Teaching quantitative methods in disciplinary context: integrating quantitative method and evidence into the Social Science undergraduate curriculum.

This proposal responds directly to the concerns about low levels of quantitative skills among undergraduates in the social sciences. We set out a series of curriculum innovations designed to instigate a step change in the use of quantitative data and method in the teaching and learning on undergraduate programmes in the Social Sciences at Manchester University.

Our starting point is the observation that while quantitative training is now compulsory on most social science programmes, for many students it is still seen as something detached from the rest of their degree. This highlights a problem with the methods courses themselves but also with 'non-methods' teaching which frequently lacks much use of quantitative examples, or reference to the research contribution of quantitative approaches to the development of subject knowledge and understanding. Against a background of widely reported student anxiety over numerical work it is unsurprising that so few undergraduates in the social sciences currently include any quantitative analysis in final year dissertations.

There are two complementary planks to our proposal. The first involves working with named lecturers in Politics and Sociology at Manchester to embed more use of quantitative data and method into their teaching of nominated (non-methods) modules. They include staff with a range of quantitative expertise and experience, teaching courses from level 1 to 3 and across a range of substantive topic areas. In year 1 of the 3 year project we will work collaboratively with each lecturer to develop materials for inclusion in their own teaching. These may range from simple exemplars for use in lectures to more interactive exercises for use in tutorials, and will draw on the wealth of existing teaching resources (including teaching datasets and user-friendly interfaces to real world data) of which the project team has extensive experience. After extensive in-house piloting and evaluation these teaching materials will be re-purposed as a teaching resource for the wider HE community. By ensuring heavy input of subject specialists in their initial design we envisage their content will be relevant and transferable to many others teaching similar courses in other universities. All materials will include a teacher's pack (including details on data, guidelines on pedagogical options for delivering materials, and learning outcomes linked to relevant benchmarking statements for our two target disciplines).

The second plank of our proposals involves a revamp of the way quantitative method is introduced to students in formal methods training. While we have emphasised the need to embed more use of quantitative evidence in substantive teaching, methods courses remain crucial in ensuring students acquire the key skills and confidence needed to engage with this material. With many of our students arriving at Manchester with only rudimentary maths skills, we are proposing innovations in the way we introduce quantitative data and methods in the first year, making greater use of real world data and forms of enquiry based learning. Our proposals include development of a brand new course on 'Statistics in Society' introducing key concepts of statistical literacy and the use of numeric data in research and policy to those from non-statistical backgrounds. We will also develop a new second year 20 credit module on Secondary Analysis of Social Surveys. This module will build on a successful training model developed by the applicants under previous ESRC funding, and is designed specifically to enthuse and enable students to use secondary analysis of quantitative data in their final year dissertations.

Together these innovations will put in place the foundations for a real and lasting step change in the use of quantitative methods by social science students at Manchester and beyond.

The major beneficiaries of the project will be academic teaching staff and undergraduate students in the Social Sciences (see 'Academic Beneficiaries' for more detail). In Manchester, this includes the partner-lecturers with whom we are directly collaborating to develop materials for use in their own teaching, and their students who will benefit from these innovations. The development of our materials as a free, flexible and web-accessible teaching resource will ensure the impact extends to the wider UK teaching community, and the students they serve.
This project will also have a wider impact on the following groups:
1) The project will help the Royal Statistical Society's getstats programme by increasing the statistical literacy of a large number of undergraduate social science students at Manchester (from year 1 onwards) and elsewhere.
2) Employers in the public and private sectors will benefit from a better skilled graduate workforce that is statistically literate, and familiar with quantitative analysis. One of the direct outcomes of the project is the students' ability to download and assess data from UK, EU and other international datasets, which could be of immense help in assessing evidence and making decisions for local authorities, government agencies, charities, and marketing organisations who constitute a large section of employers of Manchester social science undergraduates.
3) Directors of postgraduate taught and research programmes in the social sciences will benefit from a statistically literate graduate population interested in pursuing postgraduate education. The project could increase the range of methodologies adopted in Masters and PhD dissertations, and could also have an impact on the quality of Advanced Quantitative Methods studentship applications to the North-West ESRC Doctoral Training Centre.
4) The project will also have an impact on the Economic and Social Data Service (our partners in the delivery of the project) by making their materials and datasets more widely used. Wider dissemination of their activities and outputs is one of their key aims. At present, these groups have strong connections with social science postgraduates, but rather weaker links with social science undergraduates. The project will help disseminate and embed their resources directly into the social science undergraduate curriculum.
5) Members of learned Societies such as the British Sociological Association, the Royal Statistical Society, and the Political Studies Association and participants in their annual conferences will be able to benefit from our presentations to these groups.