Summer School

Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic. On the other hand, methods are the tools which help the researchers solve research problems. These methods can be both qualitative and quantitative in nature. However, in India, the orientation in social science research was towards the qualitative research and limited use of quantitative method. Hence, there was an urgent need that Indian students should have knowledge and training of the quantitative methods. This was motivation enough for Lokniti to take an initiative for training Indian political scientists and researchers in quantitative methods. The first of its kind workshop on quantitative methods was started in 2008 at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) in Shimla. Since then Lokniti has been organising a Summer School on 'Analysing Quantitative Research Techniques in Indian Politics' once every year. The first three workshops were organized in association with Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) at Shimla and later with Jain University, Bengaluru at Bengaluru.

The objective of this workshop is to bring together a group of political scientists and researchers from across the country with the aim of providing them an opportunity to improve their skills in quantitative analysis. A special emphasis is placed on making sense of and interpreting quantitative data on Indian politics. This capacity building activity has two advantages. First, it provides training to those who do not have access to rigorous methodological training in their native institutions, and second, it allows for an expansion of the Lokniti network.

Every year, Lokniti invites applications for the Summer School Workshop through an advertisement in a leading journal and magazine such as Economic and Political Weekly and Seminar and also through this website. For an expanded reach, the advertisement is circulated to the state coordinators and Lokniti network members who are situated in various Universities and colleges across the country.

Following categories of candidates are eligible for applying for this workshop (preference has been given to young researchers):

• Teachers of Political Science in colleges and Universities who are working on empirical subjects and would benefit from further training
• Research students of Political Science who are working on empirical themes for their M.Phil. or Ph.D. dissertations and can benefit from further training
• Any other person (including those from outside Political Science and outside academia) who are interested in making sense of politics by analyzing quantitative data

The applicants are required to send their detailed CV with a statement of research interest (those already registered for M. Phil. or Ph.D. are required to clearly mention the topic of dissertation along with a brief summary of the objectives and methodologies used) in about 500 words. They are also supposed to send a write-up of about 500 words using the survey questionnaire that we use for analysis during the workshop. Selection for the workshop is made on the basis of these two write-ups submitted by applicants.

Every year, around 100 plus applications are received from candidates across the country and after a rigorous selection process around 25 participants get selected for the workshop. The participants belong to some of the premier research institutions and leading universities of the country.

The selected participants are given a set of readings before coming to the workshop and they are expected to attend lectures and practical data analysis sessions during the two-week workshop.

Accommodation of the participants

Summer School is a resident training workshop. Jain University and Lokniti-CSDS take care of the accommodation and food of all participants during the entire duration of the workshop. Participants however have to take care of their travel expense.

Some of the leading scholars working on empirical methods in Political Science have been involved in designing the summer school. In every workshop, there is a special emphasis on making sense of quantitative data on Indian politics. The fortnight-long residential workshop aims not only at equipping young social science researchers with the skills of quantitative data analysis but also orients them towards formulating logical research questions.

The key resource persons for the workshop include Pradeep Chhibber (University of California at Berkeley), Irfan Nooruddin (School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University) and Siddharth Swaminathan (Professor, Centre for Law and Governance, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru) who have all volunteered themselves. They have been instrumental in making the research method workshops popular and knowledge oriented. Other noted resource persons include Professor Sandeep Shastri (Jain University, Bengaluru), Professor Sanjay Kumar (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies), Professor Suhas Palshikar (Pune University), Rajeshwari Deshpande (Savitribai Phule Pune University), K.K. Kailash (University of Hyderabad), Dr. Divya Vaid (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Rahul Verma (Lokniti and Ph.D. scholar at University of California at Berkeley), Jyoti Mishra (Lokniti), Vibha Attri (Lokniti) and Reetika Sayal (Jain University). Lokniti also calls returnees of previous workshops as resource persons.

Introduction to SPSS

• Introduce similar and easily available formats of worksheets like Excel
• Identifying Variables and Cases in a data file
• Components of a data file - Data view and Variable view, Output window, save and enter data 

Reading Frequencies

• Reading a frequency table
• Generating a frequency table in SPSS
• Central Tendencies: Mean, Median, Mode
• Difference between absolute numbers and percentages, cumulative frequency
• Interpretation and application, uses of a frequency table
• Types of Variables - Numerical, Ordinal and Categorical

Introduction to Cross Tabulations

• Relationship between two variables
• Test of Significance
• Reading Cross tabulations (2 way) - Row and Column percentages
• Generating Cross tabulations in SPSS
• Three way cross-tabs
• System Missing
• Recodes
• Computing

Regression

• Relation between dependent variable and many independent variables
• Reading regression analysis
• Generating regression table in SPSS

Research Question

• Importance of a research question
• How to build a research question
• Taking example from participants’ own research question
• Hypothesis testing?

Presentation

At the end of the workshop participants make presentations on their research questions and get useful suggestions by the resource persons.

Technical Report

After the completion of the workshop, the participants have to send their technical reports using the techniques taught during the workshop. After sending their technical reports, the participants are entitled to get a “certificate of participation”.