Quant for Qual Researchers, a work in progress

Much of my UX Research career has focused on qualitative research. I've also been told that quantitative research is not a prerequisite to being a UX Researcher. And there's truth to that. Allowing people to learn quantitative research along the way allows diverse voices to enter the field.

However, the more research I do, the more I value having a mixed methods toolbox. And after reading Tim Harford's The Data Detective, I've become excited and fascinated by the topic of statistics. Harford's book opened my eyes to the relevance of statistics in our data-overflowed world.

So, for the past year or so, I've embarked on a journey to hone my quant research skills, and I would love to encourage other qual researchers to do the same. For that reason, I'm starting a series on quant topics for researchers.

Below are some of the topics I plan to cover. Some of these topics (like descriptive stats, card sorts, and tree tests), I'm experienced with. Other topics (like regression), are new to me. Either way, I hope writing will help solidify my knowledge and motivate others.

This is not a comprehensive list, and it'll change over time. And because I don't work linearly, I'll probably skip around to what's most interesting to me at the time. This series is me sharing parts of my journey to learn quant topics and understand how they fit into my work as a UXR.

I do plan to add links to articles as I write them. I've also included some resources that have helped me so far and dive deeper into these topics than I probably will.

General Stats Topics

• Descriptive statistics
  • Central tendency
  • Variability
  • Frequency distribution
• Probability
  • Probability distributions
• Inferential statistics
  • Hypothesis testing
  • Confidence intervals
  • Correlation
    • Regression
    • Correlation coefficient
    • Correlation matrixes

Special topics

• Discrete choice methods
• Survey Design
• Tree test analysis
• Card sort analysis
• Quant Usability Research Measures
• Jobs to be Done Quantitative Measures
• Statistical personas and clustering techniques
• Kano analysis
• Cross tab analysis

Useful Resources

Books

• Simple Statistics: A Course Book for the Social Sciences, by Frances Clegg

Articles

• The Beginner's Guide to Statistical Analysis

Free Courses

• STAT 100: Statistical Concepts and Reasoning, Penn State
• Introduction to Statistics, Stanford
• Basic Statistics, University of Amsterdam
• Inferential Statistics, University of Amsterdam

Lastest edits: April 20, 2024. See edits in GitHub.