DPIR hosts UNIQ Spring Event and Target Oxbridge

Year 12 students on the UNIQ Spring Event and Target Oxbridge outreach programmes took a closer look at Brexit data over the Easter break.  

Using data from every local authority in England, both groups were introduced to how social scientists use and interpret data-sets to produce new knowledge.  They started off looking at the relationship between the percentage vote for Brexit and the percentage of foreign-born residents in each local authority, then discussed other variables that could have influenced the vote.  After a hands-on session using the statistical software R-Studio, the students produced their own new data.   

In just one day -  or in the case of Target Oxbridge, only a couple of hours -  the students had an intensive introduction to first year undergraduate quantitative methods.  

Was it what they expected?

"It was a totally new experience.  Now I won't just accept things as fact.  I'll delve deeper."  Ethan.

"I didn't realise this could be part of a politics course.  At the beginning it was daunting, but now I've got my head round it!"  Khai.

"It deepens your critical thinking, and makes you think about what's behind the facts." Christina.

The Department of Politics and International Relations is delighted to be working with the UNIQ and Target Oxbridge outreach initiatives again this year. 

UNIQ runs a series of programmes throughout the year aimed at improving access for Year 12 students from state schools.   Target Oxbridge is a separate initiative which mentors black students and students of mixed race with black African and Caribbean heritage and helps improve their access to Oxford and Cambridge.

Read more about UNIQ.

Read more about Target Oxbridge.

The teaching was provided by DPhil students at the Oxford Q-Step Centre in the DPIR.  The University of Oxford is one of fifteen universities across the UK which receives funding from the Nuffield Foundation, ESRC and HEFCE to deliver training in quantitative methods to undergraduate social scientists. 

Read more about Oxford Q-Step Centre.