THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Social and Political Science : Sociology

Undergraduate Course: Advanced Quantitative Methods Research (SCIL10098)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Social and Political Science CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThe course consists of a series of workshops tackling advanced debates and skills in quantitative methods. It is designed to be responsive and allow students to learn advanced techniques. Students can select a bespoke course comprising of 4 expert taught workshops of their choice. The workshops provide hands-on experience of methods that complement and extend those covered elsewhere.
Course description Methodological developments in the Social Sciences over the past decades have led to increases in the specialisation and diversity of techniques that are used to make sense of the social world. This Research Training Centre course responds to these trends by providing access to an exciting programme of cutting-edge methods workshops all delivered by experts in the field. Workshops typically occur throughout the year on varying days and times, providing students flexibility in scheduling.

The programme will include workshops covering advanced quantitative methods techniques and current developments in the field (e.g. reproducibility, demographic analysis, latent class analysis, natural experiments, causal methods).
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: Doing Social Research with Statistics (SSPS08007)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesStudents will need to be familiar with basic concepts in quantitative methods, and should also have some familiarity with using statistical software such as R and/or Stata.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 8, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 4, Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 4, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 12, Online Activities 4, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 4, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 160 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Long essay - 80% - max 3000 words (must pass).

In workshop activities - 20% - varied word count (must pass).
Feedback Feedback on all assessed work shall normally be returned within three weeks of submission. Where this is not possible, students shall be given clear expectations regarding the timing and methods of feedback.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Apply a range of advanced quantitative methods to social science research questions.
  2. Engage with specialized software and techniques that enable the use of advanced quantitative methods.
  3. Demonstrate their skills in analysis, problem solving and presentation.
  4. Integrate social science methods and knowledge with advanced methodology.
  5. Develop their own research questions and understand how these might be answered (or not) with specialized advanced methods.
Reading List
Connelly, R., Gayle, V., & Playford, C. (2020). Transparent and Reproducible Data Analysis. SAGE Publications Limited.

Fairchild, A., McDaniel, H. L,. Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: mediation analysis, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 105, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 1259-1271.

Freedman, D.A., 2008. Survival Analysis. A primer, The American Statistician, 62:2, 110-119.

Magidson, J., Vermunt, J. K., & Madura, J. P., (2020). Latent Class Analysis, In P. Atkinson, S. Delamont, A. Cernat, J.W. Sakshaug, & R.A. Williams (Eds.), SAGE Research Methods Foundations.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills The lead attribute will be research and enquiry. The course gives students hands on experience of applying methods to social issues. It supports their personal and intellectual autonomy in selecting methods to study and use in context. It shows them to be effective and proactive individuals who can work with their peers to apply methods and solve problems.
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiser Course secretary
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information