We propose to expand a pilot computer-based facility for undergraduate social science research. The Laboratory for the Social Sciences, established in 1989, is built around an innovative, menu-driven "expert" system developed at Brandeis. The Microcomputer Integrated Data Analysis System(MIDAS) provides novice undergraduates easy access to a massive social- science data archive. The enthusiastic response has confirmed the power of MIDAS to capture the research imagination of liberal arts undergraduates, most of whom have not yet taken statistics courses. Accordingly, the Sloan Foundation, through its New Liberal Arts Program has awarded Brandeis a $170,000 curriculum development grant to support faculty efforts to incorporate research projects based on MIDAS throughout the undergraduate social-science curriculum. Our small pilot facility cannot service the rapidly growing demand, thus we are requesting funds to purchase six additional computer work stations.
