Integrating Data Analysis (IDA): Working With Sociology Departments to Address the Quantitative Literacy Gap

Abstract

Network sought to close the quantitative literacy gap for sociology majors. Working with twelve departments, the project built on lessons learned from ASA's Minority Opportunities through School Transformation (MOST) Program, where curricular change was a departmental (not individual faculty) agenda. A critical mass of faculty in each IDA department developed and used quantitative modules in lower division courses. This article reports on the steps to develop departmental curricular change and the important results for student learning and future professional success.

Statistics Education for Undergraduate Sociology Majors: Survey Findings across Institutions

“…Existing pedagogical research (Finkelstein 1994;Bridges et al 1998;Howery and Rodriguez 2006) and guidelines from the American Sociological Association (Sociology Task Force 1991;McKinney et al 2004) tell us that adequate statistics training in the sociology major is integral to preparing our graduates for their futures as citizens, scholars, and employees. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, a textbook for statistics in sociology departments, reads "Statistics can help us gain insight into real-life problems that affect our lives" (FrankfortNachmias and Leon-Geurrero 2015, xv).…”

“…Yet instructors teaching statistics in sociology departments face a number of challenges, and an ASA review of sociology major curricula found insufficient statistics training early on, a lacuna they referred to as a "quantitative literacy gap" (Howery and Rodriguez 2006). The infamous "statistics anxiety" that robs students of confidence in their ability to succeed continues to plague statistics classrooms (Bridges et al 1998;Onwuegbuzie and Wilson 2003;Van Gundy et al 2006;Delucchi 2014).…”

“…The incorporation of undergraduate research activities into quantitative coursework is crucial to making statistics training relevant to the development of undergraduate students generally (Hardin et al 2015) and sociology majors specifically (Howery and Rodriguez 2006). Insofar as students can learn statistics by engaging with relevant research questions that build on other sociological coursework, they will be more likely to experience statistics as an indispensable tool of sociological learning (Howery and Rodriguez 2006;Strangfeld 2013).…”

“…Teaching statistics to undergraduate majors is crucial to closing the quantitative literacy gap -an identified problem in sociology education (Howery and Rodriguez 2006;Wilder 2009). Scholars have conducted extensive research on the best way to accomplish the task, investigating the ways in which social science students learn statistics and the obstacles that make their learning more challenging (Finkelstein 1994;Forte 1995;Bridges et al 1998;Paxton 2006;Yamarik 2007;Hulsizer and Woolf 2009;Millis 2012).…”

“…Scholars have conducted extensive research on the best way to accomplish the task, investigating the ways in which social science students learn statistics and the obstacles that make their learning more challenging (Finkelstein 1994;Forte 1995;Bridges et al 1998;Paxton 2006;Yamarik 2007;Hulsizer and Woolf 2009;Millis 2012). In addition to this research, the American Sociological Association has developed guidelines on goals and best practices for its teaching (Howery and Rodriguez 2006) and has issued a series of recommendations regarding where statistics training should fall in the departmental curriculum (McKinney et al 2004). Despite this disciplinary interest in statistics education at the undergraduate level, there is little information regarding what is actually being implemented by instructors, departments, and institutions.…”