Presented by Washington University Law and USC Gould School of Law

June 9-11, 2014 The 13th Annual Conducting Empirical Legal Scholarship Workshop will take place at Washington University in St. Louis. The workshop is for law school faculty, political science faculty, and graduate students interested in learning about empirical research and how to evaluate empirical work. Leading empirical scholars Lee Epstein and Andrew Martin will teach the workshop, which provides the formal training necessary to design, conduct, and assess empirical studies, and to use statistical software (Stata) to analyze and manage data. Participants need no background or knowledge of statistics to enroll in the workshop.



overview travel register Schedule Check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m. on June 9th. Classes are in session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on June 9th and June 10th with a one-hour break for lunch (provided) and brief mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks each day. Class will end at 12 p.m. on June 11th to allow participants time to head to the airport. A boxed lunch will be provided.



Monday, June 9th Group Discussion Ideological Voting on Federal Courts of Appeals: A Preliminary Investigation



Lecture Topics Research Design

Theory to Observable Implications

Collecting Data

Sampling Issues

Measurement

Database Management

Statistical Software (Stata) Homework Coding Exercise



A cocktail reception will take place following class.



Tuesday, June 10th Group Discussion Coding exercise



Lecture Topics Lecture Topics

Data Analysis

Sampling

Statistical Inference

Descriptive Statistics

Cross-Tabulations

Hypothesis Testing

Collecting Data Small Group Exercises Basic Database Manipulation

Generating Descriptive Statistics

Significance Testing Wednesday, June 11th Lecture Topics Simple Linear Regressions

Inference from Linear Regression

Statistical Control Small Group Exercises Bivariate Regression Analysis



Lecture Topics Multiple Regressions

Logit/Probit

Displaying Data

Miscellaneous Statistical Topics (based on student interest) Question and Answer Session



Faculty Lee Epstein (site), Provost Professor and Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law and Political Sciences at University of Southern California, is a leading empirical legal scholar and a Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has co-organized and co-led this annual empirical scholarship workshop for the past ten years. Professor Epstein has received 10 grants from the National Science Foundation for her work on judicial politics and has also authored, co-authored, or edited more than 100 articles and essays, as well as 14 books. Her empirical research focuses on U.S. Supreme Court, as well as constitutional courts abroad.







Andrew D. Martin (site), Charles Nagel Chair of Constitutional Law and Political Science, Vice Dean, and Director of the Center for Empirical Research in the Law at Washington University, specializes in political methodology and has written widely on American political institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeals. He has co-organized and co-taught the empirical scholarship workshop with Professor Epstein for the last eleven years. Professor Martin has received grants from the National Science Foundation for his work on the U.S. Supreme Court, and his research has appeared in a number of outlets, including the Journal of Legal Studies; Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; California Law Review; Columbia Law Review; North Carolina Law Review; and other law reviews as well as leading social science and applied statistics journals.



Questions/Contact Bethany Friedrich

CERL Center Coordinator

e-mail : bfriedrich@law.wustl.edu



