed following training programs to date.
1. Summer Institute Courses, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan – 50 Participants
2. Long-term Academic Training – 13 Participants
3. Other Seminar and Workshops – 6 Participants
1. Undergraduate Students – 9 Participants
2. Graduate Students – 27 Participants
3. Post Doctoral Fellows/Junior Faculty – 8 Participants
4. Policy Communication Fellows – 5 Participants
1. Data Users’ Workshop – 121 Participants
2. Training on Survey Research Techniques & Survey Data Analysis – 236 Participants
3. General Interviewing Techniques Training – 577 Participants
4. Interns- 3 Participants
Stone, Lyman (2024). Digital survey presentation: Types of providers.
Venue: Institute for Social and Environmental Research Nepal, Fulbari
Duration: One day
The presentation titled Digital Survey Presentation: Types of Providers by Lyman Stone trained various digital survey platforms and their features. It categorized providers into three types: full-service commercial platforms, medium-service XLSForm hosts, and do-it-yourself protocols. Full-service commercial platforms, such as Alchemer and Qualtrics, host data externally, can recruit respondents, and manage workflows. Medium-service XLSForm hosts, like KoboToolbox, ODK, and Survey CTO, also host data externally but offer limited proprietary features and require significant learning to use effectively. Do-it-yourself protocols, such as self-hosted ODK, provide flexibility for advanced users but require technical expertise.
Participants
The following were in attendance at the workshop and were active in discussions and exercises throughout the program:
1. Adina Guurng- ISERN staff
2.Krishna Shrestha- ISERN staff
3.Baldev Chaudary- ISERN staff
4.Amisha Lamichhane- ISERN staff
5.Kiran Poudel- ISERN staff
6.Ashbin Thapa- ISERN staff
Training Program: Data Analysis Training using Stata Software
Trainers: Prof. Sarah Brauner-Otto, Khandys Agnant, Adina Guurng
Venue: Institute for Social and Environmental Research Nepal, Fulbari
Dates: 02 to 05 December 2024
Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Duration: Four days
This report summarizes the successful completion of the Comprehensive Training Workshop on Data Analysis Using Stata Software, conducted by Prof. Sarah Brauner-Otto and Khandys Agnant from 02 to 05 December 2024 at the Institute for Social and Environmental Research Nepal, Fulbari. The design of the workshop aimed to enhancing the ISERN staff’s and student’s skills in statistical data analysis, targeting those participants with the desire to enhance their analytical data analysis skills and seek practical knowledge for their academic and professional work.
Overview of the Workshop
The Data Analysis Training using Stata Software equipped participants with an in-depth understanding of statistical analysis techniques and tools that are vital for effective data handling. This workshop aimed at equipping individuals with practical knowledge to carry out advanced data analysis tasks using Stata software.
Day 1: Introduction to Stata and Data Types
On the first day, Adina Gurung was started the welcome with ISERN introduction and ISERN goals. And Professor Sarah continued an overview of Stata Software, followed by talks on the types of data and their importance in relation to statistical analysis. The discussions during this session created awareness among participants about the role of Stata in accomplishing different data analysis jobs. Instructor Khandys covering topics such as tabulation, code generation, recode , data Labelling and practical exercises.
Day 2: Conceptual and Statistical Analysis
Day Two also focused on basic statistics concepts: notation, normal distribution, measures of dispersion, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing all those things one should know to understand data behavior or carry out any hypothesis-driven analysis. The focus was enabling the participants to accurately interpret statistical results and apply the insights to real-world problems.
Day 3: Univariate and Bivariate Statistics
Third day was focused on the estimation and interpretation of univariate and bivariate statistics. The participants learned how to analyze data for one variable (univariate) and two variables (bivariate), gaining practical skills in the interpretation of data and analysis of correlation.
Day 4: Multivariate Regression and Presentations
In the final day, participants learned some advanced multivariate regression techniques: OLS and Logit regression models. These advanced techniques will enable them to dig more deeply into the relationships of several variables. The workshop ended with the presentation of work by participants, where they applied the techniques they had learned on real-world data.
Participants
The following were in attendance at the workshop and were active in discussions and exercises throughout the program:
1. Dr. Ananta Dahal - Student
2. Asmi Paudel – Student
3. Bibek Sapkota- ISERN staff
4. Goma Rai- Student
5. Kamana Ghimire- ISERN staff
6. Manila Chaudhary- Student
7. Sabina Shrestha- Student
8. Shurendra Ghimire- Student