Course Handbook - Faculty of History - University of Cambridge

M. Foucault, Power/Knowledge (ed. C. Gordon, 1980)
L. Hunt (ed.), The New Cultural History (1989)
P. Burke, History and Social Theory (1992)
Q.R.D. Skinner (ed.), The Return of Grand Theory in Human Sciences (1990)
W. Kula, The Problems and Methods of Economic History (2001)
Quantitative Research in History
This class meets once a week in Lent (for 3 weeks) on Mondays at 10am to 12. It consists of
a series of classes to review and discuss the use of quantitative methods by economic and
social historians. They are not formally assessed within the course, but attendance is
compulsory.
Introductory reading:
C. Feinstein and M. Thomas, Making History Count (2002)
P. Sharpe, History by Numbers: an Introduction to Quantitative Approaches (2000)
W.O. Aydelotte, A.G. Bogue, and R.W. Fogel (eds.), The Dimensions of Quantitative
Research in History (1972)
Social Sciences Research Methods Course (SSRMC)
These are a set of research training courses in the social sciences organised on an
interdepartmental basis between three administrative Schools of the University: the School
of Humanities and Social Sciences, the School of Physical Sciences, and the Judge Business
School. The programme is a shared platform for providing research students with a broad
range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the
social sciences.
The programme offered by the Joint Schools (JSSS) consists of a series of core modules and
open access seminars. The core modules are grouped in three categories: Foundations in
Statistics, Advanced Statistics, and Qualitative Methods. They focus on giving students
basic IT skills and introducing them to statistical, quantitative and qualitative research
design, providing the foundations for a research career in the social sciences.
The courses offered by the Joint Schools run through Michaelmas and Lent Terms, with a
deadline to submit the relevant workbooks in late April. The modules are taught through a
combination of lectures and practical classes by staff from several University Departments
and Faculties.
PLEASE REFER TO THE JOINT SCHOOLS HANDBOOK FOR DETAILS, DATES
AND DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSES.
Students doing the MPhil in Economic and Social History are entitled to take as many
modules as they wish, but in order to satisfy the requirements of the MPhil they must
attend and submit the workbooks/assignments of at least five modules, as follows:
• SPSS and Descriptive Statistics (four sessions, Michaelmas)
o 1. Introduction to SPSS and basic statistical concepts
o 2. Statistical models and elementary data analysis with SPSS
o 3. Management of data and output
o 4. Getting the best out of SPSS
• Linear Regression (four sessions, Lent)
o 1. Review of covariance, correlations and comparison of means.
Introduction to bivariate linear regression
o 2. Multivariate linear regression
o 3. Assessing regression models.
o 4. Overview and summary of topics in regression
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