Presentation given as part of the High School Teachers of Sociology Workshop at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, 2012 (Denver, CO).

1. Data in the HS Classroom:
When, Why, and How?
Lynette F. Hoelter, Ph.D.
Dir. Instructional Resources,
ICPSR, UM
August 18, 2012
American Sociological Assoc.
Annual Meeting

2. Just the Facts, Ma’am!
• What is data?
• Why would I want to use data in the
classroom?
• When should I use data?
• How can I use data?
– This isn’t math class!
– I don’t “do” data…
– My students don’t “do” data…
• Where can I find data?

3. What do we mean by “data”?
• Definitions differ by context. For example:
– Citing someone else’s written work to support your
point
– Analysis of newspaper articles, blogs, Twitter feeds,
commercials, etc. looking for themes
– The result of an in-depth interview or observation
– Information from medical tests, experiments, and
other scientific exercises
• For this presentation, “data” refers to
summary information presented numerically in
graphs, charts, or tables and the underlying
survey results.

4. Why Use Data?
• Course content becomes applicable
to students’ lives
• Active learning makes content more
memorable
• Students learn how social scientists
work (not just common sense)
• Quantitative literacy skills are
strengthened in a non-threatening
context

5. Quantitative Literacy??
• Skills learned & used within a context
– Reading and interpreting tables or
graphs and to calculating percentages
and the like
– Working within a scientific model
(variables, hypotheses, etc.)
– Understanding and critically evaluating
numbers presented in everyday lives
– Evaluating arguments based on data
– Knowing what kinds of data might be
useful in answering particular questions

6. Importance of QL
• Availability of information requires
ability to make sense of information
coming from multiple sources
• Use of evidence is critical in making
decisions and evaluating arguments
• Employers value these skills

7. When to Include Data
• ALL the time!!!!! (Or at least
whenever you feel like it…Seriously!)

8. How to Use Data
(Especially for those who don’t “do” data)
• Start class with a data-based news article
• Have students interpret charts/graphs from popular
media and critique news articles
• Require empirical evidence to support claims in
essays
• Question banks and exercises allow students to work
with surveys and the resulting data
• Have students collect data – even in-class polls
• Engage students by having them find maps, graphs,
or other data that provide examples of course
content

9. Where to Find Data/Exercises
• Data archives
– Public opinion
– Topic specific
– General
• News blogs
• Specific Websites (gov’t
organizations, collections of
resources)

10. Public Opinion Data
• Roper Center for Public Opinion
Research http://
www.ropercenter.uconn.edu
• Gallup: http://www.gallup.com
• NORC reports & data:
www.norc.org/Research/DataFindings
• Pew Social & Demographic Trends:
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/

11. Topic-specific Archives…
(but not too specific)
• Association of Religion Data Archives
(www.thearda.com)
(Pet survey http://www.thearda.com/crc/quiz/quiz12.asp)
• Sociometrics (family, AIDS, maternal
drug abuse, etc.)

12. News Blogs & Quick Facts
• TeachingWithData.org – Data in the
News
• U.S. Census Newsroom,
Census Data page
• Other government sources;
organizations – beware of credibility
• Data360
• USA Today Snapshots
Use of terms “Soda,” “Pop,” and “Coke”
from The Invisible Borders that Define
American Culture, Data360

13. Collections of Resources
• TeachingWithData.org
• Social Science Data Analysis Network
• ICPSR’s Online Learning Center
• Social Explorer

14. Data Can Be FUN!

15. Questions? Comments?
Suggestions?
Lynette Hoelter: lhoelter@umich.edu
These slides are also on Slideshare.net
– search for ICPSR as a “user” (logo)