The increasing availability of data from different sources, including surveys, administrative records, social media platforms, mobile sensors, and other digital traces, has led to a strong interest in data-driven decision-making across various areas and to an elevated demand for experts trained to work with data from different sources. While many academic programs in the social and economic sciences have incorporated courses on practical techniques of working with large and diverse data sets, the focus of these curricula is often not on understanding the data generating process and assessing the quality of the data. Against this backdrop, we have developed different continuing education programs with a foucs on data quality and the quality-oriented use of social science data. Since 2016, we - the University of Mannheim together with the Joint Program in Survey Methodology (University of Maryland/University of Michigan) - offer the International Program in Survey and Data Science (IPSDS). IPSDS provides online hybrid and blended learning training with a modular curriculum tailored to the needs of working professionals at statistical agencies, local governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations. Recently, we (University of Mannheim, LMU Munich, GESIS) launched the KODAQS Academy. KODAQS builds on and expands the offerings of IPSDS with a focus on early career researchers in the social sciences who want to expand their data science skills with a focus on data quality.
