Teaching Social Research Methods and Data Science Skills Online

The teaching and learning of social research methods, and quantitative skills in particular, is of growing importance. Several high-profile capacity-building initiatives, such as Nuffield and the ESRC’s Q-Step initiative in the UK, have launched in recent years with an aim of improving research skills of postgraduates and undergraduates.

This Sage white paper is co-authored by Debbie Collins at Southampton University, Nicholas Fernando of Grow Learning and Andy Kirk, data visualisation expert and trainer. It presents a review of current literature on approaches to teaching research skills and provides a context for the development of Sage Campus, our online learning platform providing a range of online courses for social scientists to learn data science skills.

There is little academic research available on how social research methods and data science skills are being taught online and how digital technology is used to support delivery of course content and pedagogic approaches, strategies, tactics and tasks.

This white paper aims to contribute to the small but growing body of literature on best practice and tips for developing curricula and teaching social research methods and data science online by sharing experiences of the team who developed Sage Campus.