Social Science
Social Science
Many of the most exciting recent developments in social science research have been driven by the availability of new data sets where the size and complexity of the data require the development of new statistical methods, from models for network data to methods for data privacy, and very high-dimensional regression analysis. The Department of Statistics is involved in numerous social science collaborations across campus, with many of these collaborations targeted at providing our graduate students with opportunities to study the application of statistics to solving important problems in the social sciences. The Social Data Analytics (SODA) program, for instance, brings together PhD students, undergraduates, and faculty in statistics and disciplines like political science and sociology, with opportunities for students to work with multiple faculty on “rotations” so they are exposed to a variety of interesting research problems. A number of Statistics PhD students are enrolled in dual PhD in statistics and data analytics, graduating with strong backgrounds both in statistics as well as its application to social science research. In addition, Penn State has a number of units and organizations that have a large number of researchers who work on statistical methods in the context of the social sciences from the interdisciplinary cross-college Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) to departments in the College of Health and Human Development (HHD).
Faculty
