Quantitative Methods in Social Science Research - 360-223-AB

Quantitative Methods in Social Science Research 360-223-AB 1  Today Objectives ⚫ History of quantification ⚫ Where do data come from? ⚫ primary vs. secondary ⚫ Quantitative versus qualitative data ⚫ What is statistics (examples)...

Quantitative Methods in Social Science Research 360-223-AB 1  Today Objectives ⚫ History of quantification ⚫ Where do data come from? ⚫ primary vs. secondary ⚫ Quantitative versus qualitative data ⚫ What is statistics (examples) Slide 2 History of quantification ⚫ Quantification of sociological phenomena is relatively recent ⚫ The use of numbers as a critical step in distinguishing civilization ⚫ ‘Arabic numerals’ were invented around the 9th century by Hindus in what is now India ⚫ Florence nightingale’s data visualization in the Crimean war in the 1850s ⚫ Durkheim’s study of suicide (1897) The point of statistics is to show data in ways people enjoy and understand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbkSRLYSojo The rise of quantification ⚫ The Quantitative paradigm: a rigorous and systematic methodology to study the social sciences ⚫ Drive for precisions and to be more “science-like”: to enable generalisation and replication ⚫ Driven by capitalism’s desire for market research to understand human consumption and behaviour ⚫ Political accountability: to support evidence-based decision- making and to hold political entities accountable to their outcomes ⚫ “The quantitative revolution”- during the mid-20th century for most social science disciplines Can everything be expressed as numbers? ⚫ Chaos theory: partly uses numbers to understand random states of disorder ⚫ Fibonacci series ⚫ Music ⚫ Poverty, Happiness,Poverty Line, Subjective Well-Being Levels, Honesty Credit Rating ⚫ What takes longer? ⚫ What is left out? Quantitative versus qualitative ⚫ Quantitative (QM) ⚫ expressed as numbers ⚫ we can analyze these numbers statistically ⚫ Qualitative (RM) ⚫ Expressed as sounds, images, words, objects ⚫ Generally cannot analyze statistically ⚫ Interpret the meaning Which are more useful for the social sciences? The reality is that most social science research includes mixed designs (BOTH qual and quant methodology). How to choose the method 1. Determine the question 2. Choose the method for finding an answer.  E.g. Analyze a civilization Growth of civilizations Collection and organization of information = DATA QUANTITATIVE DATA = QUALITATIVE DATA = numerical information; based non-numerical information; on counting, measuring, etc. based on categorizing, describing, etc. Use tools and decision-making What might we want to know techniques to analyze,What might we want to knowthat could be best studied interpret, and presentthat databe best studied with qualitative data? thecould = STATISTICS with quantitative data? Pros and cons of quantifying Pick one topic and debate in groups of ~3 what kinds of questions could be analyzed with qualitative or quantitative approaches. 1. MMIWG Stories, narratives and perspectives are 2. Social media important qualitative 3. Climate change approaches. 4. Technology and society Knowing how many, where and other stats are 5. Education important quantitative approaches. We need both most of the time. So now you know what quantification is, but what is statistics? ⚫ Statistics The most is a branch intuitive math of mathematics you use, probably DAILYconcerned with collecting, analyzing, interpreting and presenting empirical data 2012-2013  Quantitative data in Social sciences In-class activity: Visualizing Quantitative Data This will be completed in groups of 3 Each group needs to find several quantitaive studies with visualizations of data and add each to a separate template PPT slide (on Lea – Assignments) Note the discipline of each study but do not include it in your slides (look at journal title, authors credentials) Upload your slides to Lea as a JPEG (same assignment) I will add them to a Kahoot and we will play it as a class to “Determine the discipline”. Title: Global Progress in COVID-19 Vaccination: Population Receiving At Least One Dose Discipline: Geography Title: The gap between earnings in London and the rest of the country has shrunk. Discipline: Economics Title: Gender, time and Inequality: Trends in Women’s and men’s paid work, unpaid work, and free time. Discipline: Economics Title: (insert title here) (Insert visualization of quantitative data (graph, chart, map, ect.) here) Group members: (insert group members’ names here) Title: The taste of cutlery: how the taste of food is affected by the weight, size and colour of the cutlery used to eat it. Title: Using big data and social network analysis for cultural tourism planning in Hakka villages Title: Time required to start a business (days) Title: Industrialisation and population growth, 1750-1860s