Quantitative Methods for Policy Research
A message from Larry Hedges, program chair and Q-Center director
Most researchers and academics tend to stick with the research methods they know best, learned mainly in graduate school—even though those methods might not represent current best practices or the most appropriate method. We launched the Q-Center at IPR to take advantage of a critical mass of scholars who are at the forefront of evidence-based research on social policy issues and can provide timely insights into methodological best practices and issues to the greater community of social policy researchers.
Increasing rigor and quantification in research are transforming the social sciences and social policy research. Yet social scientists often struggle in isolation to develop solutions to common methodological problems. In response, the Q-Center has drawn together a group of national experts to bridge this gap and improve methodological research and training in policy research through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Recent Research
Find out more about faculty research that englobes data collection for large populations, methodology in social experiments, quasi-experiments, and meta-analysis, in addition to addressing other common methodological problems and solutions.
Working Papers and Publications
Recently published articles and working papers in this program area include:
- Hedges, L. 2011. Effect sizes in three-level cluster-randomized experiments. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 36(3): 346-80.
- Steiner, P., T. D. Cook, and W. Shadish. 2011. On the importance of reliable covariate measurement in selection bias adjustments using propensity scores. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics 36(2): 213-36.
- Spencer, B. 2012. When do latent class models overstate accuracy for diagnostic and other classifiers in the absence of a gold standard? Biometrics 68(2): 559-66.
Faculty Experts
This group of interdisciplinary scholars represents statistics, education and social policy, political science, and other fields. Learn more about them through their bios, research, and publications.
Tools and Data
Find resources and tools for methodological research.
Workshops and Training
Faculty run several summer workshops to improve methodology and experimentation in education research. A postdoctoral training program is also available.
