Project overview
Quantitative methods are a vital tool for students in the social sciences to have in their armoury - it allows them to investigate the world around us using both small and large surveys. However, many students do not look favourably on these methods, with many feeling that part of the reason why they chose to study a social science was to avoid them. Yet statistics can help understand a topic and provide a good transferable skill that can be used in employment after university. At the University of Southampton, quantitative methods are used within the Social Sciences, with all students taking a module in their first and second years on this topic. Even with this, there is resistance to the subject, with many complaining that it has no relevance to their subject area. Further complaints are that they find the topics either too difficult or too easy, depending on their background in quantitative subjects at school. This project aims to revitalise the curriculum in Southampton with regards to the teaching of quantitative methods in the Social Sciences. This will be conducted through three linked elements. The first is to re-orientate the first year course that introduces the students to the study of quantitative methods. The content of the module will be kept, but more emphasis will be placed on the more advanced methods. A website containing examples and explanations of all aspects of the course, both basic and advanced, will be constructed, also containing the recorded lectures. This will also have test questions that students can take to assess understanding, before they move on to take a formal assessment. This will allow those who are struggling to revisit material a number of times, while those who already have the skills can pass through the explanations to the formal assessment directly. Due to this resource, more focus can be placed during the module on the harder elements. The module described above is taken in the first year of the degree, and is followed by a second year course which extends the quantitative knowledge of the students. However, the students never actually use the methods taught 'in anger' - it is mostly presented theoretically. The next part of this project fills this gap. Two modules, in Criminology and Sociology, will have a separate quantitative computer workshop element designed, where students analyse a large social survey (either the British Crime Survey or the Labour Force Survey) to produce results which link directly back to the module topics. The methods used will have been covered in the quantitative courses, helping the students to understand them further, while the workshops will help the students see how quantitative methods can help in their subject. The final element is to motivate the students and improve their employment prospects. Throughout the students' time at university employers will come to present employment seminars, highlighting the possibilities for using quantitative methods after university. This is designed to stress the benefits of a good grounding in quantitative methods for the students in their employment. Overall the project hopes to remove some of the apathy that students feel towards quantitative methods and increase the numbers who use these methods in their final year projects and beyond. The resources produced, especially the web resource for first year, will be made available for students in other universities to use and hence the expertise generated in this project will have benefits outside of the University of Southampton.
