Objectives
The quantitative reasoning requirement has been established to develop students' abilities to collect, summarize, and analyze numerical data, to make abstract concepts operational, and to think critically about the accuracy and soundness of conclusions based on data or on mathematical models. Quantitative reasoning courses usually embed methodological training in their subject matter. These courses vary widely in the skills that are emphasized, but they usually include one or more of the following:
A. Learning to read, construct, interpret, and evaluate tables, graphs, and charts.
B. Developing quantitative measures of physical, behavioral, or social phenomena.
C. Using mathematical models to express causal relationships and to explore the implications of changed assumptions or proposed solutions to problems in the physical or social world.
D. Collecting and organizing numerical data from archives, surveys, lab experiments, or other sources.
E. Testing hypotheses, using experimental or statistical controls.
F. Assessing the limitations of research, such as the reliability and validity of measures, adequacy of experimental design, sample size and quality, and alternative hypotheses and interpretations.
Each Brandeis undergraduate is required to take one course from the approved list of quantitative reasoning courses. This list may change, so students should consult the most recent list of approved courses in the Course Schedule to assure that they will receive requirement credit. (Naturally, students will not be denied credit retroactively if a course taken to fulfill the requirement is later dropped from the list.)
Courses with an asterisk (*) satisfy the quantitative reasoning requirement only when they are taken with the corresponding lab.
Courses of Instruction
ANTHROPOLOGY
Introduction to Human Evolution
BIOCHEMISTRY
Genetics and Molecular Biology
Introductory Biochemistry
BIOLOGY
Genetics and Molecular Biology
CHEMISTRY
The Planet as an Organism: Gaia Theory and the Human Prospect
The Magnitude of Things and How on Earth They Matter
Forensic Science: Col. Mustard, Candlestick, Billiard Room
Chemistry and Art
Basic Chemistry
Basic Chemistry
General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution
General Chemistry: Principles of Material Evolution
Honors General Chemistry, Lectures
Honors General Chemistry, Lectures
Special Topics in Chemistry
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Data Structures and the Fundamentals of Computing
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
ECONOMICS
Introduction to Economics
Statistics for Economic Analysis
Industrial Organization
Econometrics
B>LEGAL STUDIES
Science on Trial
MATHEMATICS
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Probability
Mathematical Statistics
NEAR EASTERN AND JUDAIC STUDIES
Analyzing the American Jewish Community
PHYSICS
Introductory Astronomy
Science and Development
Technology and the Management of Public Risk
Introduction to Physics
Physics for the Life Sciences I
Physics for the Life Sciences II
Basic Physics I
Basic Physics II
Honors Basic Physics I
Honors Basic Physics II
PSYCHOLOGY
Statistics
Experimental Psychology
SOCIOLOGY
Issues in Law and Society
Race and Power in Intergroup Relations
Class Structure and Consciousness
Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry
On the Caring of the Medical Care System