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Announcements, events, and news from Spark

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January 30th 2025

Bi-weekly news from Spark: a centre for social research innovation at McMaster University

Centre News

Polish Your Graph Challenge - Week 1

This is Week 1 of the Polish Your Graph Challenge.  This challenge invites readers to submit a graph that you are not thrilled with, and we will polish it up, and record in real time what we’re doing and why.

Today’s Challenge:

Transform a donut chart of demographic data

Before: An excel standard donut chart

What We Fixed:

The shape of pie and donut charts makes it hard for people to interpret at a glance (and that is often exactly how much time you get).  How you transform it depends on what point you want people to take from the graph.  If you want your audience to remember that 57% of the service population is white, you can use a donut – because you’re highlighting just one piece of information.  If you want to highlight multiple pieces of information, a pair of horizontal 100% bars is a great option.  So two potential fixes:

OR

In both of these cases, it is important for accessibility that both the caption of the graph and the alt text clearly explain what the graph is showing.  Both the font size when you’re showing many categories, and the color coding can make it challenging for some to read.

To see the process step by step, you can check out Polish Your Graph Challenge: Donut Chart on our YouTube video below.  If you have a graph you want to see transformed, send the data, the graph, and the major point you seek to make to [email-masked] by Friday, February 7th.  If you have thoughts on what we did or suggestions for making them better, email us. We’d love to hear from you.

This video is an instructional video for How to Polish Your Graph - Week 1

Upcoming Events

Save the Date!

Spark is saying goodbye in style.  Come celebrate social research with us on April 10th at 3 pm.  Details and registration to follow.

“Measuring and Modeling Neighborhoods”

Studying neighborhoods is important, but difficult, because they vary from person to person. We have developed an open-source survey instrument that allows researchers to collect individuals’ subjective neighborhoods, and build a statistical model to analyze how the individual and geographic characteristics shape these neighborhoods. Applying our tool and model to a survey in 3 U.S. cities, we found that respondents’ neighborhoods are more likely to include areas with racially and politically similar individuals.

Cory McCartan is the Hoben and Patricia Thomas and Thomas and Ann Hettmansperger Early Career Professor of Statistics, and a faculty affiliate in political science, at Penn State University. His research focuses on methodological and applied problems in the social sciences, including elections, legislative redistricting, racial disparities, and missing data.

Register for this Spark Talk here.

This video is a preview video for Cory McCartan's Spark Talk on February 7th, 2025.

Resources for Researchers

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 contact us here.

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 [email-masked] 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.

For a full list of Brighter Spark Applied Research's services, visit here.

Spark Collaborations

Help us profile your research, publications, job ads, opportunities, and upcoming events by sending them to: [email-masked] to be showcased in our following newsletter.

Canadian Behavioural Interventions and Trials Network’s (CBITN) Ontario regional hub

Brock University is host to the Canadian Behavioural Interventions and Trials Network’s (CBITN) Ontario regional hub. We are pleased to share that we will be hosting our second networking conference on March 15, 2025.

The Canadian Behavioural Interventions and Trials Network (CBITN) is a CIHR-funded pan-Canadian training platform aimed to support the development, testing, and delivery of behavioural interventions. CBITN represents more than 100 members from 48 organisations across Canada. In addition to providing innovative training opportunities, it also provides direct funding to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. For example, within the past two years, CBITN has granted scholarships to over 40 trainees from 20 institutions across 6 provinces.

This conference is designed for networking with academic and non-academic experts in field of behavioural trials and interventions. This conference will be a single-day event taking place on Saturday March 15nd, 2025, in Jordan, ON. We will be hosting the event at the Inn on the Twenty – a gorgeous venue in the heart of Niagara’s wine region.

Event purpose: to provide high quality training and networking opportunities for those who work in the field of behavior change and behavioural medicine. We have invited faculty, graduate students, government officials, and those who work in industry or at non-profit organizations to attend this networking event.

Spaces are limited for attendance. If you are interested in attending this conference, please complete the Qualtrics survey below to be considered. All successful applicants will be contacted by February 21 to confirm their attendance. We have a limit of approximately 40 attendees and spaces can not be guaranteed.

Register at the link below:

https://brock.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6eUbAAzFG8fq0GG

Bridging the Gap: Evaluating the Impact of Research Resources on Undergraduate Research Experiences at McMaster University.

You are invited to complete a brief, 12-question online survey that will take between 10 and 30 minutes of your time, depending on the depth of your responses. This study is conducted by thesis student, Raiyan Rubab, under the supervision of Dr. Jason Brodeur of the McMaster University Libraries and the School of Interdisciplinary Science.

The survey aims to gather employee and faculty input on the effectiveness of McMaster's resources in supporting undergraduate research experiences. The findings will help identify gaps and guide the development of a system that better supports and enhances undergraduate research opportunities.

To be eligible for this study, you must be an employee in a McMaster department or organization who provides support for undergraduate research experiences. Support may be provided in the form of resources such as guides, research templates, tip sheets, writing support, etc. or services such as research consultations, research advising, career counselling, etc.

To learn more about the survey and the research study, particularly in terms of any potential risks or harms associated with the survey, how confidentiality and anonymity will be handled, withdrawal procedures, how to obtain information about the survey’s results, etc., please read the accompanying Letter of Information and Consent. The survey will be open until March 1st, 2025.

You can access the survey by clicking on the following link: https://surveys.mcmaster.ca/limesurvey/index.php/571393?lang=en. You will be presented with a brief description of the study followed by a consent preamble before the survey begins.

We would like to thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

If you have any questions about the study, please contact:

Raiyan Rubab                                   Dr. Jason Brodeur

[email-masked]                 [email-masked]

This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance from the McMaster Research Ethics Board (Project # 7306).

Streamline Your Research Materials Photos

Cost: Free

Location: Mills Library, Sherman Centre

Date / Time: Jan. 29, 2025 - 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Target Audience: Everyone.

Registration: Details here.

Join Research Data Management Specialist Danica Evering and Data Analysis and Visualization Librarian Subhanya Sivajothy for an overview of Tropy: an open-source solution to explore and manage research photos. Instead of a folder crammed full of a jumble of nameless files, Tropy lets you work closely with your research materials. Starting with an overview of all your images, you can zoom into details and annotate points of interest as you start to uncover your research. It also lets you find patterns and contexts through systematized tagging and metadata.

Open Research in Practice: Research Data Management Community of Practice

Cost: Free

Location: Virtual

Date / Time: Jan. 30, 2025 - 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Target Audience: Everyone.

Registration: Details here.

How do you practice reproducibility and integrate it into your research workflows? How do you share data and code in a way that helps others understand what you did? How do you navigate this when you work with data from human participants? January’s roundtable will discuss open research in practice from data collection to post-project archiving. Join us Thursday, January 30 at 11:30 AM for a great discussion between researchers!

Statistics Canada Workshops

Statistics Canada is offering valuable workshops designed to enhance your understanding of statistical methods and economic frameworks. These workshops are ideal for beginners or those seeking a refresher.

Workshop: Introduction to Basic Statistics

This 8-hour workshop, spread over two days, covers essential statistical measures and hypothesis testing methods, making it perfect for those new to statistics or in need of a refresher. Participants will learn about Descriptive and Inferential statistics, measures such as margin of error, and Z-tests and Chi-Square methods.

Cost: $325 per learner

Target Audience: Ideal for beginners; may be too basic for advanced users.

Registration: Available virtually in English (Feb. 11 and 12). Register Here

Workshop: Statistics Canada's Supply-Use Framework

This workshop provides an overview of Statistics Canada's Supply and Use Tables, including GDP calculations and economic impact models. It's geared towards those interested in understanding macroeconomic concepts and how they are applied.

Cost: $550 per learner

Target Audience: Ideal for those with a basic understanding of macroeconomics; may be too basic for advanced users.

Registration: Available in-person in English (Jan. 28 and 29) and in French (Mar. 5 and 6) in Edmonton, and in English (Mar. 5 and 6) in Vancouver.  Register Here

Kudos

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: [email-masked].

Congratulations to Political Science PhD candidate Anwar Sheluchin has launched CryptoCommons.ca — a comprehensive, publicly accessible database that tracks where Canadian politicians stand on digital currencies. The database includes all statements made in the House of Commons, which are classified and provided with a justification, so users can better understand the context and implications. You can discover more about this here.

Kudos to Social Work PhD Student Stephanie Milliken for being awarded the Order of Hamilton. On January 17, Milliken was honoured with the prestigious Order of Hamilton, presented by Mayor Andrea Horwath in recognition of Milliken’s outstanding contributions to the city. Read about this here.

Congratulations to Erin Baxter-Melo, the esteemed communications manager within the Faculty of Social Sciences. She will be leaving her role to pursue a new opportunity as the Director of Marketing at Redeemer University. Her last day with the Faculty will be January 24th, and she will begin her new position in February. Read more about this here.

Congratulations to Zhifan Luo as the newest member of the faculty of Sociology and Wilson College as an assistant professor. Read more about this here.

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Spark: a centre for social research innovation, McMaster University · 1280 Main St W · Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8 · Canada