ASA Midyear Methodology Meeting at the University of Toronto
When and Where
Speakers
Description
The Data Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto will host the American Sociological Association’s Methodology Section Midyear Meeting. This two-day conference serves as a professional forum for exploring recent developments across quantitative, qualitative, and computational approaches. The program will include a wide range of presentations on machine learning, qualitative data analysis, AI applications, causal identification strategies, and social network analysis, among other topics.
Keynote Address
Multiverse Analysis: Toward Transparent and Robust Results
Friday, April 24 | 12:15pm-1:45pm
Most empirical research involves a long chain of analytical decisions, creating a “garden of forking paths” in which different choices can lead to different findings. Yet published studies typically present only a few carefully-curated results, raising concerns about transparency and credibility. Multiverse analysis addresses this problem by systematically exploring many reasonable analytical alternatives, often across thousands of model specifications. The approach reveals which decisions matter most, and how data and assumptions work together to produce empirical findings. This talk introduces the method in intuitive terms and illustrates it with real-world datasets. By looking across many plausible analyses rather than a single path, we gain a clearer picture of the uncertainty in our results and strengthen the credibility of reported findings.
Cristobal Young works at the intersection of economic sociology, stratification, and quantitative methodology. He studies social policies that moderate income inequality, ranging from millionaire taxes to unemployment insurance. His methodological work focuses on big administrative data, model uncertainty, and robust results.
Register to Attend: General registration for audience participants is open until April 15, 2026