American Sociological Association August 11, 2009 San Francisco, California Organizer: William H. Frey August 11, 2009 Teaching Quantitative Literacy in Introduction to Sociology

2 SSDAN Materials Find this presentation and other training resources at

3 Outline Quantitative Literacy – Why is it important? Resources from the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) – DataCounts! and WebCHIP – CensusScope Coming soon! (ICPSR and SSDAN Partnerships) – Assessment Materials – Digital Library (TeachingWithData.org) Resources from ICPSR’s Online Learning Center (OLC) – Learning Modules and Data

4 Quantitative Literacy Importance – Students are participants in a democratic society – Skills include: Questioning the source of evidence in a stated point Identifying gaps in information Evaluating whether an argument is based on data or opinion/inference/pure speculation Using data to draw logical conclusions Student Comfort and Aptitude – Over 50% of early undergraduate students report substantial “statistics anxiety” – Using only one or two learning modules has yielded significant increases in students’ comfort Solution: Introduce students to “real world” data early and often

5 Quantitative Literacy

6 SSDAN: Background Started in 1995 University-based organization that creates demographic media and makes U.S. census data accessible to policymakers, educators, the media, and informed citizens. – web sites – user guides – hands-on classroom computer materials

7 SSDAN DataCounts! ( – Collection of approximately 85 Data-Driven Learning Modules (DDLMs) – WebCHIP (simple contingency table software) – Datasets (repackaged decennial census and American Community Survey) – Target is lower undergraduate courses CensusScope ( – Maps, charts, and tables – Demographic data at local, region, and national levels – Key indicators and trends back to 1960 for some variables – Update coming this fall

8 SSDAN: DataCounts! Quickly connects users to datasets…..or Data Driven Learning Modules

9 SSDAN: DataCounts! Menu for choosing a dataset for analysis Brief List of available dataset collections

10 WebCHIP Demonstration Starting with a question – Do immigrants who entered the U.S. recently earn less than those who entered decades ago? (How does the year of entry affect earnings for immigrants?) – Does race make a difference? 10

11 WebCHIP Demonstration Using 2005 American Community Survey data, we will look at the data set: workim05.dat This data set looks at full-time year-round civilian workers age 25+ for race, gender, age, immigration, education and earnings variables. 11

12 We will use an extract of the 2005 American Community Survey What would we expect to see in a table that answers the question? Planning Total 12 When immigrated Earnings

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17 Planning Native Born Immigration: Before 1990 Immigration: Total Less $25,000 $25-34,999 $35-49,999 $50-69,999 $70-99,999 $100,000 and over Total 17 Now that we’ve seen the variables and their categories, we know the table headers

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23 Percent-Across Table Percent-Down Table 23

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26 One table for each control variable category (i.e. one table for each race) 26

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28 One graph will appear for each control variable category. Select “Next Graph” to view each chart. 28

29 One graph for each control variable category (i.e. one table for each race) 29

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32 SSDAN: DataCounts! Quickly connects users to datasets…..or Data Driven Learning Modules

33 SSDAN: DataCounts! Submitting a module: Sections are clearly laid out Forces faculty to create modules with specific learning goals in mind. Makes re-use of module much easier

34 SSDAN: DataCounts! Title Author and Institution Brief Description Faceted browsing to refine the search Appropriate Grade Levels Subjects (e.g. Family, Sexuality and Gender) Learning Time

35 SSDAN: DataCounts! Data Driven Learning Modules are clearly laid out Easy to read Instructors can quickly identify whether a module would be relevant to a specific course

36 SSDAN DataCounts! – Collection of approximately 85 Data Driven Learning Modules (DDLMs) – WebCHIP (simple contingency table software) – Datasets (repackaged decennial census and American Community Survey) – Target is lower undergraduate courses CensusScope – Maps, charts, and tables – Demographic data at local, region, and national levels – Key indicators and trends back to 1960 for some variables

37 SSDAN: CensusScope New ACS data with improved look & feel coming Fall 2009

38 SSDAN: CensusScope Charts, Trends, and Tables All available for states, counties, and metropolitan areas

39 SSDAN-OLC SSDAN’s primary focus is to assist in the dissemination of social data into the classroom with sites like DataCounts! and CensusScope Until recently, ICPSR primarily targeted researchers, the OLC now provides a welcomed Instructors’ portal to ICPSR resources and is continuing its outreach to educators

40 Student Benefits: Critical thinking skills Increases students’ comfort with quantitative reasoning Many schools have focus on quantitative literacy and related skills – ASA charge for exposure “early and often” Engages students with the discipline more fully – Better picture of how social scientists work – Prevents some of the feelings of “disconnect” between substantive and technical courses Piques student interest Opens the door to the world of data

41 Looking Ahead Assessment Tools and Results

42 Looking Ahead TeachingWithData.org (October 2009) – Social Science Pathway to the National Science Digital Library – Virtual repository of resources to support the teaching of quantitative social sciences Data-Driven Learning Modules Data Sources Pedagogical Resources Analysis and Visualization Tools Other Resources useful to instructors – Collaboration tools – Web 2.0 technologies

43 Acknowledgements National Science Foundation Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Population Studies Center Institute for Social Research University of Michigan