Description
In this course you will be learning on how to do quantitative data analysis in R and R Studio for finding ‘trends’ or patterns in your data. These trends or patterns (more generally denoted as ‘models’) could be of a statistical or a more graphical nature, using for instance geographical maps. Depending on your focus these models could form your provisional endpoint in the analysis. However, following the qualitative ideas on case study selection of for instance Seawright and Gerring (2008) they could also form the starting point of a case selection approach where you study the results of your ‘cross cases analysis’ for selecting one or more cases for a more in-depth case study analysis. In the former case your end product of this course will be a (brief) research paper, in the latter case your end product will be a research proposal, i.e. both are possible.
Concretely you will learn how to read data in R, manipulate and combine them with other data frames using so-called joins giving you a convenient starting point for your quantitative data analysis. With your combined data frame you will learn how to apply a number of model fitting techniques such as Anova and the linear regression model, and you will learn how to use the data for making some (simple) geographical maps. There will be a special (but not necessarily restricted) focus on country data and international organisations data (for example UN, EU, etc) that also relate to countries.
In this course we will be using online tutorials that can be found in the Brightspace course companion. In preparation for the meetings you will be doing weekly homework exercises. The last week you will present your findings.
For doing this course it is necessary that you have installed on your laptop the latest versions of the open source freely available R and R studio software packages that are downloadable from the Cran website.
Mode of instruction
Assignments, exercises and discussions
Literature
See Brightspace
Assessment method
The final grade for this course will be determined from your research paper or research proposal (90%) and your presentation (10%). Your paper or proposal complies with APA or APSA rules.
Timetable
See 'MyTimetable' for actual schedule and locations.
Registration
See 'Practical Information'
Registration Exchange and Study Abroad students
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Exchange students website for information on how to apply.