June 10, 2019

Remember childhood summer day camps, when you spent your days making new friends and learning new things from interesting people who weren’t your regular teachers?

The Laurier Summer Institute of Research Methods (LSIRM) is like that, only it’s for adults. And instead of learning tennis, pottery or robotics, participants take part in intensive workshops on topics such as questionnaire design, structural equation modelling and Indigenous research methodologies. 

LSIRM is for researchers of all levels, whether novices or experts. It is for professionals as well as academics, whether from Laurier, other institutions or the community at large. Workshops range from a half day to two days in length and participants can pick just one or enrol in multiple workshops.

The summer institute runs July 15 to 26 and participants who register before July 5 qualify for a lower early bird rate.

“This is LSIRM’s fifth year offering high-quality professional development opportunities for students, faculty, staff and personnel from a wide range of organizations,” says Sharmalene Mendis-Millard, associate director of the Laurier Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action, which organizes LSIRM in partnership with the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy and Wilfrid Laurier University.

Graduate students and senior undergraduate students can brush up on methods before or during their research and receive guidance on their own projects from instructors they may not be exposed to otherwise. Staff can get practical training on tools such as Qualtrics and Excel to help them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. And faculty can gain an understanding of methods new to them or brush up on methods they are using or teaching with insights from another instructor, says Mendis-Millard.

This year’s summer institute features a number of new courses:

• Everyday Excel (half-day workshop that covers pivot tables and basic survey analysis)
• Indigenous Methodologies
• Introduction to Qualtrics (half-day workshop)
• Introduction to Stata
• Learning to Communicate Your Research and Findings
• Professionalization (for graduate students) – Early bird rates ends July 12 for this course only.
• Project Management and Collaboration in Research
• Qualitative Approaches: Finding the Right Fit

Previously popular courses that teach topics such as interview skills, arts-based research, ethnographic methods and regression will also be offered. Participants in all courses will receive a certificate upon completion. A full course listing is available at lsirm/courses.

Students from any institution receive a 10% discount on all courses. Laurier students may be eligible for bursaries and scholarships for LSIRM – contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and the Graduate Students’ Association for more information. Laurier faculty and staff may pay by internal transfer. For more information, visit lsirm/registration.