Skip to main content

School’s new Consortium offers training on statistical research methods

The School of Social Work has launched a new initiative to promote the development of statistical and methodological skills among faculty, doctoral and MSW students in the School of Social Work and elsewhere.

The Consortium for Statistical Development and Consultation (CSDC) was developed with an understanding that rigorous research methods are necessary in the pursuit of knowledge to improve the well-being of people in North Carolina, the nation, and around the world. By design, the CSDC will serve as a hub of innovative learning and as a showcase for faculty and students’ methodological and research contributions.

Spearheaded by Professor Din Chen and the CSDC Steering Committee (David Ansong, Mark Fraser, Kirsten Kainz, Jack Richman, Rod Rose and Sheryl Zimmerman), the consortium was organized in fall 2015 to acknowledge, foster, and enhance capacity for social intervention research. CSDC activities will promote an active and compelling research culture, where faculty and students build and share research skills. To that end, the CSDC will organize training, consultation, partnership, and development activities that promote the conception, design, adoption, and translation of research evidence that confers measurable benefits to society.

The CSDC has offered individualized statistical consultation to faculty and students since fall 2015. The consortium has also offered multiple other learning and training opportunities for students and faculty in the school and university, including two on-site workshops that were held this spring and aimed at advanced doctoral students, faculty and professional researchers. The CSDC has also offered a 13-week online workshop on causal inference and a similar online workshop on structural equation modeling. The consortium eventually plans to host monthly sessions, including presentations, discussions and tutorials, to address relevant topics that students identify.

Learn more about the CSDC.