Presentation

The aim of this seminar is to train students in the practice of the quantitative techniques used in social sciences. Students will learn to use the basic statistical techniques (with the Stata data processing software) while investigating the conditions of use of those techniques, their scope and their limitations.

Once the course is completed, students should be able to: conduct simple descriptive statistical procedures (central tendency indicators, dispersion indicators, concepts of association and causality, cross-tabulations), master the notion of "statistical test" (Chi-2, T-test),  read, understand and critically analyze works in which quantitative descriptive techniques are used. Emphasis will be placed on the complementarity between quantitative and qualitative methods in the process of identification of social patterns. Texts illustrating the advantages and contributions of these techniques to research will be read at each session and will provide food for thought.