GKRMV180045 ECTSQ4EnglishMaster
Quantitative Methods for History
FaculteitFaculty of Humanities
NiveauMaster
Studiejaar2026-2027
Beschrijving
Course goals
To do so, the course concentrates on three objectives:
- Critical evaluation of data and quantitative methods in the field of history
- Do’s and don’ts of graphical representation, statistical hypothesis testing and (at the basic level) regression analysis
- Applying quantitative methods using the open source statistical software-package R
Content
Researchers in (economic and social) history regularly work with quantitative data such as wages and prices, or demographic data. To acquaint students with quantitative research, this course offers a thorough introduction of these methods, aimed at research master students interested in quantitative (economic and social) history. It focuses first on getting the basics rights; what is data, and what are the main uses and pitfalls?
Then, it discusses how quantitative data can be used to describe and explore historical patterns, and to test theories about these patterns. Of course, the questions historians address often require the study of several variables or a detailed analysis of chronology. Regression analysis is an invaluable tool to use quantitative data for such questions. Accordingly, the final weeks of the course introduce students to regression analysis, allowing students to engage with quantitative literature in the field and providing a foundation for more advanced quantitative methods.
The course takes a hands-on-approach: the weekly meetings will be part lecture, part tutorial, and part self-study hours. The lectures will deal with the course literature and the topics treated per week. As such, the lectures will emphasize the connections between the material treated over the weeks. You are required to prepare the literature in advance to facilitate active participation during the lectures. The lectures will be supplemented by a tutorial on active practice in R. The self-study hours can be used to work on the weekly assignments.
Then, it discusses how quantitative data can be used to describe and explore historical patterns, and to test theories about these patterns. Of course, the questions historians address often require the study of several variables or a detailed analysis of chronology. Regression analysis is an invaluable tool to use quantitative data for such questions. Accordingly, the final weeks of the course introduce students to regression analysis, allowing students to engage with quantitative literature in the field and providing a foundation for more advanced quantitative methods.
The course takes a hands-on-approach: the weekly meetings will be part lecture, part tutorial, and part self-study hours. The lectures will deal with the course literature and the topics treated per week. As such, the lectures will emphasize the connections between the material treated over the weeks. You are required to prepare the literature in advance to facilitate active participation during the lectures. The lectures will be supplemented by a tutorial on active practice in R. The self-study hours can be used to work on the weekly assignments.
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