Course Descriptions

Applications of Statistical Modeling, designed and required for students on all three tracks of the two programs in survey methodology, will provide students with exposure to applications of more advanced statistical modeling tools for both substantive and methodological investigations that are not fully covered in other MPSM or JPSM courses. Modeling techniques to be covered include multilevel and marginal modeling techniques for clustered or longitudinal data (with applications to methodological studies of interviewer effects and modeling trends in the Health and Retirement Study), structural equation modeling (with an application of latent class models to methodological studies of measurement error), and classification trees (with an application to prediction of response propensity). Discussions and examples of each modeling technique will be supplemented with methods for appropriately handling complex sample designs when fitting the models. The class will focus on essential concepts, practical applications, and software, rather than extensive theoretical discussions.