Please see below for an interesting upcoming webinar.
Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
Harvard University
617-495-4037
http://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/
Webinar: By the Numbers: Quantitative Data Sources in Eurasian Studies
DATE: Friday February 10th, 2PM EST
Please join the SSRC Eurasia Program for a basic, informal, and open discussion of issues
relating to the availability of quantitative data sources for social scientists interested
in Eurasia, including how to access these data, where to obtain training in quantitative
analysis, and how to integrate cultural, linguistic, and experiential insights with
quantitative approaches in the study of continuity and change across Eurasia.
Topics to be covered include:
Data Availability and Access
Linking Available Data to Research Questions
The Importance of Engaging with Quantitative Data
Training Opportunities
AUDIENCE: graduate students, practitioners, faculty
GOALS: To raise awareness, provide links to sources, spur interest in further research and
training, and discuss upcoming Title VIII SSRC summer workshops in quantitative methods
for graduate students and faculty.
Moderator:
Cynthia Buckley, Program Director, SSRC; IC2, University of Texas at Austin
Speakers:
Nicole Butkovich Kraus, Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Ani Sarkissian, Political Science, Michigan State University
Christopher Whitsel, Sociology, North Dakota State University
To register for the webinar, please follow the following link:
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/797961182
Please forward this message to anyone who might be interested in this event. If you are
unable to attend at the scheduled time, contact us for information on how to watch a
recording of the event.
About the speakers:
Trained as a social demographer, Cynthia Buckley has experience in data collection, sample
design, and secondary data analysis in the U.S. and several regions of Eurasia. A faculty
member at the University of Texas, Austin, she has taught numerous seminars related to
research methodology, quantitative, and qualitative analysis in the US, Russia, Georgia,
Armenia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. Her research on Eurasia includes several peer
reviewed articles using the World Bank Living Standards Monitoring Surveys, the UN Gender
and Generation Survey, the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, secondary statistics in
the area of public health, and the Demographic and Health Surveys.
Nicole Butkovich Kraus is a Sociology PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
currently completing her dissertation, entitled, "The Construction of Xenophobia in
the Russian Federation." Her work, presented at a number of national conferences,
explores the causes and correlates of xenophobic attitudes in the Russian Federation. In
addition to experience teaching undergraduate and graduate statistics, Nicole is well
versed in a broad variety of cross sectional and multilevel statistical approaches. She
has established a strong network within the Russian public opinion and human rights
fields, as well as familiarization with both polling and survey resources in the Russian
Federation. She is currently completing work on Russian nationalism and xenophobia
entitled: "Does Pride equal Prejudice?" with Professor Yoshiko Herrera.
Ani Sarkissian is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University.
She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2006. Her cross
national research focuses on the effects of religious regulations, organizations, beliefs,
and practices on political development and regime change. Drawing on substantial fieldwork
and detailed knowledge of secondary statistics in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkey, she has
published well- received articles in several journals including Democratization,
Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, Journal of Church and State, and Religion, State, and
Society. She is currently completing a book manuscript entitled Authoritarian Politics and
the Varieties of Religious Repression.
Christopher Whitsel is Assistant Professor of Sociology at North Dakota State University.
His research focuses on post-Socialist transition and the increase in educational
inequality in Central Asia. He recently published an analysis of compulsory education
policy and attainment in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan and is working
on a new project outlining costs of education in the region. Professor Whitsel has worked
extensively with economic, educational, and health surveys in Central Asia, integrating
these findings with his ethnographic insights from wide-ranging fieldwork in Tajikistan
and other regions of Central Asia.