This course is open to any graduate (or advanced undergraduate) at UChicago. I anticipate drawing students from a wide range of departments such as Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Comparative Human Development, and MAPSS. Typically these students are looking to learn basic computational and analytical skills they can apply to master’s theses or dissertation research.
If you have never programmed before or don’t even know what the shell is, prepare for a shock. This class will prove to be immensely beneficial if you stick with it, but that will require you to commit for the full 10 weeks. I do not presume any prior programming experience, so everyone starts from the same knowledge level. I guarantee that the first few weeks and assignments will be rough - but the good news is that they will be rough for everyone! Your classmates are struggling with you and you can lean on one another to get through the worst part of the learning curve.
You will need to bring a computer to class each day. Class sessions are a mix of lecture, demonstration, and live coding. It is essential to have a computer so you can follow along and complete the exercises.
Completing the exercises in the book? No official solution manual exists, but several can be found online. I recommend this version by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Your exact solutions may vary, but these can be a good starting point.
ggplot2 graphics library.By the end of the first week (or even better, before the course starts), you should install the following software on your computer:
Comprehensive instructions for downloading and setting up this software can be found here.
Each week students will complete a series of programming assignments linked to lecture materials. These assignments will generally be due the following week prior to Monday’s class. Weekly lab sessions will be held to assist students in completing these assignments. While students are encouraged to assist one another in debugging programs and solving problems in these assignments, it is imperative students also learn how to do this for themselves. That is, students need to understand, write, and submit their own work.
Each homework will be evaluated by either myself or the TA, as well as by two peer reviewers. Each of you is required to provide two peer reviews for each assignment; failure to complete these reviews will result in a deduction of your final grade.
If you need any special accommodations, please provide me (Dr. Soltoff) with a copy of your Accommodation Determination Letter (provided to you by the Student Disability Services office) as soon as possible so that you may discuss with me how your accommodations may be implemented in this course.
I don’t recommend this since many of the figures rely on the use of color.↩
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