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Announcements, events, and news from Spark

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March 14th 2025

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

Centre News

Join Us in a Celebration

After 6 years supporting research quality and innovation in social sciences, Spark: a centre for social research innovation will be closing. Before we go, please join us in celebrating impactful social research, and the contributions of our amazing team of Sparklers and many deeply valued partners. You have made these years a joy.

Date:

Thursday, April 10th, 2025

Time:

3:30 pm – 6:30 pm

Location:

Spark CoLab – LR Wilson, 5803.

McMaster University

Link to Directions

RSVP here

Community-Engaged Research Days - 2025

In an era of complex social challenges, community-engaged research (CER) has emerged as a powerful approach to producing knowledge that is both academically rigorous and socially impactful. However, the practice of CER often falls short of its ideals, with power imbalances, logistical hurdles, and ethical dilemmas hindering truly collaborative partnerships between researchers and communities.

To address these critical issues, Spark partnered with the Office of Community Engagement to organize a free two-day conference, scheduled for March 27-28, 2025.

The conference is built around four consecutive workshops on challenging engaged research topics, featuring expert speakers from both academic and community backgrounds. The event's innovative format goes beyond traditional presentations, incorporating interactive elements such as small group discussions, role-playing exercises, and a gallery of community research projects. This approach will provide participants with practical tools and strategies to implement in their own work, while also creating opportunities for new relationships to form.

Thursday, March 27

9:30 - 10:00 am: Event opens, research gallery opens, registration, settling-in

10:00 - 12:00 pm: Workshop: The Opportunities and Challenges with 'Insider Research'

12:00 - 1:30 pm: Lunch, research gallery (gallery presenters in attendance)

1:30 - 5:30 pm: Workshop: Evolving Community Research Ethics

5:30 - 6:00 pm: Space remains open for networking. Research gallery remains open for viewing

Friday, March 28

9:30 - 10:00 am: Event opens, research gallery opens, registration, settling-in

10:00 - 12:00 pm: Workshop: The Devil is in the Details: Compensation and Other Issues of Access and Inclusion in CER Logistics

12:00 - 1:30 pm: Lunch, research gallery (gallery presenters in attendance)

1:30 - 5:30 pm: Workshop: Communication in Research: Having the 'Hard Conversations'

5:30 - 6:00 pm: Space remains open for networking. Research gallery remains open for viewing

Learn about each workshop here.

Propose a research gallery submission here.

Reserve Your Spot

Upcoming Events

“No Exit: Endlessly Modifying Masculinity”

In the contemporary world, it often seems that every thought and action by self-identified men must be described with one or another adjectival form of masculinity (toxic, alternative, emerging, etc.). This presentation/workshop explores why we can reject the notion that everything a woman does must be attributed to her femininity or womanhood, but we are far more comfortable doing the same with men. When is it useful to talk about one or another strain of masculinity (for instance in studying suicide rates) and when does it land us in more trouble? Is there a future for masculinity?

Matthew Gutmann is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Brown University. His books and articles have focused especially on men and masculinities, public health, politics, and militarism. He has conducted most of his ethnographic and other studies in Mexico, the United States, and China.

Register for this Spark Talk here.

This video is a preview video for Matthew Gutmann's Spark Talk on March 21st, 2025.

“Disentangling Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection”

Many real-world principal-agent problems have both moral hazard and adverse selection. Existing tools largely analyze only one problem at a time. In this talk Henrique Castro-Pires proposes a new method — decoupling — to analyze both problems at once in several cases. He will provide simple tests to check when the method is valid, and a numerical algorithm to implement it.

Henrique Castro-Pires is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Miami Herbert Business School, University of Miami. He received his Ph.D. in Managerial Economics and Strategy from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, in 2022. His research interests lie in the field of microeconomic theory, including mechanism design, organizational economics, and personnel economics. His recent research has focused on the design of incentive schemes, subjective performance evaluations, and how compensation schemes affect the selection of workers who join a given firm or organization. His work has been published in top journals in the field, such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of the European Economic Association, and the Games and Economic Behavior.

Register for this Spark Talk here.

This video is a preview video for Henrique Castro-Pires's Spark Talk on March 28th, 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.

Connection Grants Competition

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is now accepting applications for the Connection Grants competition.  SSHRC has established the following deadlines for Connection Grant competitions:  February 1, May 1, August 1, and November 1. Connection Grants are expected to respond to the objectives of the Research Partnerships program. These grants support events and outreach activities geared toward short-term, targeted knowledge mobilization initiatives. These events and activities represent opportunities to exchange knowledge and engage with participants on research issues they value. Events and outreach activities funded by a Connection Grant can often serve as a first step toward more comprehensive and longer-term projects.

SSHRC will accept applications for the Research Data Management Capacity Building Initiative during the May 1st, 2025 competition.

Application Process

If you intend to submit an application, please contact Amanda Graveline, Senior Advisor, Development, ROADS, at [email-masked]  by March 3, 2025.

The initial draft of the application and letters of support are due to the Research Office for Administration, Development and Support (ROADS), by 9:00 am on April 10, 2025.

The final draft, and a completed and signed Application Approval Form, are due to ROADS by 9:00 am on April 24, 2025. Please note, applications received after this date may not receive a full review.

More information:

Additional information regarding the Connection Grants Program can be found on the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) website at:

http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/connection_grants-subventions_connexion-eng.aspx.

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 McMaster University for cutting its carbon footprint with two decarbonization projects that are expected to reduce campus emissions by nearly 4 per cent. Read more about this here.

Congratulations to Jim Dunn for winning the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) 2024 Gold Roof Award for Knowledge to Action for affordable housing project, Housing Sustainability & Investment Roadmap (HSIR). Read more about this here.

Congratulations to McMaster University for being named one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for the seventh consecutive year, in recognition of the university’s commitment to creating an inclusive environment. Read more about this here.

Congratulations to all of the outstanding researchers and businesses that have used Spark's services and resources over the years. You have made creating and maintaining Spark worthwhile!

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