Quantative Methods I: Introduction to Statistical Research

**Revisions may occur**

Instructor: Nicholas Charron, Nc.dbp@cbs.dk Teaching Assistant: Asbjrn Lund (aslu10ac@student.cbs.dk)

Convener: Lecturers: Term: Course dates: Exam date: Class times: Credits: Mogens Kamp Justesen (mkj.dbp@cbs.dk ) Nicholas Charron (Associate Professor, DBP) Spring Semester, 2014 week 6 week 17 see teaching schedule see teaching schedule 7.5 ECTS (1st year project: 30 ECTS)

Rooms: SP107/SP108, SP113, SP208, SP201, SPs03, D1001

Course Description: This course is an introduction to statistical analysis, the first in our multi-course research methods sequence for undergraduate students. Its overall purpose is to (1) offer you with an understanding of some of the key concepts behind statistical analysis, (2) familiarize you to some basic statistical methods, (3) learn/ review some rudimentary math skills that are frequently employed by social scientists and (4) develop and improve your own ability to do quantitative analysis. The topics that we will cover in this course include operationalization of concepts, probability distributions, basic descriptive statistics, sampling distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis for continuous and limited dependent variables. We will also introduce you to STATA, the computer program we will be using for several assignments. Students will then build on this course in the second quantitative methods course offered in the third year of study. Requirements The class will meet regularly and the students are expected to come prepared by reading the assigned material in advance. Students will be graded on their final 1st year project paper.

Learning Objectives On successful completion of the course, the student should be able to use different quantitative methods and analytical strategies within organisational sociology and business administration. Specifically, the student should be able to: plan a basic statistic analysis, analyse data and present the relevant findings in tables and figures, account for and demonstrate knowledge about which impact the level of measurement has on the analyses, discuss strengths and weaknesses in the data set in relation to a given problem, and use the computer assisted tools such as e.g. the software programs STATA and Microsoft Excel.

First year project on organisational sociology and research design - learning objectives: The student should demonstrate ability to: formulate, delimit and analyse an academic problem, apply and discuss the theories and methods relevant to the project, in particular the concepts and theories relevant to organisational sociology, select and apply fundamental quantitative methods, and relate these to theoretical positions presented in the syllabi of the courses Philosophy of Science and Introduction to Organisational Sociology, structure the layout and present the material in a clearly formulated and accessible way in terms of both language and content, discuss how the knowledge acquired in the second semester courses Philosophy of Science, Introduction to Research Methods, and Quantitative Methods I is reflected throughout the project, and Reflect upon his/her own ways of using data. Integration The course is planned in connection with the other courses on 2nd semester. In this course, the students learn and practice the empirical techniques that will enable them to complete their 1 st year project. Required Literature There are two books that are required for the course. In addition, they will be used in the Quantitative Methods II course, so students are strongly encouraged to purchase their own copy. They are: 1. Agresti, Alan and Barbara Finlay. 2008. Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences. Pearson Education International 2. Kellstedt, Paul and Guy Whitten. 2009. The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, Cambridge University Press.

Practice data used for the assignments will be downloaded at our course website (learn.cbs.dk) Course Program the course will meet one or two time a week in the spring term of 2014. The course overview by lecture is listed below:

Week
6 Lecture 1 & 2: introduction to Quantitative Methods I

Topic

Readings

Exercises

L1: Thinking Variables: science of social science, hypotheses descriptive and inferential statistics, types of variables A & F ch 1, K&W pps 1-14, handout for STATA into

E1: Introduction to Stata I

L2: Intro lecture on STATA

- Basic data management in Stata: opening, importing and inspecting data working with do-files

STATA 7 Lecture 3 L3: Univariate Statstics: knowing your data, descriptive statistics, visuals, graphs, distributions, measurement concerns L4: A & F 73-99, K&W 129-143 n/a L3: A & F ch 3, K&W pps 93-12

8 Lecture 4 L4: Probability I: what is probability? central limit theorem, normal distributions, standard error, sample size, randomization of sample A & F 73-99,

K&W 129-143 n/a

9 Lecture 5 Probability II: alternative distributions, confidence intervals, pvalues, z-scores, ANOVA, type-I & type-II error begin some statistical inference 10 Statistical Inference: point estimation, confidence intervals: Lecture 6 mean, population, t-tests A&F ch 5 & K&W pps 145-150 n/a A & F 73-99, K&W 129-143 begin ch. 5 in A&F E2: Exercise on data use in STATA, basic visuals, distributions & probability exercises

11 Lecture 7 Significance testing & comparing Two Groups: mean, population, errors, calculation, standard error, problems 12 Lecture 8 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA): one-way, two-way, mean squared error, F-statistic, sum of squares 13 Lecture 9 Bivariate Analysis I: dependent & independent variables, continuous variables, hypothesis testing, pvalues, difference of means, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, tabs, chi square L9: A&F 221-232; K&W 145-167 A&F ch 12 & K&W 171181 A&F 143-172; 183-208; K&W pps 151-167

E3: working with pvalues, signficance testing, & ttests with data (TBA)

n/a

E4: significance testing among means of differnt groups applying ANOVA and Ftests

Lecture 10

Bivariate Analysis II: linear relationships, scatterplots, least squares (OLS), the linear model & assumptions, goodness of fit, one-tail & two tailed hypothesis tests

L10: K&W 171-195

E5: Exercises visualizing & testing signfincance among several pairs of variables

14 no Lectures or Exercises 15 Introduction to Multivariate analysis I: spuriousness, control variables, interpretation, comparing effects, comparing model strength, R, standardized (Beta) variables 16 no Lectures or Exercises 17 Lecture 12 Intro. to Multivariate analysis II: interpretation, dummy vs continuous variables, evaluating efficiency, multicollinearity, comparing model strength, outliers, partial correlations, **Course Evaluations** 21 1st year hand in student HUB 24 Exam 1st year A&F ch 11; K&W 220-245 E6: Multivariate exercises with data (TBA) EASTER HOLIDAY A&F 301-314; K&W 197217 n/a

Lecture 11