PECOS4022 – Applied Statistics for Peace and Conflict Studies

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.

  • 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

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

You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.

Last updated from FS (Common Student System) Dec. 25, 2024 5:20:31 AM

Facts about this course

Level
Master
Credits
10
Teaching
Autumn
Examination
Spring and autumn
Teaching language
English