CALL FOR PROPOSALS:

PolMeth XXVI: The 26th Annual Summer Meeting of the Society for Political
Methodology

Yale University
23-25 July 2009

The 26th Annual Summer Methodology Conference will be held 23-25
July 2009, on the campus of Yale University.

Sponsors of these meetings are the Institution for Social and Policy
Studies at Yale University, the National Science Foundation, and the
Society for Political Methodology.

WHO SHOULD APPLY?
- Faculty who want to present
- Faculty volunteering to discuss
- Faculty who want to be considered for funding
- All graduate students who would like to attend

FACULTY PAYING THEIR OWN WAY SOLELY TO ATTEND (NOT TO PRESENT)
NEED NOT APPLY BEFORE REGISTERING.

HOW TO APPLY
Complete the appropriate form(s) at the Society's webpage:
http://polmeth.wustl.edu/conferences/methods2009/register/

***DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: March 1, 2009***

Applicants are invited to present a poster, paper, or expository
panel (details below); to act as a discussant; or simply to attend.
Graduate students may also apply simply to attend, but they are
strongly encouraged to propose a poster for the graduate-student
poster session, which is both a venerated tradition and outstanding
professional opportunity. Graduate students (and other eligible
applicants) whose presentation proposals are accepted will receive
priority consideration for funding if they apply for it (see below).

To accommodate the continued growth of the conference, we have made
a number of small adjustments in the format of the conference,
including alterations of the application and registration processes.

PRELIMINARY CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Wednesday, July 22
- Women in Political Methodology dinner

Thursday, July 23
- Plenary sessions (i.e., sessions of the whole) of paper
   presentations, with discussant & open discussion
- Traditional keynote lecture by a prominent, non-political-science
   statistician
- Business meeting
- Opening evening reception

Friday, July 24 (aka "Causal Friday")
- Two concurrent sessions of paper presentations with discussant &
   open discussion
- Faculty poster session
- Graduate-student poster session
- Evening reception

Saturday, July 25
- Two concurrent sessions of paper presentations with discussant &
   open discussion
- Late afternoon poster session
- Closing dinner reception

Attendees should plan to arrive Wednesday the 22nd and depart Sunday
the 26th.

To accommodate the expanded size of the conference, we have
increased the numbers of split sessions and poster sessions.
Applicants may propose a poster or a paper, and the Program
Committee will assign accepted proposals to plenary-sessions, to
split-session paper-presentations, or to poster-session
presentations.

THEMATIC FOCUS

The overarching theme for the 2009 conference is "Causal Inference." The 
Program Committee welcomes proposals on research design, data collection, 
or estimation that speak to the question, "Under what conditions can one 
draw secure inferences about cause and effect in the realm of politics?" 
The Program Committee welcomes proposals on other topics as well.

EXPOSITORY PANELS

Based on suggestions from past conference attendees, the Program
Committee would also like to invite panels in which authors of
recent books present an overview of statistical techniques described
in these books.  Also invited are presentations in which the speaker
provides an expository overview of statistical techniques or ideas
presented in classic books or collections of articles.  Expository
panels, ideally, would involve material that is directly or
indirectly related to the topic of causal inference.

REGARDING THE REVISED APPLICATION & REGISTRATION PROCESSES:

Following acceptance and during registration, all conference
attendees will pay or have paid for them the $250 conference
registration fee. The fee is collected in the registration process
(via PayPal), and registration cannot be validly completed without
payment.

As was true last year, the NSF will fund the attendance of 55
(total) graduate students, women, minorities, and assistant
professors. (Many thanks from us all to PI's Jan Box-Steffensmeier
& Phil Schrodt.) The acceptance committee will review applications
for funding (which, procedurally, amount to the applicant
indicating her/his wish to be considered for funding and then
checking boxes for the categories by which s/he is eligible), and
winners of funding will be notified along with their acceptance to
the conference. All graduate-student applicants will be required to
give the email address not only of a faculty recommender, which has
long been required, but also to give the email address of a
"guarantor of funding." The guarantor may be the same faculty
member as the recommender, a different faculty member, someone
authorized to commit an institutional source of funding, or even
the graduate student her/himself. The guarantor commits to paying
or having paid the registration fee for the graduate student in the
case that student does not win funding. The option of the student
listing her/himself as guarantor allows students wishing (or able
and willing and needing) to pay their own registration to do so.
The options, purposefully listed first, of naming a faculty or
institutional guarantor are intended to emphasize heavily the
strong and good norm that faculty/departmental/institutional
sponsors should pay for their students to attend the conference.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF ACCEPTANCES & OF FUNDING SHOULD ARRIVE IN
LATE MARCH.

Following that, REGISTRATION AND LODGING _MUST_ BE BOOKED/CONFIRMED
BY END OF MAY.

Technical questions regarding the application & registration
web-site should be directed to Stephen Haptonstahl
([log in to unmask]). Substantive questions or comments regarding
the application process, the conference, or the conference
web-site should be directed to Don Green ([log in to unmask])
or the conference coordinator, Limor Peer ([log in to unmask]).

We look forward to seeing you in New Haven this summer!

Don Green, Chair
Host and Program Committees
PolMeth XXVI: 2009 Summer Methods Meeting

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