College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

This Certificate of Proficiency facilitates a deeper understanding and the acquisition of new skillsets in Social Analytics. More specifically, students pursuing the certificate develop a wide range of skills, including representative sampling methodologies for human populations, questionnaire design strategies, statistical methods that are most relevant to social data, and techniques for the analysis of demographic data.

The certificate includes two core required classes. These classes cover essential research methods and statistical techniques used across a range of social sciences. This certificate requires students to identify a mentor to help select elective coursework and craft strategies to use the certificate to maximum benefit after graduation. Elective coursework spans a range of topic areas, both in CHaSS and other colleges at USU, including: geographic information science; applied demographic analysis; ethnographic methods; big data modeling; and programming for statistical software such as SAS and R. Students have the option of taking up to 3 credits of independent study with their certificate mentor, providing them with additional flexibility to tailor the certificate to individual student needs and interests. See the program curriculum below for details.

Social Analytics Certificate Requirements (18 credits)

• Minimum GPA for Admissions: 2.75

• Cumulative Minimum GPA in Certificate Coursework for Graduation: 2.5

• Cumulative Number of Required Credits: 18

• Courses may not be taken on a pass/fail basis except for those courses which are only taught pass/fail.