When:  Friday August 19, 2016; 8:30 – 5pm

Where:  Seattle, WA (specific location TBA)

We invite you to apply to a free 1-day PIAAC Research Training event funded by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES) and organized by Portland State University, the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Visit PIAAC Research Training Events for more information.

Description

PIAAC (Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) is an international adult skills assessment program that directly assesses cognitive skills in the areas of literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. PIAAC’s extensive background questionnaire provides information on adults in the U.S. and 23 other countries about a number of other skills and personal traits such as demographic characteristics, educational attainment, employment status, self-rated health, political efficacy, and skills used at work and at home.

PIAAC data provide researchers with opportunities to examine critical questions that may contribute to sociological knowledge in areas such as education, health, work and occupations, race/ethnicity, gender, migration, political sociology, and more, from both a U.S. and international perspective. The goal of the event is to build the capacity of the U.S. research community to use the PIAAC dataset for basic, policy, and applied research. This unique event will provide valuable opportunities to explore the PIAAC data set, learn data analysis techniques, ask questions, make connections, and learn from other sociologists using PIAAC.

Designed for individual researchers, this 1-day training will focus on the use of PIAAC data to examine critical questions in sociological research.  The training offers foundational knowledge that will help you launch your own PIAAC research. Follow-up online activities will provide ongoing support throughout your research process.  Following several PIAAC training events, a culminating conference will be held where researchers will share their work and make connections with a network of other PIAAC researchers.

Eligibility 

The project team has an overarching priority to support researchers from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Training events are open to researchers at all stages of their career; applications from research analysts, doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows are strongly encouraged.

International scholars or graduate students with visas are welcome to apply; however, priority will be given to applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Applicants should be familiar with commonly used statistical methods and either SPSS, Stata or SAS statistical software. Participants must bring their own laptop equipped with statistical software to the training event.  Completion of advanced preparatory activities will be required to make these face-to-face events most effective.

Application Procedures

Visit PIAAC 1-Day Sociology Training Event for application procedures.  Applications for the August 19, 2016 training event are due on July 5, 2016 with acceptances sent out on July 8, 2016.  For questions or more information contact Dr. Jill Castek at  jcastek@pdx.edu or 503-725-8720.