Quantitative Social Science

Applying quantitative methods to inform policy on education, health, labour markets, human development and child/adult wellbeing.

Centre Director: Professor John Jerrim

Quantitative Social Science (QSS) is an interdisciplinary group of 18 academics and researchers with expertise in economics, sociology, psychology, social statistics, survey methods and data collection, and techniques of policy evaluation.

About us

Our mission

• Design and deliver world-class undergraduate and postgraduate education in all aspects of quantitative social science
• Undertake world-class social science research which is both academically renowned and policy-relevant.

Our staff

We work closely with colleagues in our department, especially from the Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) and Cohort and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resources (CLOSER), colleagues throughout UCL, particularly in the Departments of Economics and Politics, the Institute of Child Health and the International Centre for Life Course Studies in Society and Health (ICLS), as well as other leading universities in Britain and throughout the world.

Centre Director

• Professor John Jerrim - Professor of Education and Social Statistics, Director of QSS

Staff

• Ozan Aksoy - Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science 
• Carla Aylmore - Project Officer (CTUR)
• Professor Francesca Borgonovi - Professor of Economics of Education
• Neus Bover Fonts - Teaching Fellow
• Professor Alex Bryson - Professor of Quantitative Social Science
• Kaspar Burger - Marie Curie Research Fellow 
• Stuart Campbell - Research Associate
• Professor Tak Wing (Wing) Chan - Professor of Quantitative Social Science
• Professor Lorraine Dearden - Professor of Economics and Social Statistics
• Per Engzell - Associate Professor of Sociology
• Francesca Foliano - Research Fellow
• Professor Jonathan (J) Gershuny - Professor of Time Use, Co-Director of CTUR
• Professor Kirstine Hansen - Professor of Social Policy
• Teresa Harms - Research Associate (CTUR)
• Silvan Häs - Marie Curie Research Fellow 
• Maria (Hedvig) Horvath - Lecturer in Economics
• Andrew Jenkins - Associate Professor
• Bilal Nasim - Research Data Scientist
• Burak Sonmez - Lecturer (Teaching) in Quantitative Social Science
• Tobias Rüttenauer - Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science
• Sarah Sander - Research Associate (PARENTIME)
• Professor Ingrid Schoon - Professor of Social Policy
• Professor Almudena Sevilla - Professor of Economics and Time Use
• Dominique (Nikki) Shure - Lecturer in Economics
• Maria Sironi - Associate Professor in Quantitative Sociology
• Professor Oriel Sullivan - Professor of Time Use, Co-Director of CTUR
• Hannah Taylor - Research Associate
• Margarita (Marga) Vega-Rapun - Research Associate (CTUR)
• Pierre Walthery - Senior Research Associate (CTUR)
• Bozena Wielgoszewska - Research Fellow
• Dingeman Wiertz - Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science 
• David Wilkinson - Senior Research Officer
• Laura Zieger - Marie Curie Research Fellow 
• Nadine Zwiener-Collins - Teaching Fellow

Partners

QSS is a partner in the ESRC funded English Administrative Data Research Centre (ADRCE) in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Institute of Child Health at University College London, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

We are also a partner in the new IOE lead Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE).

QSS manages the collection and analysis of OECD's TALIS and PISA surveys for England in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Activities

Our research

All of our staff are research-active. Most of our studies involve the design, collection and/or analysis of large scale survey or administrative data sets. Our academic research is funded by research councils and trust funds.

Areas of expertise

• Policy evaluation
• Longitudinal research design and analysis
• Survey methodology and sampling design
• Economics of education
• Labour markets
• Personnel economics
• Gender and Ethnicity
• Subjective Well-being
• Biosocial and biomedical studies
• Equal opportunities
• Social capital and social participation
• Childcare
• Child development.

Recent projects include:

• Communities in crises
• Hong Kong BN(O) Migrants Panel Survey
• The effects of teacher pay reforms on teacher pay, teacher careers and student attainment
• Parental Time Investment and Children Outcomes (PARENTIME)
• The Gender Wage Gap: evidence from the cohort studies
• Pathways to Adulthood

We also undertake consultancy research for:

• Government departments: the Department for Education, the Home Office
• Charities: Sutton Trust
• Universities UK Ltd
• Overseas universities
• International agencies.

See more:

• UCL Research Portal, IRIS to find more about our researchers, publications, activities, groups and themes.  

Publications

Working papers

Work in progress publications intended to stimulate discussion and contribute to the advancement of our knowledge:

• QSS Working Papers

Reports

• The mental health and wellbeing of teachers in England - John Jerrim, Sam Sims and Rebecca Allen

Seminars

QSS hosts a weekly seminar series, where invited speakers present work of relevance to the research interests of the group. The seminars are open to the general public and all are welcome to attend:

• QSS seminar series