Social Research Methods
Minor
Back to Social Research Methods (Minor)
The core objective of this minor is to expose students to the range of quantitative and qualitative research techniques used by social scientists. The learning outcomes of the program include:
- Develop a definitional and operational understanding of the scientific method
- Interpret research findings (samples and populations, confidence intervals, and p-values)
- Explore descriptive statistics and learn how to describe variables (distribution shapes, central tendencies, and the dispersion of variables)
- Explore inferential statistics and learn how to assess relationships between variables (cross-tabulation, correlation, linear regression, comparisons of summary statistics across groups)
- Use and learn statistical packages (e.g. SPSS and Stata)
- Collect, analyze, and interpret qualitative data, derived from interviews, participant observations, online sources, and government records, among others
- Construct hypotheses based on empiracal theories and test predictions using empirical strategies
- Design methodologically sound research projects in social science