Study title

The project added functionality to the Stat-JR, a software environment for promoting interactive complex statistical modelling. For details and free download pages for UK academics, see Related Resources.

When social science researchers wish to carry out research and choose a quantitative approach, they will collect either new data or existing data and perform statistical analysis on this data. In the modern age it has become increasingly important for social science researchers to be trained in quantitative methods and the use of statistical software to analyse datasets and answer research questions. Modern statistical techniques have also become more computational and so there is a desire for software tools that simplify the research process whilst still allowing social scientists access to the most appropriate statistical methods. In this proposal we build on earlier work where we have prototyped an interactive electronic book (or eBook) system for learning about statistical techniques and performing analysis. An eBook can be thought of as combining the features of a book with those of a statistical package as it contains a mixture of textual information, graphs and tables but also input boxes which when completed write sections of the book conditional on the inputs supplied. We intend to investigate the appropriateness of the new technology and how it may be adapted to be used for various tasks that are commonly performed by social scientists.