REU Site: Quantitative Social Science Research at the University of Michigan

REU 网站：密歇根大学定量社会科学研究

• 批准号: 1062317
• 负责人: John Garcia
• 金额: $ 29.07万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-10-01 至 2015-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1062317&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Quantitative; Social; Science

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) at the University of Michigan hosts a new Research for Undergraduates (REU) site offering a ten-week summer experience for eight eligible undergraduate students entering their junior or senior years. This program builds on and expands both a long standing summer training program in quantitative research in the social sciences, hosted by ICPSR since 1963, and a highly effective undergraduate internship program that began in 2005. The REU site significantly expands the existing internship program's scope through the inclusion of a research project that pulls together all of the skills the students learn into one tangible product, completed under the guidance of a designated research mentor, and expands its breadth by increasing the number of students. This site creates a research experience in which delving into the data management aspects of social science research (preparing data for archiving and dissemination), along with focused methodological training in quantitative research, is seamlessly integrated for the purpose of exploring a research query from start to finish. This provides a unique research experience for undergraduate students, especially those from small and under-resourced institutions preparing them for capstone or senior thesis projects, graduate school, and/or research-based careers.This REU Site (1) Introduces undergraduates studying the social sciences to the entire research process including data preparation, documentation, and analysis; (2) Provides advanced training in research methods/statistics through the ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences; (3) Identifying a research question; completing a literature search, review, and data analysis; and preparing a research poster with the assistance of both research process and faculty mentors in a substantive field of interest. (4) Broadening access to research opportunities to social science students at colleges and universities with fewer resources; (5) Providing experiences in professional socialization through networking, brown bags, and informal presentations.Intellectual Merit: Research methods and statistics are core training for all undergraduate majors seeking a degree in the social sciences. However, such training often neglects many aspects of the research process because of limited course time and the complexity of research tasks, including study design, data collection and preparation, variable selection, and sophisticated data analysis. The pedagogic gap left between required methods and statistics courses in most undergraduate programs and actual research practice can be filled by full immersion in the research process as practiced in the substantive archives at ICPSR and the nuanced and focused practical coursework offered in the Summer Program. Rarely will an undergraduate have a chance to be involved in the entire process of social research, bolstered by coursework and individualized mentorship, in the way ICPSR's unique combination of opportunities allows. This exposure to the research process on a large scale will enhances the students' abilities to enter graduate school and to be successful once there.Broader Impacts: In addition to offering a research opportunity focused on students at small and under-resourced institutions, this program allows students from several types of institutions to share experiences and build contact networks they would not otherwise have. The combination of coursework, hands-on experience, and professional socialization gained through the REU should increase participants' "research confidence" so that they can go back to their own campuses and act as mentors to others in their departments. By talking about their experiences with other students at their home institutions, REU participants themselves contribute to the goal of exposing students who might not otherwise think about graduate school or careers in research to these possibilities. The larger social science community also benefits when students present their work at regional meetings or undergraduate poster events.

密歇根大学的大学间政治和社会研究联盟(ICPSR)主办了一个新的本科生研究(REU)网站，为八名符合条件的本科生进入他们的初中或大四年级提供为期十周的暑期体验。该项目建立并扩展了自1963年以来由ICPSR主办的社会科学定量研究的长期暑期培训计划，以及2005年开始的高效本科生实习计划。REU网站极大地扩展了现有实习计划的范围，包括一个研究项目，该项目将学生学到的所有技能集中到一个有形的产品中，在指定的研究导师的指导下完成，并通过增加学生数量来扩大其广度。该网站提供了一种研究体验，其中深入研究社会科学研究的数据管理方面(准备数据以供存档和传播)，以及有重点的定量研究方法培训，自始至终无缝地整合在一起，以探索研究查询的目的。这为本科生提供了独特的研究体验，特别是那些来自小型和资源不足的机构的学生，为他们准备顶峰或高级论文项目、研究生院和/或基于研究的职业生涯。这个REU网站(1)向学习社会科学的本科生介绍整个研究过程，包括数据准备、文献记录和分析；(2)通过ICPSR暑期计划在社会科学定量方法方面提供研究方法/统计学的高级培训；(3)确定研究问题；完成文献搜索、综述和数据分析；并在研究过程和感兴趣的实质性领域的教师指导的帮助下准备研究海报。(4)在资源较少的高校扩大社会科学学生的研究机会；(5)通过网络、黄包和非正式演讲提供专业社会化的经验。智力优势：研究方法和统计是所有寻求社会科学学位的本科生的核心培训。然而，由于课程时间有限和研究任务的复杂性，这种培训往往忽略了研究过程的许多方面，包括研究设计、数据收集和准备、变量选择和复杂的数据分析。大多数本科课程要求的方法和统计课程与实际研究实践之间留下的教学差距可以通过完全沉浸在研究过程中来填补，如ICPSR的实质性档案所实践的那样，以及暑期计划提供的细致入微和重点突出的实践课程。本科生很少有机会参与整个社会研究过程，得到课程作业和个性化指导的支持，就像ICPSR独特的机会组合所允许的那样。这种大规模的研究过程将提高学生进入研究生院并在那里取得成功的能力。广泛的影响：除了提供专注于小型和资源不足机构的学生的研究机会外，该项目还允许来自几种类型机构的学生分享经验，建立联系网络，否则他们不会有这样的机会。通过REU获得的课程作业、实践经验和专业社交相结合，应该会增加参与者的“研究信心”，这样他们就可以回到自己的校园，成为系里其他人的导师。通过谈论他们在本国机构与其他学生的经历，REU参与者本身有助于实现让那些原本可能不考虑研究生院或研究职业的学生接触这些可能性的目标。当学生在地区性会议或本科生海报活动中展示他们的工作时，更大的社会科学社区也会受益。