Quantitative Methods Across the Social Sciences

Grant:

Instructional Development Fund (IDF)

Academic Year:

2012 - 2013 (June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013)

Funding Requested:

$500.00

Project Dates:

Sat, 06/30/2012 - Sun, 09/30/2012

Applicant(s):

jpasek

Overview of the Project:

The grant, along with matching money from the communication studies department, will be used to hire a graduate student to identify and catalog a series of empirical research articles across a variety of social science disciplines by the methodology used. The project will directly support an innovative graduate-level quantitative methods class that will explore advanced social science methods based on the applications and assumptions of the methods rather than the statistical backdrop. The project will require around 40 hours of research assistance, most of which can be funded using a CRLT IDF grant (see attached proposal).

Final Report Fields

Project Objectives:

The goal of the project was to compile a set of empirical articles from across the social sciences that would highlight the use of innovative methods. The course in question aimed to both introduce students to these methods and to build links between students in multiple disciplines across the social sciences.

Project Achievements:

The project identified research articles across the fields of communication research, political science, sociology, psychology, health, and education that included advanced quantitative methods. By identifying these articles, the course was able to draw examples of the diverse uses of each method for a variety of social science questions both within and across disciplines. The broad corpus of literature allowed the class to more fully explore both the range and limitations of the methods employed. Because the course was focused on exploring this very question, the grant was seminal to the success of the course.

Continuation:

The project will be continuing in two respects beyond the granting period. For one, the course itself will be offered in the future; students taking the course reflected positively on the course both in their official evaluations and in a discussion at the conclusion of the term. The collection of articles assembled will be used as part of the future course and may be expanded at some point in the future to study how methodological innovations disseminate throughout the social sciences.

Dissemination:

The syllabus for the current course is available online. A more complete database of research articles catalogued by methodology will be posted once such a database has been completed.

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