Quantitative Methods for Undergraduate Social Scientists

We will soon launch a new funding programme to improve the teaching, training and work experience in quantitative methods in social science.

The programme will be aimed at undergraduates and administered by a small number of UK universities, selected through competition. We expect to fund 5-10 centres at levels of up to £200,000 for five years in the first instance. 

We aim to fund centres with some existing critical mass. Funding could be used in a number of ways, including additional staff, training opportunities, student bursaries and work experience.

Our desired outcome is to build a cadre of social science undergraduates with greater confidence and more advanced skills in quantitative analysis.

We believe there is a shortfall in the UK in the use of quantitative skills that are based on deep substantive understanding of disciplinary problems. We hope by injecting funding in this area we will make a difference over the longer term.

Our decision has been informed by reviews carried out by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and also by our own examination of the skills social scientists need.