Princeton Sociology Summer Methods Camp 2024

The Princeton Sociology Summer Methods Camp gives incoming Sociology PhD students a running start at the beginning of their PhD program. The computational and statistical training provides necessary foundation for statistics and methods classes. We understand that participants come into the program with different backgrounds and experiences, and the Summer Methods Camp will be helpful for everyone, regardless of background.

This 2024 Summer Methods Camp will take place on 4 days: Tuesday, August 20; Wednesday, August 21; Thursday, August 22; Friday, August 23. Camp will run from 9am to 4pm in 165 Wallace Hall. Christina Pao and Varun Satish are this year’s graduate student instructors and Professor Brandon Stewart is the faculty advisor.

We have made code and slides used in the 2023 methods camp available on the Princeton Methods Camp GitHub page.

Learning objectives

The Methods Camp is designed to give you training in both math and computing. In math, you will receive training in three main areas: calculus, probability, and matrix algebra. In computing, you will receive training in three main areas: data wrangling, iteration, and visualization.

At the end of the Methods Camp, students will be able to:

  • Start the semester excited and ready to learn new methods
  • Explain in words and pictures what is a derivative and what is an integral
  • Define probabilities in sets, perform basic set operations, calculate conditional probabilities, and use Bayes rule.
  • Perform matrix addition, subtraction, multiplication, and inversion.
  • Combine the 5 dplyr verbs, join data sets, and convert between long and wide formats
  • Use loops, purrr, and functions to avoid repeating yourself
  • Make simple graphs in ggplot2, write Markdown documents, and write basic equations in LaTeX

Pre-arrival

Coding Assignment

The only pre-arrival work required for this year is included in an email Christina and Varun sent to you on August 5th. Please email varun.satish@princeton.edu and christina.pao@princeton.edu.

Methods Camp 2024 Schedule

Breakfast: 9:00 AM every day

Location: 165 Wallace Hall

Office hours: Christina and Varun will discuss options at the beginning of the camp.

Day 1: Tuesday

Math: Calculus and its Applications

Morning session: 9:30 - 11:30 AM

  • Introductions and goals of camp
  • Why calculus?
  • Philosophy of R

Lunch session (with guest speakers): 12:00 - 1:30 PM

  • Miguel Centeno

Afternoon session: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

  • Pair programming
  • Group work

Day 2: Wednesday

Morning session: 9:30 - 11:30 AM

  • Why linear algebra?
  • Programming with loops

Lunch session (with guest speakers): 12:00 - 1:30 PM

  • Betsy Armstrong

Afternoon session: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

  • Programming with functions
  • Group work

Day 3: Thursday

Morning session: 9:30 - 11:30 AM

  • Why probability?
  • Tidying, merging, and exporting
  • Data visualization

Lunch session: 12:00 - 1:30 PM

  • Ed Freeland

Afternoon session: 2:00 - 4:00 PM

  • Pair programming
  • Group work

Day 4: Friday

In day 4 we will be working on a mini-project with the Stanford Open Policing Project’s data (link).

Lunch session (with guest speakers): 12:00 - 1:30 PM

  • Benjamin Bradlow

FAQs

  • Should I participate in the camp if I have no plans to do quantitative work beyond what’s required? Yes! The aim of the camp is to make all students feel comfortable approaching the statistics training in the first year of the program, which in turn, is a crucial foundation for the second year empirical paper and future work. Both of us are available over email over the summer and will be holding daily office hours during the camp itself, and we’re both happy to spend extra time working with anyone more nervous about the quantitative requirements in the program to make sure you feel comfortable about the pace of the camp and related assignments.

  • Should I participate in the camp if I am highly confident about everything math and programming-related? Yes! Quantitative training means different things at different places, and the department wants to make sure everyone is on the same page going into the statistics sequence so that time isn’t spent during the course reviewing foundational concepts. In addition, the camp will feature lunchtime workshops highlighting qualitative methodology in the department, which is a good chance to meet professors you may not know already and get a sense of the range of the department’s work.

  • How does this camp fit into the first-year statistics sequence? The purpose of the camp is so that you can hit the ground running in whatever statistics sequence you opt to take your first year– both in terms of foundational math concepts and computing in R.

About

The Sociology Summer Methods Camp began in 2016, and the materials that we currently use include contributions from many of the people who have taught and participated in the program. Here is a list of all the instructors:

  • 2016: Rebecca Johnson, Janet Xu (graduate students instructors) and Brandon Stewart (faculty advisor).
  • 2017: Janet Xu, Xinyi Duan (graduate student instructors) and Matthew Salganik (faculty adviser).
  • 2018: Xinyi Duan, Katie Donnelly (graduate student instructors) and Brandon Stewart (faculty adviser).
  • 2019: Katie Donnelly, Liv Mann (graduate student instructors) and Matthew Salganik (faculty adviser).
  • 2020: Liv Mann, Joe Sageman (graduate student instructors) and Brandon Stewart (faculty adviser).
  • 2021: No camp offered
  • 2022: Joe Sageman, Angela Li (graduate student instructors) and Brandon Stewart (faculty adviser).
  • 2023: Angela Li, Varun Satish (graduate student instructors) and Matthew Salganik (faculty adviser).
  • 2024: Varun Satish, Christina Pao (graduate student instructors) and Brandon Stewart (faculty adviser).

We would also like to acknowledge the many other people who have shaped the material including: the instructional staff of the Math Camp for the Department of Politics at Princeton and the instructional staff of the Math Camp for the Department of Government at Harvard.

All of the teaching materials that we created are available on GitHub. Please feel free to use and improve them.