Diversity by the Numbers

Abstract

As our society gets more diverse, we constantly rely on numbers to make sense of our world. As we are bombarded with information often in the form of statistics, we often assume that these numbers are autonomous, come about on their own, and that they are true. We fail to challenge statistics because we lack the tools necessary to interpret them. You...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Research Methods

Resource Type(s):

Syllabus

Class Level(s):

College 100

Class Size(s):

Small

Usage Notes

This syllabus is for a semester long course.

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Students will learn when to use some of the quantitative methods (e.g., chi-squared, pearson correlation, t-test, OLS regression) used by social scientists to produce statistics.
2. Students will learn how to interpret the results of the various quantitative methods used by social scientists.
3. Students will leave this class with a better sense of the diversity, issues, prospects, and contributions of Latinos in this country. Diversity however, is broadly defined and students need not focus on the Latino population in their final papers.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students will be given a series of short assignments throughout the semester asking them to identify what statistic is appropriate given the research question and variables provided in the scenario.
2. The short assignments will also include tables that summarize results of various statistics. Students will produce short paragraphs summarizing the results presented in these tables.
3. The last goal is more loosely assessed. Via weekly readings and discussions, students will gain context for their research findings. This understanding is shown via their comments in class and final research papers.