Economic & Social History with Quantitative Methods

Economic and social history with quantitative methods is a degree that brings the study of the past into dialogue with the analytical tools of the present. Economic history examines how economies have developed, how wealth and poverty have been distributed, how industries have risen and fallen, and how trade, finance, and policy have shaped the material conditions of human life over centuries. Social history broadens this to examine how ordinary people have lived, how social structures have been organised and contested, and how experiences of gender, race, class, and community have varied across time and place.

Quantitative methods add the ability to work rigorously with data, using statistical analysis to test historical claims and make sense of the large datasets that historians increasingly draw on.

At the University of Glasgow, this four-year full-time programme is delivered partly through the Q-Step Centre, which is specifically designed to develop your quantitative skills, your ability to handle data, and your capacity to use numerical evidence in the construction of historical argument. You will study the history of economies and societies across different periods and regions, engaging with primary sources, historical debates, and the theoretical frameworks that historians use to interpret the past. Alongside this, you will develop practical competence in statistical methods, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning that complements the qualitative skills traditional history produces.

A year abroad is available, giving you the opportunity to study economic and social history in an international context.

With a typical entry tariff of 200 UCAS points, this degree attracts students who combine historical curiosity with a willingness to engage quantitatively with evidence. Graduates are well positioned for careers in economic research, policy analysis, financial services, the civil service, data analytics, journalism, heritage, and academia. The combination of historical depth and quantitative skill is relatively rare and genuinely valued.

Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in economic history, economics, social history, or quantitative social science.