How can we use data to answer questions about people and society? This course introduces foundational concepts and methods in the quantitative analysis of social data. Through a blend of theoretical insights and hands-on practice, students will get to know the quantitative data analysis pipeline—from data collection and cleaning to statistical modeling and inference.Topics include the design and execution of surveys and experiments, the concepts of sampling, bias and variance, statistical modeling and inferences, and the ethics of working with people’s data. Students will develop an understanding of correlation, regression, statistical power, confidence intervals, and hypothesis tests—skills essential for conducting robust analyses in a data-rich but complex social world.By the end of the course, students will be able to design basic studies, evaluate the reliability of quantitative evidence, and use statistical methods to test hypotheses on data. They will also have gained some familiarity with R, a statistics-focused programming language widely used data scientists and researchers