Social Sciences Quantitative Laboratory

Economics, Political Science, and Sociology/Anthropology

Department Overview

The Social Sciences Quantitative Laboratory at Swarthmore College develops students’ skills in quantitative analysis and comprehension.

Workshops

Spring 2026 Workshops:
 
Stata Workshops (designed for Ec 31, open to all students): 
Jan. 22, 23          Intro to Stata and Descriptive Statistics Files | Recording
Feb. 5, 6              Data Manipulation and Visualization Files | Recording
Feb. 26, 27         Confidence Intervals
Mar. 19, 20         Hypothesis Testing
Apr. 9, 10            Regression
Apr. 16, 17           Replication Project
 
Stata workshops on time series analysis (designed for Ec 27, open to all students):
Feb. 6                  Time-Series Regression Foundations in Stata Files | Recording
Feb. 13                 Dynamic Analysis with Local Projection and Impulse Response Functions Files | Recording
 
Please email ssql@swarthmore.edu if you are not enrolled in the respective Econ courses, but are interested in attending the Stata workshops.
 
R Workshops:
Feb. 9, Mar. 20, Apr. 13         Introduction to R and R Studio Files
Feb. 16, Mar. 27, Apr. 15        Exploring Data in R Files
Feb. 23, Apr. 3, Apr. 17          Data Visualization in R
 
Python Workshop:
Feb. 16                  Python for Social Sciences Quantitative Research
 
General Quantitative Research:
Jan. 29                  How to Read a Quantitative Paper Info | Registration | Paper
Feb. 6                    Reading Quantitative Papers and Interpreting Regressions Info | Registration
Feb. 11, 20             Finding Data (with Simon Elichko, Social Science & Data Librarian) Info | Registration
Early Apr.             Preparing for Quantitative Social Sciences Ph.D, Programs
Apr. 21, 24            Principles of Reproducible Research
Late May             Summer Research Assistants Orientation
 
The schedule is subject to change. Registration for applicable workshops is recommended but not required. Please check back for more details.

Office Hours

Office hour information can be found here. 

Curriculum consultation

If you have questions about the types of classes that will provide data science skills, the SSQL can provide information about which classes you can take and the skills that might be helpful to acquire.

Employment

Teaching Assistant opportunities are available for students with strong Stata and R skills. If you’d like to TA for one of the workshops, please email ssql@swarthmore.edu.