PECOS4022 – Applied Statistics for Peace and Conflict Studies
Course description
Course content
This course introduces students to causal inference in quantitative analysis, and explores various statistical techniques widely used in the peace and conflict literature. The overall learning objective is to enable students to both read and contribute to this literature. The main focus of this class is how to select the correct statistical model, how to visualize and interpret the results, and to assess consequences of assumptions and design choices in the analysis.
The course is mandatory for students in the PECOS program. It will provide students with tools to independently conduct statistical studies, as well as reading and evaluate existing statistical research on peace and conflict topics.
Learning outcome
Knowledge:
Students will
- obtain a good grasp of various statistical concepts and measures;
- be well acquainted with various estimators and the criteria for using them;
- be well acquainted with key data structures in peace and conflict research, and the best practices in analyzing them;
- be able to communicate statistical material visually in tables and figures
Skills:
Students will
- critically read and evaluate existing statistical studies on peace and conflict topics
- handle data sets using R, including coding new variables and transforming existing variables in the data set
- apply the various statistical models mentioned above to data sets, and learn how to properly test hypotheses, interpret results, and draw careful conclusions
- replicate statistical studies in peace and conflict research, and to conduct independent statistical studies on peace and conflict topics
- be able to communicate academic knowledge in writing and orally
General competences:
Students will
- enhance their capabilities in carrying out thorough, independent and critical analysis of complex questions;
- enhance their ability to critically evaluate empirical research;
- enhance their understanding of various elements of the scientific process, including aspects of the relationship between theory and empirical evidence and between concepts and measures
Admission to the course
The course is reserved for students enrolled in the master programme Peace and conflict studies. This course is not available for single course students.
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Recommended previous knowledge
- Basic concepts in descriptive statistics related to:
- Measures of central tendency (e.g. mean and median), dispersion (e.g. standard deviation, range),
- Measures of association and correlation (e.g. percentage difference and Pearson`s r correlation coefficient).
- Furthermore, basic knowledge of inferential statistics and of OLS regression (bivariate and multivariate) is required.
We also recommend that PECOS4025 – Analytic perspectives on peace and conflict or PECOS4021 – Research Methods (discontinued)?is completed before students attend PECOS4022.
Overlapping courses
- 5 credits overlap with STV4020 – 澳门皇冠体育,皇冠足球比分smetode og statistikk (discontinued).
Teaching
Lectures and seminars
Compulsory activity:
- Attend 3 of five seminars
- Hand in individual seminar paper (3500-5000 words)
Examination
4-hour open-book written examination?
Previous exams with grading guidelines
Examination support material
Open book examination, where all printed resources are allowed.?
Language of examination
The examination text is given in English, and you submit your response in English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- How to use AI as a student
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.