The Research Design Basis for Undergraduate Quantitative Methods (QM) Teaching

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This project will show QM trainers how to encourage social science undergraduates (UGs) in many subject areas to engage with, use and re-use numeric evidence both wisely and appropriately. The project has assembled a team of international design experts to work with a large number of UG social science methods trainers in seven major UK universities. Together they will all prepare template course materials that link research designs to methods of quantitative data collection and analysis, and adapt these templates for use in their own subject areas. In this way, research design can be embedded in the teaching of undergraduate quantitative methods, through provision of training for current and future providers. The renewed emphasis on design at the outset of a study, currently rather neglected in UK researcher development, will have a number of immediate and longer-term benefits. It discourages schismic thinking among UGs since designs are largely independent of specific methods of data collection. It encourages true prediction and forethought in collecting data for new studies. It encourages the correct choice of methods of analysis for data that have already been collected. Above all, it holds the promise of simplifying analysis to such an extent that undergraduates may not even be aware that they are, in fact, working with 'quantitative' methods. The applicants and their team of experts and hosts are internationally-renowned methods experts who specialise in QM design, as well as being professionally-recognised and lauded adult educators. This combined expertise, together with the close engagement of trainers in QM in undergraduate teaching, will fill a major gap in UK social science QM teaching. International experts will prepare a wide range of resources and materials to show how design naturally and easily underpins the teaching of QM, accessible to undergraduates across all areas of social science. Although the focus will be on undergraduate teaching, we will build into our programme of events a progression from introductory through intermediate and to advanced training in order to up-skill QM teachers in the embedding of design at all levels. This will enable a step-change in teaching at undergraduate level and even beyond. The work programme of up-skilling of research methods trainers includes the creation of support and curricular materials tailored to all relevant areas, sustained collaborative development of materials and approaches, and delivery of intensive clinics UK-wide. THe materials will be trialled in practice in social science UG teaching among the seven HEIs involved, and ideally more widely by the end of the project. The project is led by the College of Social Sciences at the University of Birmingham. It will be delivered in co-operation with the Universities of Cardiff, Leicester, Manchester, Nottingham, Warwick and York, and will involve experts from US Northwestern University.