Teaching Quantitative Methods For Social Anthropology: Reflections and recommendations from student experiences

Abstract

Training in quantitative methods is an essential part of postgraduate degree courses in social anthropology. However, the student experience with learning these methods is negative and it is not perceived useful to studies and future professional practice. That is why we ask how skills in quantitative methods serve social anthropologists and what challenges to teaching need to be addressed. We use autoethnographic reflections and self-narratives to illustrate how our recommendations are situated in the student experience. Our goal is to contribute to discussions around multimodal, interdisciplinary approaches in social anthropology and to improve the student experience with quantitative method modules. To make this tangible, we give six recommendations: 1) focus on data literacy, 2) make quantitative concepts applicable to research practice, 3) situate quantitative methods in social anthropology, 4) address quantitative methods problematic aspects, 5) introduce it with care, and 6) facilitate collaborative learning and peer-support.