Kvasaheim is a site for transmitting knowledge about Political Science, International Relations, and Statistics to those interested. Currently, the primary projects supporting this goal are Project Scarlet, and two statistics books: R for Starters and Linear Models and Ruritá Království. More information about each of these projects can be found below.
Beyond those primary projects, there are a couple minor ones that I created years ago and find useful at times. The first provides a list of several news sources; the second, many online data sources for international studies.
When teaching undergraduate introductory statistics, there is precious little practice available for students who wish to practice the calculations. I developed — and am developing — Project Scarlet to fill this gap. As time moves forward, expect me to add additional functionality, such as separate areas for learning, practicing, and testing. Also, expect a log-in feature, allowing you to keep track of your successes as you move through the site.
I searched, but I could not find an advanced social science methods textbook for students with little interest in statistics. There are many out there that cover the introductory topics: t-tests, chi-squared tests, linear regression. However, I could not locate one that covered linear modeling of count data, dichotomous data, and the like. Thus, I wrote (and am still writing) this online book—and its associated R functions.
Since I teach at a small, liberal arts school that follows a trimester system (10-week terms), it was rather difficult to find an undergraduate Linear Models textbook with the right pacing and emphasis. Thus, I wrote one. Linear Models and Ruritá Království covers the usual linear model topics, including OLS and WLS and all the mathematics that goes into both. Additionally, it provides an introduction to Generalized Least Squares (GLS), to Maximum Likelihood Estimation, and to Generalized Linear Models (GLMs).
Ole Forsberg has taught several courses over the years. This site contains links to the old and the new. It is divided into Political Science and Statistics courses. While current courses are kept up-to-date, previous courses may suffer from broken link and database reassignment issues. All material in these pages is either copyright by the original holder, is public domain, or is GPL by Dr. Forsberg. When in doubt, please contact us for clarification (Ole J. Forsberg at Knox College).