Gaining quantitative skills

If you're studying qualifying degrees in the Department of Government, Department of Sociology, or Essex Business School, you have the opportunity to follow a specialised pathway that embeds a substantial amount of quantitative methods in your degree.

The successful completion of the specified modules will entitle you to receive the qualifier ‘(Applied Quantitative Methods)’ at the end of your degree title, for example BA Sociology (Applied Quantitative Methods) and this will appear on your transcript and degree certificate.

You will automatically be enrolled for the Applied Quantitative Methods qualifier if you are taking the appropriate modules to make you eligible. This will be awarded to you at the end of your degree at the Final Board of Examiners, as long as you have taken the correct modules and also met any grade requirements in these modules. If you do not wish for this qualifier to be applied to your degree you can opt out by contacting your Q-Step contact, which is detailed in the section below, or by speaking to your department/school administrative support team.

Developing your skills

Employers are looking for knowledgeable and highly-skilled graduates who can adapt rapidly to the changing environment. Having the qualifier, '(Applied Quantitative Methods)' will help you to:

• develop advanced analytical skills, in high demand by employers in the public and private sector
• gather, present and interpret data
• use statistical software and tools to analyse data
• enhance your skills for future advanced postgraduate research and studies
• Essex Business School students will construct and run models using econometrics packages to inform business decisions
• Government students will apply quantitative skills to assess the effectiveness of policies and develop different scenarios on their potential outcomes
• Sociology students will develop the methods and principles required to design and critically evaluate empirical sociological research

Find out more

Department of Sociology: Applied Quantitative Methods .pdf

Department of Government: Applied Quantitative Methods .pdf

Essex Business School (Colchester Campus): Applied Quantitative Methods .pdf

Essex Business School (Southend Campus): Applied Quantitative Methods .pdf

As part of your degree, we offer you the opportunity to take up a paid work placement for up to 8 weeks in an external organisation.This placement must utilise quantitative skills and methods.

You apply to organisations to secure a summer work placement between your second and third year. We help you with this process, preparing you for your placement and supporting you whilst you’re there.

The benefits

• Gain valuable work experience to develop quantitative and professional skills sought by graduate employers.
• Learn about a particular sector, company or job role, helping you to choose your career after Essex.
• Apply your academic knowledge in a practical working environment.

Bursaries

If you're on a Q-Step placement, you receive a bursary equivalent to £300 per week (full-time). Payments will be made in up to two instalments with the first payment being made prior to the start of your placement.

Previous placements

• Colchester Borough Council: an analysis of customer query data to inform the development of an online customer portal on the council website.
• Sage Publications: reviewing quantitative research paperwork submitted by academics for inclusion in the SAGE Research Methods case study database.
• World Land Trust: an analysis of donor demographic information to inform future engagement with donors.
• YouGov: a variety of tasks relating to quantitative market research.
• Profusion: discover patterns and meaning in data from businesses and organisations to help inform business development in marketing, logistics, customer service or employee wellbeing.
• Essex Community Rehabilitation Company: Data Analyst - an opportunity to use Ministry of Justice approved IT systems to assist with ongoing performance data analysis. Finance Researcher/Analyst - an opportunity to work at the Head Office, covering areas such as staff payroll and expenses, service user fares, procurement, and contract management.

For more information on placements, email ss-placements@essex.ac.uk

When you follow the 'Applied Quantitative Methods' pathway for your course, you join a community of like-minded students across the Department of Government, Department of Sociology and Essex Business School.

As part of this community, you are invited to quantitative events and workshops at Essex. You can also find out about other quantitative activities at Q-Step Centres and Affiliates outside of the University.