Thursday July 6, 2023
Bi-weekly news from Spark: a centre for social research innovation at McMaster University
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Impact Evaluation Course sign ups are now live
In this workshop, we will dig in to when and how to conduct an impact evaluation. By the end, you will be better able to define and answer questions about lasting changes emerging from an initiative (overall, diverging across elements of an initiative, in different contexts and with different groups of people). We will review the fundamental concepts of evaluation and then delve more deeply into impact evaluation questions, discussing various ways to accurately measure impact and considerations specific to this type of evaluation.
Dates: Tuesdays, September 19th, 26th, October 3rd, 17th and 24th
Time: 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Online
$550 (HST included)
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To hear more about what will be covered, check out this Spark Talk by Paul:
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Reflections on social research
Earlier this summer, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the SSHRC Leaders Meeting, a convening of Vice-Presidents of Research from across Canadian Universities. The panel was asked to reflect on what is upcoming and important in social sciences and humanities research.
As director of a centre that has 'research innovation' in its title, I felt obligated to come up with reasonable, seemingly credible guesses. And yet as I posited my answers with confidence, I couldn't help reflecting on the vagaries of predictions and the deep uncertainties about the future that the pandemic, climate change, AI and other forces have left in my mind. And that left me with one predominant thought – that we have to teach, train and support ourselves and colleagues in being nimble and adapting. The future needs rigorous research, many voices and perspectives, and evidence we can believe in. How we support each other in being nimble I don’t know. But I am excited to experiment and try. Do you have ideas? What do you see as important to the future of social sciences and humanities research? We’d love to hear from you.
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Allison Van
Executive Director | Spark: a centre for social research innovation
Sessional Faculty | Masters in Public Policy and Digital Society
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#SparkResearchReplay
As we continue our break from Spark Talks during the summer months (May-Aug), we will feature some of our favourite talks from this year in a weekly social media campaign on Twitter @Spark_McMaster. Join us on Twitter every Friday during the summer for #SparkResearchReplay!
This week, we look back at the seminar titled “We All Make Mistakes: Stories of Research Gone Wrong” by Akacia Propst and Brianne Morgan - watch it here.
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Resources for Researchers
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Research Conversations
We provide up to 4 hours of free support each year to any researcher (students, staff, faculty or community) on every social research topic imaginable. If we can't help you, we'll help you find someone who can.
Request a research conversation here
Qualtrics Licenses
If you are an Faculty of Social Sciences researcher who would like to request access to Qualtrics survey software, please fill out this form
Looking to pool software licences?
Now you can! Fill out this form and we will reach out if we can match you with others looking to pool licences.
Methods Demonstrations
Faculty in Social Sciences may request demonstrations, short trainings, or code-along sessions from Spark staff for Research Methods or Professional Skills courses. We're happy to discuss any needs and have already developed trainings for Literature Review, Interviewing, Survey Development, Focus Groups, Data Visualization. Email us at talk.to.spark@mcmaster.ca to discuss if there's a fit for your course.
CoLab
Research on research innovation (yes, it's very meta) points to a simple truth. Being in the same physical space and able to informally interact significantly increases cross-disciplinary collaboration and discovery. The Spark CoLab aims to be such a space. It is a free, open co-working space for graduate students, research staff and faculty. You can learn more on our website or stop by from 9 am - Noon or 1 pm - 4pm on Tuesday or Thursday for a tour and orientation.
SEAL
Some data is critical to addressing major research questions, but is also profoundly sensitive and must be secured. SEAL is a high security data repository that allows approved researchers worldwide to access highly sensitive data securely. Data owners can use it to engage researchers in using their datasets and researchers can access data that otherwise would not be available to them.
Learn more about SEAL at: https://seal.mcmaster.ca/
Brighter Spark Applied Research
Spark offers custom research and evaluation, as well as highly skilled assistance in implementing virtually any social research method. Our cost-recovery services include methods and software training, custom research, state-of-the-art facilities, and taking on elements of your project to support its completion.
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Help us profile your research, publications, job ads, opportunities, and upcoming events by sending them to: talk.to.spark@mcmaster.ca to be showcased in our following newsletter.
Research Shop: calling for research questions
Do you work for a community organization looking for research help? Have research needs but don't have time or resources to do it yourself? Get in touch with McMaster Office of Community Engagement - they're seeking projects for the Fall term. Send in your research questions by July 21, 2023. Learn more here.
SSHRC Insight Grants Webinar
SSHRC will organize two webinars for applicants and research administrators to provide information concerning the upcoming IG October 2023 competition via WebEx, including a Q+A session. Advance registration isn't required.
August 17, 2023: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. (French)
August 17, 2023: 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. (English)
Paid decision-making experiments over the spring/summer
The McMaster Decision Science Laboratory (McDSL) is looking for students, staff, faculty and members of the community to participate in paid computerized decision-making studies. We have a number of decision-making studies lined up over the spring and summer semesters and we need your help. Sign up at this link, where you can register by clicking on the “Sign Up” button at the top left. After registering, you will notified by email any time a study becomes available.
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Let's celebrate the achievements of colleagues, friends, and those doing important social research with the potential to spark a brighter world. We welcome recommendations for kudos features (including for yourself)! Please send any features you would like us to mention by emailing us at: talk.to.spark@mcmaster.ca.
A resounding kudos is in 'order' for McMaster Chancellor Santee Smith for her appointment to the Order of Canada. Smith / Tekaronhiáhkhwa, an award-winning and renowned multidisciplinary artist, producer and curator, graduated from McMaster with degrees in physical education and psychology and was installed as Chancellor in 2019.
Learn more here.
The same congratulations applies as well for Savage Bear, Director for the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute (MIRI) and an assistant professor of Indigenous Studies. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contributions to Indigenous studies and for her committed community engagement
Read the full story here.
Let's have a round of applause for Tina Moffatt, whose contributions the book “Recipes & Reciprocity” was recognized at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Sweden, where it picked up the following awards: Winner, Best in the World, Food & Indigenous Peoples Category; Winner, Best University Press Book, Canada; second place, Best in the World, University Press Category; and shortlisted for Taste Canada Awards, Culinary Narratives.
You can get the book here.
Here's to Marisa Young and Akalya Kandiah, who received SSHRC Connection grants, starting on July 1st and running for one year. Young's project is 'Building a Community of Practice: A Research-Practice Fair for Community-Engaged Approaches to Mental Health Research', and Kandiah's 'Racism and Hidden Figures in the Canadian Academy: Mobilizing Knowledge on Marginality and Epistemic Oppression'.
Hats off to Ameil Joseph and Vass Bednar, who've each contributed their expertise in various articles across the news in Canada over the past few weeks.
You can see all their recent contributions here.
Finally, we would like to extend our recognition to president and Vice-Chancellor David Farrar, for his message of support following the recent gender-based attack at University of Waterloo. His message of support reaffirmed McMaster's stand against hate and discrimination.
Read the full message here.
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