SSDAN is currently partnering with the American Sociological
Association on the Integrated Data Analysis (IDA) Initiative. In this project, SSDAN works with sociology departments
interested in integrating data analyses into the curriculum to address the "scientific literacy" gap for undergraduate
students in sociology.
Departments, not individuals, participate in this project and will implement data modules into
non-research methods courses to foster students' inquiry skills and increase scientific literacy. The plan is for them to
infuse these changes into courses so that they penetrate and endure in the curriculum and are more than the initiatives of
individual faculty members.
SSDAN data modules will be tailored to specific courses in the curriculum. These modules will
utilize Census data, including from the 2000 Census, and some other data sources as well. The SSDAN-ASA team provides
training to a department's faculty and follow-up support to assist departments in incorporating scientific reasoning into the
curriculum of departments in ways that reach all students.
The Scientific Literacy Gap
While the undergraduate sociology major
typically includes one or more courses in research methods, this segment of the curriculum poses challenges for faculty and
students. Sociology has one of the latest declaring majors. Even when the methods component is required early in the major,
students either put it off or take these courses as advanced undergraduates who are new to the major. In some programs,
formal methods courses are disconnected from other course experiences throughout the major. Over recent years, the American
Sociological Association has encouraged data analysis skills and research training "early and often," preferably with several
developmentally sequenced courses and projects. Lower division courses provide an excellent opportunity to convey the
excitement of scientific discovery to students who will major in sociology or in other fields.
Project Plan
The "Integrated
Data Analysis" (IDA) project consists of intensive work with twelve departments (six beginning summer 2002 and six more in
2003). Departments must make a commitment as a group to infuse data analysis into the lower division courses. A critical mass
(at least half) of the departments' members attend a 4-day summer workshop in June each year, and then further develop
and use data modules in courses the following academic year(s). Each department receives "technical assistance" from the
SSDAN-ASA team, including a site visit to campus to work on the implementation plans the department has set for itself.
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