Teaching Quantitative Research Methods: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis

Courses on quantitative research methods play a central role in many undergraduate programs in sociology. However, students' anxiety over the courses is a major concern for instructors. Many students perceive the subject as inherently uninteresting and difficult. This paper describes an experim...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching sociology 1998-01, Vol.26 (1), p.14-28
Main Authors: Bridges, George S., Gillmore, Gerald M., Pershing, Jana L., Bates, Kristin A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety
Brownfields
College Entrance Examinations
College instruction
College professors
College students
Core curriculum
Criminal statistics
Curriculum Development
Curriculum Research
Education
Educational evaluation
Experiments
Higher Education
History and organization of sociology
History, theory and methodology
Juvenile delinquency
Learning
Mathematical Logic
Methods Courses
Organization of profession, research and teaching. Deontology. Sociology of sociology. Epistemology
Political science
Politics
Posttests
Pretests
Qualitative research
Quantitative analysis
Quantitative Methods
Reasoning
Research design
Research methodology
Research methods
Social research
Social sciences
Sociology
Sociology Education
Standardized Tests
Statistical Analysis
Statistics
Student anxiety
Students
Teaching
Teaching methods
Thinking Skills
Undergraduate Programs
Undergraduate Students
Undergraduate Study
Universities
USA
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Description
Summary:Courses on quantitative research methods play a central role in many undergraduate programs in sociology. However, students' anxiety over the courses is a major concern for instructors. Many students perceive the subject as inherently uninteresting and difficult. This paper describes an experiment designed to introduce aspects of quantitative reasoning into a large substantively focused class in the social sciences. The experiment assessed whether students can learn quantitative reasoning skills in the context of a large "nonmethods" class in sociology. The experiment measured students' mastery of these skills by comparing their competence at quantitative reasoning at the beginning and end of the class term. The results revealed that students' abilities to interpret and manipulate empirical data increased significantly. Further, the increase occurred independent of students' basic reasoning skills as measured by baseline SAT verbal and math scores. This paper discusses the implications of these findings for teaching quantitative methods in sociology undergraduate curricula.
ISSN:0092-055X
1939-862X
DOI:10.2307/1318676