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Web scraping and Covid-19: Covid 2
No full textIn this video, Dr Diarmuid McDonnell shows how web scraping can be used to collect country-level data on the COVID-19 pandemic. He looks at two practical examples. The first is simple and familiarises us with three bits of information from a web page and with writing to a file. The second constitutes a more realistic example that someone can encounter when scraping data
An introduction to multi-omic data analysis methods in biosocial research
No full textIn this video, Senior Research Officer Anna Dearman describes some of the ways in which researchers are using biological “-omics” datasets, and discusses approaches which could be adopted by social scientists
Can Human Rights Survive Inequality in the Digital Age?
Get PDFThis keynote from Amos Toh at the 2021 Research Methods e-Festival provides an overview of Human Rights Watch research on the role of algorithmic decision making in reinforcing and amplifying the conditions of poverty and inequality. Our research spans two distinct but intersecting areas: 1) the automation of welfare administration and provision; and 2) the algorithmic management of the app-based “gig” economy.
Drawing on case studies in the United Kingdom and the United States, this keynote will explore patterns of algorithmic decision making that evade traditional modes of public scrutiny and accountability while reinforcing lopsided power dynamics between the state and the beneficiary employer and worker. This keynote also explores how traditional modes of human rights factfinding should evolve to document the role of technology in violations of socio-economic rights, and how it interacts with systemic conditions (such as the degradation of the social safety net and the wealth gap) to enable these violations
Small Data and Big Data in the Waves of the Pandemic Building the Boat as we Sailed it
Get PDFThe pandemic hit the research world like a cannonball. ‘Normal’ ways of working and methodological approaches became impossible overnight, but the world desperately needed high-quality research to inform urgent policy decisions. This presentation will describe how one research team mobilised to undertake hypothesis-generating qualitative research (“small data”) to inform a major prospective study of acute COVID symptoms in over 10,000 patients (“big data”). The standard research timelines were upended and governance processes suspended. Nevertheless, some degree of rigour was achieved. In this keynote from the 2021 Research Methods e-Festival, Professor Trisha Greenhalgh reflects on lessons learned from high-stakes research at the interface between health and social care at this time of crisis
Cross Classified Models Part 1: Introduction
No full textIn this first lecture on the topic, Professor William Browne recaps the idea of multilevel models showing how not all data structures have a hierarchical or nested structure. He then provides historical background to modelling non-nested data and talks about the estimation of these models. He finally introduces an example from education research that has a cross-classified structure
The NCRM wayfinder guide to adapting participatory methods for Covid-19
Get PDFThe Covid-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes to social research practices. The need for social distancing and restrictions to travel have particularly affected research that relies on establishing and maintaining a collaborative relationship with participants. This guide outlines alternative ways of conducting participatory research and how methods associated with participatory research might be adapted around the constraints of the pandemic. It also suggests how participatory methods may be used to either replace or supplement other research methods
Telephone Methods Toolkit
Get PDFThe pandemic has prompted many social scientists to rethink their research methods and adapt to researching in ways that accommodate social distancing rules. Telephone interviews offer a remote route to fieldwork but their value for researchers extends beyond the pandemic.
This toolkit considers the role of telephone interviewing in qualitative research and the advantages and challenges of this method and attendant practical and ethical questions. We provide practical reflections around how to address the challenges associated with telephone interviews and draw on examples from current research
Interface Report: Health Research and Social Science
Get PDFIn January 2020, The National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) identified health research as a potential domain for increased engagement regarding social science research methods (Elliot 2020). This document reports on three mini-studies examining aspects of the interface of health research and social science.
The three studies are: a survey of top health-social science journals; a survey of funding agendas; and a focused exploration of biosocial research. Each mini-study was a strategic choice and, taken together, they inform an understanding of the interface of health research and social science for the purposes of planning collaborations and strategic engagements.
The analysis of journals at the interface highlights the diversity of the topics of interest and the main research areas that contribute to the selected journals. The analysis of funding priorities indicates how cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration is widespread at the interface. The exploration of biosocial research highlights existing health research and social science infrastructure, with an analysis of interview data drawing out methodological issues.
The report contains suggestions and implications for methods and engagement at the interface
Introduction to agent-based modelling
No full textIn this video, Dr André Grow introduces the basics of agent-based modelling. He then presents examples from his own work to illustrate how the method can be applied and what kind of questions you can address with it
Multinomial logistic regression, Part 2: Multiple multinomial regression
No full textIn this video, Dr Heini Väisänen discusses multinomial logistic regression models with more than one explanatory variable. She shows how the results can be interpreted either as odds ratios or predicted probabilities. She also introduces principles of model selection, including the use of likelihood ratio tests. This video also looks at how likelihood ratio tests can be used and and how they can help us conclude which variables to keep in our model