S H A R I N G D A T A T O A D V A N C E S C I E N C E

National Council for the Social Studies

November 30, 2018

Lynette Hoelter, presenter

Developing Data Analysis Skills

in the Social Studies Setting

• By the end of the session, you should

• Understand how using data fits within the C3

Framework and the ASA National Standards for High

School Sociology

• Be able to articulate the benefits to students as well as

learning objectives related to using data

• Know how to find sources of datasets for classroom

use

• Have some ideas about how to incorporate data into a

sociology (or any other) class

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Session Objectives:

• Thoughts about data

• Current uses?

• Defining terms

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But First, Setting the Stage

1. Not at all comfortable: Data and I, we like to keep our

distance from each other. I cross the street when I see

something that looks like a number.

2. Somewhat comfortable: We do okay in small amounts, but

you probably wouldn’t catch us hanging out at a coffee shop

together.

3. Pretty comfortable: Data and I are old friends. I’ve even

been known to quote some statistics in a conversation at a

party!

4. Extremely comfortable: I wake up every day wondering what

data it will hold! (Don’t tell anyone, but I actually think this

stuff is kind of fun!)

How comfortable do YOU feel

with data and statistics?

Where does data literacy fall in

your classroom priorities?

HighPriority

LowPriority

HighInterest

Low Interest

Already using data in class?

We want to hear how!!

• Data ≠ Information ≠ Statistics• But here, using “data” as a shorthand for anything

quantitative, whether raw data or summarizations

thereof (statistics)

• If you are interested, Statistics Canada has a good

explanation of the differences

• Using both quantitative and qualitative data has

similar value in the classroom, but focus here on

quantitative

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Technically…

Why Use Data in Teaching?

• Boosts students’ quantitative literacies

• Engages students with content on a more active level,

better recall and understanding of content

• Practice thinking critically in a variety of contexts, courses

– students understand how we know what we know

• You can find data about anything

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Using Data Gets Students Thinking

• Evidence is evidence, right?

• Numbers/statistics do not exist apart from people

-- “Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more

pliable.” (Mark Twain)

• Who counted?

• What exactly did they count?

• Why did they count it?

• Quantitative literacy and substantive content

go hand in hand

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Image courtesy of Artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

ALL Students Benefit

• General benefits of active learning

• Clarity in thinking and writing (e.g., no “fudge

words”)

• Empirical reasoning becomes a habit of mind

• Job skills– “…even if you don’t end up doing

statistical analyses yourself, it’s important to

understand how they’re relevant – where

numbers are useful and where they can be

misleading.” (Burchell, cited in Preparing Social Scientists

for the World of Big Data, accessed Oct. 9, 2017)

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Importance of Quantitative Literacy• Availability of information requires ability to make sense

of information coming from multiple sources

• Use of evidence is critical in making decisions and

evaluating arguments … (and day-to-day things like

product reviews)

• Understanding information is prerequisite for fully

participating in a democratic society: “Alternative Facts”

Quantitative Literacy (QR, Numeracy,

Stat Lit)

Skills learned and used within a

context• Reading and interpreting tables or graphs,

calculating percentages, thinking about averages

• Working within a scientific model (variables, hypotheses, etc.)

• Understanding and critically evaluating numbers presented in everyday lives

• Knowing what kinds of data might be useful in answering particular questions

• Evaluating and creating arguments based on data

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• “…The primary purpose of social studies is to help

young people make informed and reasoned

decisions for the public good as citizens of a

culturally diverse, democratic society in an

interdependent world.” (from the NCSS C3 Standards) and

• “…the C3 Framework was designed to assist social

studies practioners…to 1) enhance the rigor of the

social studies disciplines, 2) build the critical thinking,

problem solving, and participatory skills necessary

for students to become engaged citizens…” (ASA

National Standards for High School Sociology)

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Social Studies is a Natural Fit

• Although “methods of inquiry” is part of Domain 1

in the sociology standards, the use of data can

help students learn content in all four Domains

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Pedagogy: Learning Objectives

Students should be able to:

• Articulate why data are better than

anecdotes

• Explain why association is not causation

• Consider definition issues in

presentations of data

• Identify fallacies in empirical arguments

• Recognize typical biases in data and

presented results (sampling, question

wording, graphs)

Pedagogy: Best Practices• Scaffold learning – practice

makes perfect

• Emphasize process/understanding rather than facts

• Incorporate sense of discovery

• Group/collaborative work (even think-pair-share)

• Some personal interest if possible (comparing home state to another state on Census measures, allowing students to choose variables for at least part of exercise)

• Use real-world examples

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A Few Easy Ideas

• Tie survey data to topic of lecture

• Require evidence-based arguments

• Use real data as examples for problems or exams

• Have students create infographics to convey their information (here’s a good one!)

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Divorce-prone Occupations

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Data as Content

Teaching inequality, work, economics, family, gender, or poverty?

• Have students find their own data on pay differences, job types,

etc. or build a community profile

• Association of Religion Data Archives: uses Census and other data

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Community Profile Builder

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Other Location-Based Data

Teaching about Crime?

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Data as Content

• Compare piece of fiction or

portrayal in media to statistics

to determine “accuracy” of

representation

• Census data to provide

context

• Mapping travels of main

characters/groups of people

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Surveys in Class

• Have students compare themselves to survey

respondents

• Source: http://www.thearda.com/learningcenter/compareadult/

• Attitude surveys as context for arguments in

papers or speech/debate

• Don’t reinvent the wheel!

• ICPSR Social Science Variables Database

• The ARDA’s Question Bank

• RoperCenter’s iPoll Databank

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Having Students Create A Survey?

• Online Analysis tools for

• General Social Survey

• American Community Survey

• Approximately 1300 different studies

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Want Students to Work with Survey Data?

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Content of Potential Interest

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Use News Stories

Other Resources

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• Association of Religion Data Archives Learning Center

• Bureau of Labor Statistics compiled list

• City-Data.com

• Eviction Lab

• FedStats or Government Centers such as the Census(American FactFinder), NCES, or NCHS

• Gapminder

• Google Public Data

• Pew Research Center: Fact Tank, Reports, Datasets, Interactives

• Population Pyramids of the World

• Social Explorer: US mapping

• Social Science Data Analysis Network

• Spurious Correlations

• Statistic Brain

• Statista

• Stats.org

• Survival Curve

• TeachingWithData.org

• Understanding Uncertainty

• Urban Institute

• Visualizing Data

• Worldometers, USA Live Stats

• Public Opinion:

• Gallup Organization

• National Opinion Research Center (GSS Explorer)

• Polling the Nations

• Roper Center (iPoll)

• Blogs

• Data360

• Data in the News

• Equality of Opportunity Project

• FiveThirtyEight

• Graphic Detail (The Economist)

• ABCNews Who’s Counting (Paulos’ column)

• The UpShot (NY Times)

• Scatterplot

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More Sites (but not exhaustive!)• International:

• UK Data Services Teaching with Data

• European Social Survey EduNet

• Statistics Canada

• UK’s The Guardian Data (blog) and visualizations

• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

• Eurobarometer Series

• Afrobarometer Series

• Bloomberg Graphics

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In Short:

• Get students thinking about numbers and their

context as early and often as possible and they

will

• Remember content better

• Be more engaged learners

• Develop confidence and quantitative literacy

• Exercises don’t have to be onerous for either

teachers or students and can actually be used as

a mechanism to deliver other content.

• What do you know of that has worked/not

worked?

• What kinds of resources would be most

valuable?

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Discussion Points:

Lynette Hoelter, lhoelter@umich.edu or

734 615-5653

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Questions/Comments?? THANK YOU!