STATISTICS TRAINING SEMINARS

The analysis retreat at Whitefish was the most useful workshop I’ve ever been part of–due to its flexibility and amount of personal attention. Every day there were presentations on specific topics that one could choose to attend or not. Those not attending continued to work on their analyses with plenty of expert consultation available. This format meant that the retreat was able to support participants at many levels of prior expertise–a difficult challenge that this format was able to address more successfully than most workshops.

What an amazing resource your team as been to help muddle through this process. I (and my dissertation committee) are extremely grateful.

As a longtime hockey fan, I don’t think there is anything quite like the Stanley Cup Playoffs! So too, as a longtime SEMer, I don’t think there is anything quite like Todd Little’s Stats Camps! They are truly amazing! The workshop leaders are all well-known experts in their fields, statistical materials are always current and clearly presented together with accompanying slides and computer input files, and all questions are always welcomed and thoroughly answered! To top it all off, Stats Camp is a lot of fun – and I might even say, quite addictive! Once you’ve experienced one Stats Camp, you’re bound to want more of these truly unique statistical learning experiences!

My highlight of the winter break was attending ‘Stats Camp,’ an educational camp that provides advanced-level training in Statistics. The 2.5-day class I took (‘SEM with Mplus’) passed by quickly, as an information-packed series of lectures, hands-on examples, personal consultations, and jokes. Classes were small, lectures succinct/direct, and content based on student requests. Each day, researchers and students hung out and chatted over coffee, snacks, and amazing meals. Hope to make it to another!

Going into my first camp experience, I knew Stats Camp instructors would be world class and they were.
I knew I would have an opportunity to collaborate and obtain feedback and I did.
I knew the people there would be approachable and they were.
But I did not expect to enjoy it so much.

I wish I knew how fun it was because I would have attended the year prior. Stats is the place for a meeting of the minds and an opportunity to sit down and sort through complex ideas with people who can guide you, side-by-side, through the sticking points so you can get back into the flow.

It’s amazing that something like this exists. I think Dr. Little has given the world a tremendous gift with Stats Camp. I walked in knowing nothing substantial about IRT and walked out five days later delighted, grateful, and better equipped to tackle statistical issues that I needed for my dissertation.

Camp was a month ago. I can tell you that how I think of stats now is completely improved compared with a few months back.

I want to say thank you to Dr. Little and all of you at Stats Camp.

By the way, the food was outstanding and these Stats Camp folks sure know how to pair their gourmet cheeses.

I took Foundations of SEM and Longitudinal SEM last summer (2016), and I have to say this has been one of the most useful learning experiences of my life. The courses were excellent! Everything was explained in a clear fashion with plenty of time for questions and practice. Learning was fun and the teaching happened at multiple levels, such that everyone would have a lot of knowledge gain regardless of their level of expertise. For example, I had taken SEM in grad school, but I still found the foundations of SEM course extremely useful, because it allowed me to deepen my understanding and learn new things. At the same time, regarding the second course I took, longitudinal SEM, which I had never taken before, I felt equally satisfied with the progress I made. The teaching is just brilliant and the course materials are excellent and a great resource for many years to come. I can see the benefits of Stats Camp in my research and teaching every day, so I am very grateful to the amazing instructors and for the fact that Stats Camp exists! I strongly recommend Stats Camp to all researchers and teachers. It’s a great and fun way to learn and develop professionally, and I hope myself to take many more of their courses in the future!

I can strongly recommend Katherine Masyn’s week long course in Longitudinal Mixture Modeling. It is as systematic and comprehensive as the very best of the research methods courses I have participated in since I moved from business to academics 12 years ago. Furthermore, being a bit of a research methods zealot, the competition is quite stiff. The roster of eminent professors I have been luck enough to enjoy and who have literally propelled my academic career forward includes, David Harrison on Introduction to Research Design, Paul Allison on Longitudinal Fixed Effects Regression, Rens van de Schoot on Bayesian Estimation, William Crano on Quasi-Experimental Design, and Bengt Muthen (himself), on a bit of everything! In addition to being an excellent teacher, I believe Katherine’s Latent Class Analysis and Transition Analysis material to be a really important, yet nuanced, tool box for pulling apart differing effects in subpopulations for the coming generation of social and behavioral science researchers, starting now!

I am going to make it a goal to prioritize Statscamp for myself and graduate students on a yearly basis. As an assistant professor with young kids at home, it can be challenging at times finding the right balance between my work and my personal life. When I heard about Statscamp I knew it was an investment in my professional development that I didn’t want to pass up but I was anxious about leaving my one- and three-year-old at home. After completing the first week I can say that not only has this been good for my kids (they are enjoying bonding with my partner and grandparents) but this has been better for me than I ever expected. For the first time in years I have been able to focus on myself. I feel physically and mentally healthier than ever and I am excited about the cutting-edge knowledge and resources I am gaining in the rapidly evolving field of latent variable modeling. I am going to make it a goal to prioritize Statscamp for myself and graduate students on a yearly basis.

I am confident that I can take everything I learned, from the basic to the advanced topics, and employ them independently in my own research.

“Thanks for organizing such a great event – I really am pleasantly surprised how much I learned in only 2.5 days! I was really amazed how comprehensive and hands-on the mini camp was. The instructors explained each concept thoroughly, prepared excellent course materials, and also utilized applied examples throughout the 2.5 days. I was particularly impressed with the amount of material we were able to cover, which included an introduction to and several tutorials in R, the ins and outs of the basics of propensity scoring, as well as several advanced methods and cutting edge techniques. The instructors moved at a pace appropriate for the participants, adapted the materials as we went along to accommodate this pace, and still offered individual consultations. I am confident that I can take everything I learned, from the basic to the advanced topics, and employ them independently in my own research. ”

I highly recommend this summer institute to faculty and graduate students alike!

“The summer institute provides a wonderful opportunity for researchers to learn the basic fundamentals of SEM as well as some advanced applications and research opportunities that SEM can facilitate. Dr. Little provides personable “hands-on”instruction in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. I highly recommend this summer institute to faculty and graduate students alike!”

I understood the logic and principles guiding my decisions – an invaluable experience!

“I participated in your SEM: Foundations and Extended Applications Stats Camp course earlier this summer. It was such a wonderful training opportunity that has, already, found lots of applications in various grant proposals and analyses. As I’ve said to several colleagues since, what impressed me most was your ability to take something that prior to my arrival seemed overwhelming and complicated and make it seem so do-able. AND, not only could I do it but I understood the logic and principles guiding my decisions – an invaluable experience!”