Speaker tackles how to avoid 'Drowning in Data'

Scott Long of Indiana University will give a lecture about the workflow of data analysis on Thursday, March 7 at 4 p.m. in 904-08 Campus Center.

“Drowning in Data? The Workflow of Data Analysis” is about the workflow of data analysis, which encompasses the entire process of scientific research: planning, documenting and organizing work; creating, labeling, naming and verifying variables; performing and presenting statistical analyses; preserving work; and (perhaps, most importantly) producing replicable results. Most work in statistics classes focuses on estimating and interpreting models. In “real world” research projects, these activities often involve less than 10 percent of the total work. This talk is about the other 90 percent of the work. An efficient workflow saves time, introduces greater reliability into the steps of the analysis, and generates replicable results. Learning these skills makes for a more organized and successful researcher.

Long is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Statistics at Indiana University. He received the Paul Lazarsfeld Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions to Sociological Methodology. He has authored eight books on statistics including "The Workflow of Data Analysis Using STATA," contributed many articles to the American Sociological Review and other journals, and teaches summer methods workshops at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan.

The lecture is part of the Methodology Seminar Series of the Center for Research on Families.

Read more