ACC 110 Methods & Statistics I

Content

During the first part of the course an introduction in research methods and designs as well as an introduction to statistics is given. The methods & designs part of the course covers the process of forming research questions and turning these into operational measurement plans. Special emphasis is given to experiments and quasi-experiments, surveys, and field research, using existing data. The introduction to statistics will cover descriptive statistics; measures for central tendency, spread, association, univariate and bivariate inferential statistics, univariate regression analysis and analysis of variance. During the second part of the course, students pursue their own research projects in small groups.

Instructor

Dr. Marcin Sklad, Dr. Joseph Resovsky, Dr. Pieternel Verhoeven, and Sarah Carter, M.Sc.

Period

Fall / 2011

Evaluation/Assessment

Theoretical Background (50%)

• Active participation (up- and downgrading):Students have to attend all class meetings. This grade is based factors such as oral answers to homework questions and productive contributions to class discussions.
• Homework (10%): Four assignments have to be handed in; they will be marked by the instructor.
• Exam (2 exams count for 20% each): In week 5 and week 8 of the course, a test will be held, each of which constitutes 15% of the final grade.

Research Project (50%)

• Group work (5%): The collaboration as a group, division of tasks, communication etc. will be assessed during the project. No free rider behaviour will be tolerated.
• Report (30%: 15% group; 15% individual): The grade is based on both group- and individual grades: (a) group grade based on the group report; (b) individual grade based on assignment of one chapter each to a group member. Abstract, theoretical introduction, method, analysis, results, conclusion and conclusion, as well as the format and lay-out will be graded. No plagiarism will be tolerated.
• Presentation (10%): During the research conference in week 15, each group will give a presentation of its research project. Divide the tasks among group members properly!
• Log / journal (5%): During the project you will keep a log of all the research activities that you plan, together with date, 'who does what' and the amount of time you spent. Each log is handed in individually.

Course Material

• Hoyle, R. H., Harris, M. J., & Judd, C. M. (2002). Research Methods in Social Relations. Wadsworth: Thomson Learning.
• Devore, J., & Peck, R. (2008). Statistics. The Exploration and Analysis of Data (6th ed.). Belmont: Thomson.

Required for

This course is required in order to take the following course:

• ACC 210 Methods & Statistics II
• ACC 211 Qualitative Methods I: Theory and Practice