08/15/2024
By Shanna Thompson

The Center for Program Evaluation (CPE) will hold this year's summer workshops on Aug. 27 to 29 via Zoom.

Please share with anyone you think may be interested (within or outside of UMass Lowell).

In honor of the CPE's 10th anniversary, we are offering this series of workshops free of charge.

If you would like to register for any session, please let us know by emailing us at cpe@uml.edu.

TUESDAY, AUG. 27, 2024

Basics of ArcGIS Pro
10 a.m. – Noon
Meghan Johnson, Graduate Research Assistant
Center for Program Evaluation & School of Education

This workshop will cover the basics of ArcGIS Pro. GIS maps are a powerful way to visualize, analyze, and share geographic data. You will learn some of the basic features and create two maps. You will need a computer that has access to UMass Lowell’s vLabs to participate in this workshop.

Level: Beginner

Introduction to Using Qualtrics for Online Surveys
1 – 3 p.m.
Shanna Rose Thompson, CPE Manager
Center for Program Evaluation & School of Education

Qualtrics is a web-based survey tool that is available to UMass Lowell students, staff, & faculty. This beginning workshop will walk participants through how to create an online survey using this software.

Level: Beginner

WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28, 2024

Introduction to R: Getting Started and Data Manipulation
9 a.m. – Noon
Jason Rydberg, Associate Professor
School of Criminology & Justice Studies

R is an open-source statistical computing environment that is quickly growing in popularity in the social sciences. This workshop is designed as an introduction to a data analysis workflow in R, covering basic steps like setting up scripts importing data, to data manipulation tasks such as importing data, subsetting, cleaning and recoding variables, and merging disparate data files. No prior familiarity with R is assumed. Those signing up will be asked to install R and RStudio on their machines prior to the workshop, and attendees will be provided with a PDF walkthrough and R script files to replicate all workshop materials.

Level: Beginner

Understanding and Handling Missing Data with Examples using R
1 – 3 p.m.
Jason Rydberg, Associate Professor
School of Criminology & Justice Studies

Missing data is a common element of applied social
science research. However, how researchers “handle” missing data varies considerably within and between fields of study. Inadequate methods for handling missing data can lead to biased statistical analyses, such as in regression. This workshop will cover some concepts regarding missing data mechanisms and will sensitize participants to some modern solutions to handling missing data, such as multiple imputation. Software examples will be based in R. The workshop will conclude with practical advice for placating peer reviewer concerns.

Level: Intermediate

THURSDAY, AUG. 29, 2024

Introduction to Grant Writing
10 a.m. – Noon
Robin Toof, Center for Community Research & Engagement Director

This course reviews the basic steps in drafting a grant proposal for funding, including planning, researching and writing a grant as well as best practices for following up with potential funders.

Level: Beginner

Exploratory Factor Analysis in SPSS
2:30 – 5 p.m.
Hsien Yuan Hsu, Associate Professor
School of Education

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) has been widely used in social science research to investigate the factors underlying the responses to a set of items. In this workshop, the fundamental knowledge of EFA will be introduced. In addition, through an example, participants will learn the steps of conducting an EFA in SPSS and the interpretation of EFA. Lastly, the Stata syntax and outputs of EFA will be provided for Stata users.

Level: Intermediate

The mission of the Center for Program Evaluation (CPE) is to conduct research on program evaluation methods as well as to offer evaluation planning, consulting, training and services for the university, regional, and global communities. CPE offers program evaluation services that support the university’s missions of research, teaching, and service to the community and industry for both faculty and students.