Quantitative methods in studying history

lhist1320  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Quantitative methods in studying history
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
22.5 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
François Aurore; Vesentini Frédéric (compensates François Aurore);
Language
French
Prerequisites
The mathematical skill normally acquired in secondary education.

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
Main themes
Critique of numerical documentation. Dealing with a statistical series by elementary methods (organization and processing data, descriptive analysis, graphical presentation.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 Attract students' attention to the possibilities of enriching certain historical procedures through recourse to quantitative methods. By the end of this course, in using the methods taught, the student should be able to provide proof that he is capable of critically solving simple historical problems on the basis of numerical data.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
Based on numerous examples, presentation of the interest of quantitative methods in solving historical problems.
  • Collection, organization and presentation of data.
  • Analysis and description of a series of data (résumé via a unique value, distribution and concentration). Analysis of a chronological curve. Methods of data adjustment, correlation and covariation.
  • Simple and synthetic indices.
  • Sampling. Elementary presentation of certain techniques.
Evaluation methods
Written exam, partly computer-based.

 
Other information
Support : student notes
Bibliography : a dossier of graphics and statistical tables.
Teaching staff : the professor or, should need arise, assistants designated by the Department.
Faculty or entity
HIST


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Bachelor in History