Niccole Pamphilis

Dr. Niccole Pamphilis is a Senior Lecturer in Political and International Studies at the University of Glasgow. Niccole's research interests focus on the individuals' perceptions of responsibility and the connection between perceptions and observable behaviours, primarily in voting. She teaches “Statistics and Data Analysis I: Introduction” in the ICPSR Summer Program.

Why she keeps coming back

I think this is my ninth year now teaching. I started as a participant back in 2007, and I fell in love with the people that come here every year, because everyone's passionate about the Program. Nobody is forced to be here. Everyone's engaged, and everyone has really good questions. We want to know about each other's research, and it's a really supportive environment that's different from what you have back at your home institution. Not that they're not supportive, but here everyone's interested in the methods, the data, in knowing what we can do and how we can do more, and the challenges others are facing. It's a really unique experience.

Asking questions and getting answers

It's a good chance to learn how things operate, and at different levels. When you get people that are talking about their personal experiences, it's really insightful, particularly when you're in the early stages of your career. You can ask people questions and they will give you honest answers. You're in a setting where there's no reason to sugarcoat things and make things sound prettier than they are, so it's really nice for that. And when you go away, if questions arise or if you're working with students and there's a challenge, there are people here that you can reach out to. Even for me, doing research now, I have questions about teaching methods and I have my ideas about it, but when I come here I can ask, "Hey, how do you guys approach it?" Because everyone's from a different place, a different field, a different size university, with different years of experience, and it's just this nice epicenter of knowledge.

Advice for newcomers

Pace yourself. There are so many things to do in the Summer Program, and when you get here everything seems really interesting. It can be easy to burn yourself out. Really think about what you need to know right now, focusing on what's the thing that you're going to be applying right away and getting into that course and listening to the instructors. Ask them for recommendations; say, "I'm taking your course, what pairs well with it? What knowledge do I need to know?" That way you are in the best place to leave here with the skillset of that course. The courses here are really designed to make it so that you go home and can do these things now, and you’re better served if you're really focused.

"Pace yourself. There are so many things to do in the Summer Program."