Become a part of the School of Sociologists
Enrollment is now open for the main program of the School-2025
Application deadline is January 6, 2024 (12.00 Astana)
About the
School
"Kazakhstan Sociology Lab"
Modern social sciences actively use various methods of algorithmic data analysis for a wide range of purposes. For example, for analyzing patterns of public opinion polarization using machine text processing, for studying factors determining the career success of school graduates, or for predicting the locations of future crimes.
At the "Kazakhstan Sociology Lab" School of Sociologists, we aim to help young researchers from the Republic of Kazakhstan master advanced methods of social sciences and become high-class experts in their topics.
The goal of the School is to develop participants' competencies and skills in working with modern methods of data collection and analysis. We will also explore theoretical questions that have been posed by researchers in the social sciences over the past decades.
Training will be conducted in a blended format: offline and online. Upon completion, participants (under the guidance of mentors) will have to present policy-oriented research on socially significant issues. Examples of project participants' works can be viewed at the link.
Opportunities for School Participants
School graduates will have significant competitive advantages. We expect this to give a strong boost to the career growth of graduates.
- Modern ApproachesAt the School, participants will get acquainted with new methods and theories widely used in modern social sciences.
- NetworkingThe School is a platform for finding like-minded people and an opportunity to meet experts in your areas of interest.
- Experience in policy researchUpon completion of the School, participants will have to conduct policy-oriented research, the results of which will be of interest both in the media and to decision-makers.
Main Program of the School
(Enrollment until January 6, 2024, 12.00 Astana)
Beginning of February
Beginning of February
Workshop 1. Opening of the School
Mini-Courses:
• Modern Sociological Theory
• Fundamentals of Research Design
• Introduction to Power BI
• Introduction to Programming in R
• Modern Sociological Theory
• Fundamentals of Research Design
• Introduction to Power BI
• Introduction to Programming in R
February
—
March
February
—
March
Module 1
Courses:
• Fundamentals of Statistics
• Research Design
April
—
May
April
—
May
Module 2
Workshop 2
• Review of the First Module
Courses:
• Introduction to Programming in R
• Qualitative Methods
• Review of the First Module
Courses:
• Introduction to Programming in R
• Qualitative Methods
June
—
July
June
—
July
Module 3
Workshop 3
• Exploratory Analysis of Unstructured Data (Data Mining)
• Educational Hackathon in Project Groups
Courses:
• Natural Language Processing
• Social Network Analysis
• Causal Inference
• Survey Research Design
• Exploratory Analysis of Unstructured Data (Data Mining)
• Educational Hackathon in Project Groups
Courses:
• Natural Language Processing
• Social Network Analysis
• Causal Inference
• Survey Research Design
September
—
October
September
—
October
Module 4
Workshop 4
• Automated Data Retrieval from the Internet
• Publicity for Researchers
• Python for R Users
• Working with Github
Instead of main courses, work in groups on research projects will be conducted.
Possible directions:
• School Education Research
• Employment Research
• Urban Studies
• Gender Studies
• Sociology of Medicine
• Law Enforcement and Criminology Research
• Automated Data Retrieval from the Internet
• Publicity for Researchers
• Python for R Users
• Working with Github
Instead of main courses, work in groups on research projects will be conducted.
Possible directions:
• School Education Research
• Employment Research
• Urban Studies
• Gender Studies
• Sociology of Medicine
• Law Enforcement and Criminology Research
November
November
Graduation Conference 2024
Presentation of Research Projects
Awarding of Certificates
Awarding of Certificates
The School will run from February to November 2025, with a break for holidays in the second half of July and in August.
The School's program is divided into 4 modules, each of which will be conducted in a blended format. At the beginning of the module, several days of in-person classes (workshops) will be organized, during which participants will take intensive courses. The rest of the module will be held online with two classes per week. Each class will last 3 hours. Participants will need a minimum of 15 hours of free time per week for full-time study.
Important: Non-resident participants independently resolve transportation and logistical issues related to participation in offline events; these expenses will not be compensated by the organizers.
Participation in the School is paid, but there is an opportunity to receive a grant for training. To do this, you need to go through a competitive selection and conduct empirical research in a team at the end of the training.
Important: Non-resident participants independently resolve transportation and logistical issues related to participation in offline events; these expenses will not be compensated by the organizers.
Participation in the School is paid, but there is an opportunity to receive a grant for training. To do this, you need to go through a competitive selection and conduct empirical research in a team at the end of the training.
Upon completion of the School, graduates will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.
The cost of training in the main program of the School is 300,000 tenge. There is an option to pay in installments. You do not need to participate in the competition. Also, in this case, participation in the research project in the last module of the program remains at your discretion and is not mandatory.
Alternatively, you can participate in the competitive selection for grant places. A total of 20-25 grants are planned. For applicants who receive a grant, participation in the group research project is mandatory.
Alternatively, you can participate in the competitive selection for grant places. A total of 20-25 grants are planned. For applicants who receive a grant, participation in the group research project is mandatory.
Application deadline: January 6, 2025 (12.00 Astana). A contract for educational services will be concluded with those participants who are ready to participate in the School at their own or other attracted funds.
For participants of the grant competition, an additional stage will be held – an online interview.
For participants of the grant competition, an additional stage will be held – an online interview.
New Participation Format in the School!
Throughout 2023, we carefully studied the needs of researchers from the social sciences and compiled a "menu" of short courses
(4-6 classes). If you cannot
participate in the main program
of the School or want to improve your
skills in a specific area – welcome!
(4-6 classes). If you cannot
participate in the main program
of the School or want to improve your
skills in a specific area – welcome!
Short Courses
Courses will be conducted in groups, in an online format with an instructor. Minimum group size is 7 people. Duration is 4-6 classes of 3 hours each.
The cost of the main part of the courses is 100,000 tenge, courses marked with “*” cost 70,000 tenge, for students and graduates of Kazakhstan Sociology Lab a unified price for all courses – 40,000 tenge.
- 1Advanced Statistics in RContinuing the discussion about GLM started in the basic statistics course, as well as quantile and multilevel regressions.
Prerequisites: Basic knowledge of R and statistics. - 2Academic ReadingReading academic texts and working with theory is an art important both within and outside universities in applied research. The course will cover various techniques of reading and extracting information from texts.
Prerequisites: Experience in reading academic literature, proficiency in English reading is desirable. - 3Machine Learning for Social SciencesMachine learning is arguably one of the most popular method families in recent years. But how can it be used for research in social sciences? This course will attempt to answer this question by exploring the conceptual foundations of ML, its basic algorithms (clustering, regularization, ensemble methods, SVM), and the "explainable machine learning" approach.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic statistics and proficient use of R. - 4R Programming in Kazakh LanguageTraining in the basics of analysis and programming in R for those who have never encountered data analysis.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of the Kazakh language. - 5MAXQDA for Qualitative Data AnalysisMAXQDA is a popular tool for coding qualitative data of any nature. In this course, we will master the technical aspects of working with this program.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic qualitative methods. - 6Power BI for AnalystsPower BI is a widespread tool for data analysis and visualization. The course is aimed at processing and analyzing survey results, databases.
Prerequisites: None. - 7Conducting Impact AssessmentHow to understand when a state initiative or any organization has been successful? Modern social sciences apply a complex of methods, under the general name of "impact assessment," to answer this question. This course will introduce how to measure whether a particular initiative was successful or not.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of basic statistics, R or STATA. - 8Media Analytics in R and Contemporary Marketing ResearchContemporary marketing research is a special field with a large number of specific methods and research designs. In this course, together with experts in the field, we will understand how modern marketers work.
Prerequisites: Knowledge of the basics of sociological research design and the R language. - 9...to be continued...If you have a request for a specific course, we will be glad if you share it with us by mail.
Instructors and Mentors
- Aliya SarsekeevaDirector of the School
- Dmitry SerebrennikovScientific Director of the School
Researcher at IPP EU SPb - Adil RodionovScientific Director of the School
Ph.D. in Sociology - Andrey SemenovCandidate of Political Sciences
Nazarbayev University
- Vitovt Kopytokex-Senior Analyst at the Central Research Institute, independent researcher
- Yulia VerlinaHead of Consulting, Research, Marketing Projects at Institute of Modern Media (MOMRI)
- Darkhan MedeuovPhD candidate at Leipzig University
Nazarbayev University - Baurzhan EdgenovPh.D. in Economics
Georgia State University
- Yana SosnovskayaLecturer at HSE, EU SPb
- Ksenia TenishevaAssociate Professor of Sociology Faculty
EU SPb - Nata VolkovaResearcher at TOО Scientific Research Institute "Almatygenplan"
- Anna KolotovkinaPh.D. student at EU SPb
- Alina KulichkovaEU SPb
- Marya BekovaNazarbayev University
Контакты:
+7 775 476 33 77
project-science@el-umiti.kz
Kazakhstan, Astana, Mәңgіlіk El 55/13, 1st floor
project-science@el-umiti.kz
Kazakhstan, Astana, Mәңgіlіk El 55/13, 1st floor
© 2023 Kazakhstan Sociology Lab