College of Liberal Arts
skip to content The University of Texas at Austin

Texas Social Science Research (TSSR) Hub

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Office of the Vice President for Research, and the College of Liberal Arts, the Texas Social Science Research Hub will substantially strengthen the infrastructure for UT’s social and behavioral scientists—and any other scholars across campus who draw on social and behavioral methods—to pursue cutting edge research, build interdisciplinary collaborations, and successfully compete for external awards.

Housed in the Population Research Center, the TSSR Hub will serve the entire campus, particularly those developing grant proposals and large-scale projects. Initially, it is organized around two main services:

  • Statistics & Methods: Providing expert consulting on statistical analyses and quantitative methodologies
  • Community Engaged Research: Supporting and guiding the building of external partnerships and best-practices for community-engaged research (as opposed to community service)

The TSSR Hub will be led by Dr. David Schaefer, a sociologist with extensive experience in a wide variety of quantitative approaches and track record of interdisciplinary collaboration. Dr. Alexander Etz, an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Psychology, will lead the statistical consulting component. Shirene Garcia, project manager of the OVPR’s Whole Communities-Whole Health, will lead the community component. Each component will be supported by a team of doctoral students.

Baseline support from the TSSR Hub will be available to all eligible faculty and students free of charge, and more substantial and ongoing support for projects can be written into grant proposals.

For those interested in the services of the TSSR Hub, please contact hub@prc.utexas.edu.

  • Statistical and Data Science Support

    Through drop-in consulting hours, pre-scheduled appointments, and workshops, the Hub’s statistical consulting core (overseen by Etz) will serve the following general functions:

    • Helping faculty and students develop methodological plans and advising on data collection for project proposals and IRB applications.
    • Acting as a clearinghouse to connect faculty and students to expert advice, resources, and training in specific content areas.
    • Providing support for statistical analysis, interpretation, and visualization on ongoing projects as well as data management and archiving.
    • Supporting faculty and student adherence to open science principles and practices.
  • Community-Engaged Research Support

    Garcia’s team will focus on four general areas of expert support:

    • Conducting outreach to community organizations and serving as a point of contact for community organizations interested in collaborating with UT scholars on social and behavioral science projects.
    • Scheduling appointments and office hours for faculty and students interested in starting community-engaged research projects and offering assistance troubleshooting and facilitating ongoing projects.
    • Offering workshops for faculty and students on best practices in community-engaged research as well as meet and greets with potential community partners.
    • Assisting faculty, students, and their community partners with the translation of academic research into accessible products for the public.
  • Office Hours - Statistical and Data Science Support

    Mondays 12:30-2:00pm in RLP 2.706

    Fridays 12:30-2:00pm in SEA 5.556

  • Statistical Support Offerings

    The Hub will provide two kinds of statistical support: 1) ad-hoc statistical support for ongoing/future research projects and 2) grant proposals and sponsored research support. Ad-hoc support is available at no cost to all eligible faculty and students. Support on proposals is provided at no upfront cost in expectation of post-award effort for Hub personnel included in the proposed budget.

    The Hub will host weekly drop-in sessions where you can come by for a quick consultation at your convenience. You can also schedule individual appointments through our website (coming soon).

    Ad-hoc Statistical Support
    Free statistical support is available by appointment or walk-in for a wide variety of needs, including:

    • Assistance with statistical programming (e.g., R, Python)
    • Guidance on reproducible practices (e.g., pre-registration, data sharing)
    • Advice on best-practices for statistical analysis, interpretation, and visualization
    • Help interpreting the results of statistical analyses
    • Advanced modeling tips (e.g., Bayesian analysis, latent-variable models)
    • And more!

     

    Grant Proposals and Sponsored Research Support
    Members of the Hub are available to act as key personnel or consultants on faculty grant proposals, providing the following services:
    Study design and/or statistical analysis planning and review

    • Sample size determination via power analysis
    • Development of Data Management and Sharing plans
    • Conduct preliminary and exploratory data analysis
    • Creation of reproducible data processing pipelines
    • Interpret, visualize, and write-up results for publication
  • Accordion 5
    Panel 5. Add body text in this space.