Quantitative methods is a broad, interdisciplinary field of study concerned with issues that arise in managerial decision-making. Information is extremely important in business. When that information comes in the form of numerical data it is said to be quantitative, and the methods needed to make sense of the data are quantitative methods. In this course, students will learn how to perform simple quantitative analyses, gain an understanding of basic quantitative arguments in a business context, and learn to interpret the output from a variety of quantitative analysis methods. Students will become able to appreciate the quantitative arguments in complex reports.

This course will introduce students to a pressing management concern: program needs assessment. Using formal social science research methodologies we will design and carry out a real-world needs assessment. While advanced computation skills are not required, we will practice entering and analyzing data using the computer program SPSS (available on campus). Each student will end the quarter developing an individual research design, perhaps to be used as the basis for winter quarter studies. This course will complement the programs Public Works and Making Your Place.

How are we to make sense of our lives and our world? We usually depend on common-sense presuppositions to understand our experience. But sometimes, we feel the need to reflect on and question those presuppositions. In this course students will develop their abilities to reflect carefully on these questions through close reading of several philosophers, through intensive writing about the topics of those philosophers, and through dialogue in seminar.