Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL2094: Data Analysis in Social Science III

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce you to more advanced quantitative techniques for the analysis of social data. More specifically, you will learn how to clean, transform, reshape and visualise data in R, a statistical programming language, and tidyverse, a collection of tidyverse packages. You will also learn the fundamentals of programming in R, such as conditional statements, loops and functions.  After completing this module, you will be able to independently conduct data analysis in R. Employers in many industries value this skill.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. clean and prepare your data for statistical analysis in R;
2. conduct statistical analysis using selected methods at the intermediate level in R;
Discipline-Specific Skills3. apply statistical data analysis techniques to social science problems;
4. clearly explain the results of statistical analysis in substantive terms and relate them to substantive social science problems;
Personal and Key Skills5. report the results of statistical analysis in writing in a way that would be understood by non-specialists; and
6. use general-purpose statistical software (such as R) for the analysis of social data at the intermediate level