The use of interactive electronic-books in the teaching and application of modern quantitative methods in the social sciences

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When social science researchers wish to carry out research into a specific problem, if they choose a quantitative approach they will collect either new data or existing data and perform statistical analysis on this data. The modern age and the impact of faster computers with larger storage capacities has resulted in far larger data sources which can be analysed. It has become increasingly important therefore for social science researchers to be trained in quantitative methods and the use of statistical computer software to analyse datasets and answer research questions. Modern statistical techniques have also become more computational and so there is a desire for software tools that simplify the research process whilst still allowing social scientists access to the most appropriate statistical methods.In this proposal we build on work in a current grant in which we have prototyped an interactive electronic book (or eBook) system for learning about statistical techniques and performing statistical analysis. An eBook can be thought of as combining the features of a book with those of a statistical package as it contains a mixture of textual information, graphs and tables but also input boxes which when completed write sections of the book that are conditional on the inputs supplied.We intend to investigate the appropriateness of the new technology and how it may be adapted to be used for various tasks that are commonly performed by social scientists. We will focus on three specific tasks:1. Assisting the researcher while they work through the various stages of performing a statistical analysis for datasets with particular features.2. Helping to make the researchers research reproducible, so that other researchers could repeat it, by allowing the researcher to link full details of the statistical analysis that they have performed within the publication that results from their work and allowing others to interact with the analysis resulting in an enhanced journal article.3. Training social science researchers in new quantitative research methods and new statistical software through the use of interactive ebooks.