The City Q-Step Centre is based in the Department of Sociology and Criminology.
Q-Step is a national programme aimed at achieving step-changes in undergraduate quantitative social science training in the UK.
Q-step is motivated by the UK’s shortage of social science graduates with quantitative skills. City is one of seventeen Q-step Centres located in different universities across the UK.
The objective of these centres is to support the development and delivery of specialist undergraduate quantitative programmes, through the development of new courses, work experience opportunities and pathways to postgraduate study.
We are working with the following undergraduate programmes:
- BSc (Hons) Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) Criminology*
- BSc (Hons) Criminology and Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) Media, Communication and Sociology*
- BSc (Hons) Sociology with Psychology*
All students enrolling on a course will have the option to apply to join one of the following QM pathways at the end of their first year of study.
- Sociology with Quantitative Methods
- Criminology with Quantitative Methods
- Criminology and Sociology with Quantitative Methods
- Media, Communication and Sociology with Quantitative Methods
- Sociology with Psychology with Quantitative Methods
Students on a QM Pathway will, alongside their substantive modules, study quantitative analysis of social research data, data visualisation, comparative survey analysis and advanced quantitative methods.
All pathway students will undertake a graded research placement in a partner institution and will have the opportunity to apply for an international placement in the summer between their second and third years of study.
Partner organisations
Part of the training for the quantitative methods pathway in year 2 involves the students taking a compulsory quantitative placement module. The placement module gives students the opportunity to apply their quantitative skills in the real world. The placement is an accredited module and part of the students’ degree course.
The students do ‘quantitative work’ on the placement which could involve producing, analysing or reporting quantitative data or statistics.
Some of the organisations involved in hosting our students have included:
- NatCen Social Research
- Kantar
- Full Fact
- Which? policy
- Islington Council – children’s services
- British Transport Police
- BBC Media Action
- European Social Survey (City, University of London)
City Q-Step co-Directors
- Dr Eric Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Sociology and Deputy Director, European Social Survey HQ.
- Dr Matt Barnes, Senior Lecturer in Sociology (Quantitative Data Resources).
Centre Members
- Professor Rachel Cohen, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Head of Department
- Professor Jason Dykes, Professor of Visualisation
- Dr Vanessa Gash, Reader in Sociology
- Dr Katrin Hohl, Reader in Criminology
- Dr Sally Stares, Senior Lecturer in Sociology (Quantitative Methods)
- Nhlanhla Ndebele, Q-Step Teaching Fellow.