Teaching quantitative techniques in times of Corona. evaluation of an innovative teaching project taking into account gender and abrupt virtuality

Abstract

Quantitative research techniques are an important part of any Undergraduate program of sociology and other social sciences. Previous research shows that there is a need to innovate in order to improve the students’ fluidity with quantitative techniques. Also, research indicates a gender gap in this field. Empower students in the usage of quantitative techniques is important, also considering its growing importance in terms of employability. This article analyses the effectiveness of an educational innovation project in a multivariate techniques subject in the third year of the Sociology degree at the University of Barcelona. The evaluated activity aims to shift the students’ attention from a predominant technical and focused perspective on quantitative research techniques towards an integrated and more complex process of learning, corresponding to daily activities of graduates in sociology at the labour market. In addition, a gender perspective has been incorporated, introducing topics related to inequality around gender and sexuality. The objective of this evaluation is to evaluate the implementation of a workshop in social research techniques (multivariate analysis) considering the impact of gender and the accidental change from face-to-face to virtuality in the context of COVID. The workshop consisted in two sessions, the first of them presential, the second one virtual: in the first one, the students had to form groups and to choose between different fictional cases engaged by city councils; for the next session they were asked to prepare a first review of the literature, to elaborate a first diagnosis according to the fictional contract, and to review and pre-select different data sets. In the second accidentally virtual session, they were aimed to develop a model of multivariant analysis in order to respond to the fictional order...