Applying quantitative methods to inform policy on education, health, labour markets, human development and child/adult wellbeing.
Centre Director: Professor
Quantitative Social Science (QSS) is an interdisciplinary group of 18 academics and researchers with expertise in economics, sociology, psychology, social statistics, survey methods and data collection, and techniques of policy evaluation.
About us
- Our mission
- Design and deliver world-class undergraduate and postgraduate education in all aspects of quantitative social science
- Undertake world-class social science research which is both academically renowned and policy-relevant.
- Our staff
We work closely with colleagues in our department, especially from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) and Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER), colleagues throughout UCL, particularly in the Departments of Economics andÌýPolitics, the Institute of Child Health and the International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health (ICLS), as well as other leading universities in Britain and throughout the world.
Centre Director
- Professor - Professor of Education and Social Statistics, Director of QSS
Staff
- - Lecturer in Quantitative Social ScienceÌý
- - Project Officer (CTUR)
- Professor - Professor of Economics of Education
- - Teaching Fellow
- Professor - Professor of Quantitative Social Science
- - Marie Curie Research FellowÌý
- - Research Associate
- Professor - Professor of Quantitative Social Science
- Professor - Professor of Economics and Social Statistics
- - Associate Professor of Sociology
- - Research Fellow
- Professor - Professor of Time Use, Co-Director of CTUR
- ±Ê°ù´Ç´Ú±ð²õ²õ´Ç°ùÌý - Professor of Social Policy
- - Research Associate (CTUR)
- - Marie Curie Research FellowÌý
- - Lecturer in Economics
- - Associate Professor
- - Research Data Scientist
- - Lecturer (Teaching) in Quantitative Social Science
- - Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science
- - Research Associate (PARENTIME)
- Professor - Professor of Social Policy
- Professor - Professor of Economics and Time Use
- - Lecturer in Economics
- - Associate Professor in Quantitative Sociology
- Professor - Professor of Time Use, Co-Director of CTUR
- - Research Associate
- - Research Associate (CTUR)
- - Senior Research Associate (CTUR)
- Ìý-ÌýResearch Fellow
- - Lecturer in Quantitative Social ScienceÌý
- - Senior Research Officer
- - Marie Curie Research FellowÌý
- - Teaching Fellow
- Partners
QSS is a partner in the ESRC funded English Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRCE) in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Institute of Child Health at University College London, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
We are also a partner in the new IOE lead Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE).
QSSÌýmanages the collection and analysis of OECD's TALIS and PISA surveys for England in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
Study with us
- Programmes
Undergraduate
We run the Social Sciences with Data Science BScÌýprogramme.ÌýLaunched in 2016, this degree programme is also part of UCL's Q-Step centre.ÌýIt gives students training in both social sciences (primarily Economics and Sociology) and quantitative data analysis.
Graduate taught
We run theÌýSocial Research Methods MSc, which provides students with advanced training in social data science and qualitative research methodology skills.
Graduate research
We also offer PhD trainingÌý - including through an ESRC-financed Doctoral Training Centre in Quantitative Methods.
Applications to undertake PhD training or post doctoral research in any of our areas of interest are welcome. There is a lively environment with a range of opportunities to acquire cutting-edge skills in research methods and to tackle substantive research questions across the social sciences.
- Short courses
We also offer short courses for professional development in research methods and in use of various data resources, including the birth cohorts.
Activities
- Our research
All of our staff are research-active. Most of our studies involve the design, collection and/or analysis of large scale survey or administrative data sets.ÌýOur academic research is funded by research councils and trust funds.
Areas of expertise
- Policy evaluation
- Longitudinal research design andÌýanalysis
- Survey methodology and sampling design
- Economics of education
- Labour markets
- Personnel economics
- Gender and Ethnicity
- Subjective Well-being
- Biosocial and biomedical studies
- Equal opportunities
- Social capital and social participation
- Childcare
- Child development.
Recent projects include:
- Communities in crises
- Hong Kong BN(O) Migrants Panel Survey
- The effects of teacher pay reforms on teacher pay, teacher careers and student attainment
- Parental Time Investment and Children Outcomes (PARENTIME)
- The Gender Wage Gap: evidence from the cohort studies
- Pathways to Adulthood
We also undertake consultancy research for:
- Government departments: the Department for Education, the Home Office
- Charities: Sutton Trust
- Universities UK Ltd
- Overseas universities
- International agencies.
See more:
- to find more about our researchers, publications, activities, groups and themes.ÌýÌý
- Publications
Working papers
Work in progress publications intended to stimulate discussion and contribute to the advancement of our knowledge:
Reports
- - John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Rebecca Allen
- Seminars
QSS hosts a weekly seminar series, where invited speakersÌýpresent work of relevance to the research interests of the group. The seminars are open to the general public and all are welcome to attend: