The Liberal Studies M.A. enables students to pursue research in broad fields, such as American or Islamic Studies, from an interdisciplinary perspective. These businesses require a new breed of graduate student - one capable of conducting advanced research and also capable of adapting this knowledge to a variety of problems in a broad spectrum of situations. For example, Q.M.S.S. teaches students how to apply quantitative methods to problems in the social sciences as they arise in business, government, and non-profit organizations and draws on the expertise of more than 20 faculty members from Columbia's social science and statistics departments. As a forecast analyst, Adams uses time-series regression models to forecast sales and inform manufacturers of production demands. Sociology courses explain how Warner Lambert's organizational structure influences her ability to implement ideas, and statistics enable her to quantify the information conclusively.
Employers are interested in individuals who have a broader rather than a more specialized education.
In fact, Columbia is one of the few schools in the United States actively addressing the research needs of markets outside the academe at the M.A. level. Acrobat is a free program available from Adobe .