The Use of Social Science Computer Programs

Course Overview

As quantitative methods have become increasingly common in the social sciences, graduate students must seek training in both the methods themselves and the means of implementing those methods. That implementation generally involves the use of computers, and today there are a wealth of software options for social scientists investigating any topic about which data can be collected. This course focuses in particular on the R programming language, both because it has become the “industry standard” and because it is free and open source. In addition to learning R, we will take a few detours to learn the basics of LaTeX and GitHub, which are also increasingly common tools in the social sciences. The goal of this course is to achieve proficiency in these tools to the degree that you can use them for your own research. In the case where more advanced skills are required, this course will provide you with the literacy needed to identify next steps and teach yourself additional skills.