Module SOCI57815: Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

Department: Applied Social Sciences

SOCI57815: Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

Prerequisites

• None

Corequisites

• Statistical Exploration and Reasoning (SOCI 59215)

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• to introduce students to the general nature of the quantitative programme in social science.
• to outline the role of quantification in the exploration of the social world.
• to consider the possibility of quantitative specification of causality in social science.

Content

• Complex realism and quantitative social science.
• Measurement and operationalization.
• Sampling and questionnaire design.
• Numerical taxonomy and cluster analysis.
• Case-based methods and QCA.
• Simulation techniques.
• Representing complex systems and exploring complex cause.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the module students will:
• be familiar with the basic principles of measurement in social science including an advanced understanding of issues of operationalization;
• understand how to employ appropriate procedures in quantitative research;
• understand the basic principles of survey analysis including issues of statistical inference from samples;
• understand the essential principles of secondary data analysis;
• understand the application of quantitative modelling procedures to real data sets;
• understand and be able to use processes of numerical taxonomy;
• understand the logic of figurational methods including qualitative comparative analysis (QCA);
• have been introduced to the role of simulation in social science.

• be capable of designing a survey in terms of sample design and questionnaire design.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The module will be taught by way of ten two-hour sessions, The first six sessions and the final session will be taught in the form of an interactive mini-lecture interspersed with small group activities and whole group discussions. Sessions seven, eight and nine will involve practical instruction in the IT lab.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Assignment - 1500 words.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University