Welcome to the Summer Academic Enrichment Program (SAEP)

The Summer Academic Enrichment Program (SAEP) curriculum is designed to develop analytical, writing and oral communication skills through Communications, Research Methods and Intermediate Statistical Methods and Computing courses. Participants take the three courses during the five-weeks that the program lasts.

COMMUNICATIONS
Regardless of the participant's current academic discipline and prospective chosen career field,
the ability to communicate effectively will increase his/her chances for success at every level. In
our five weeks we will work to help participants improve their written and verbal communication
skills. Together, we will assist each other in the task of taking information, synthesizing and
organizing it into salient and clear points. The final stage will be to clearly articulate the
information so that it can be clearly understood by others.

RESEARCH METHODS
The objective of this course is to introduce the theories, principles, and methods of conducting quantitative and qualitative research in the social sciences and other related disciplines. In
addition, the course will acquaint students with general issues involved in conducting research, including-ethics, validity reliability, and instrument construction. Research methods components
covered in this course will include: a literature review, formulation of research questions, statement
of hypotheses, selection of subjects, research design, and data collection methods. Students will generate and develop their own research interests [within the general areas of Education, Political Participation, and Health] and produce an original research proposal in their field of specialization.

STATISTICS AND COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS
The purpose of this course is to help participants develop a conceptual understanding of statistics
and how statistical procedures are used in research. The focus of our attention will be on the types
of statistics commonly found in social science research. In this regards, we will treat the following statistical methods: exploratory and descriptive statistics, the chi-square statistic, correlation and regression, as well as multiple correlation and regression. In our work in these areas, we will often
be using real data sets to show the value of statistics for analyzing information. Our data sets will be from the fields of education, political participation, and health. The analysis of data will require both hand and computer calculations. Regarding the computer we will focus on the use of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program.

WEEKLY CALENDAR & UPDATES
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Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5