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“Research matters: Graduates with quantitive methods skills are increasingly sought after”

June 10, 2011 819

Ricky Rylance writes in the Independent about the value of quantitive methods to social science students.

“Mention quantitive methods to any social science student and the chances are they’ll roll their eyes, mutter something about number crunching and move hastily on to something they find more interesting.

“The consequence is that many social science students have limited quantitive skills and even less confidence using them in the real world.

“Yet quantitive methods create objectivity where subjectivity could influence results; they also produce fascinating and important insights into our lives that affect all our futures. Meanwhile, information technology, the web and computing power have revolutionised the amount and quality of data available and made meaningful analysis simpler and faster. Until recently it took years of effort to collect, analyse and publish the results of a population census, which was one reason why they happened only once a decade.

“Quantitive methods skills are highly transferable and these graduates are increasingly sought by employers across all sectors from academia to charities, from government to big business…”

Read the full article here.

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kirstyb

Kia ora – my name is Kirsty from New Zealand and I would like to put out a call for anyone who is interested in Critical approaches to Appreciative Inquiry. Literature seems thin on the ground but I am looking at community mental health organisations (NFP or NGOs) and particularly how a discourse like Recovery, or Strengths Based Practice can become embedded within wider, more powerful discourses such as biomedical and managerial. I want to use Appreciative Inquiry as a descendant of Action research that can give voice to marginalised and less powerful voices ie their chance to tell their… Read more »

Sage

Hi Kirsty, you might want to repost your comment to the forum as a new question: http://www.socialsciencespace.com/forums/