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Center for Improving
Methods
for Quantitative Policy Research (Q-Center)
Increasing rigor and quantification in research are transforming
the social sciences and social policy research. Yet social
researchers often struggle in isolation to develop solutions
to common methodological problems. They are often separated
from specialists, particularly in mathematics and statistics,
working on related problems. In response, the Q-Center has
drawn together a remarkable group
of scholars to bridge this gap and improve methodological
research and training in policy research through interdisciplinary
collaboration.
Led by Larry
V. Hedges, Board of Trustees Professor in Statistics and
Social Policy, the center’s faculty are acknowledged
national leaders in the development of methodology in their
respective disciplines. At the forefront of evidence-based
research on social policy issues, they represent diverse fields
including economics, education, psychology, sociology, and
statistics. The Q-Center is housed within the Institute
for Policy Research, which has a long-standing tradition
of evidence-based interdisciplinary research.
Examples of issues Q-Center faculty are tackling include
how to:
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feasibly collect diverse
data to understand large populations; |
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design social experiments and quasi-experiments
to yield conclusive findings; |
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design and analyze longitudinal investigations
to reveal both the continuities and discontinuities
of growth and the individual and group factors that
impact growth trajectories; and |
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synthesize information across diverse
studies to transform isolated fragments of information
into coherent knowledge.
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