Module POLM809 for 2017/8
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
POLM809: Applied Quantitative Data Analysis
This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
Topic 1: Introduction: why use quantitative data and
Topic 2: Inferential statistics, a primer
Topic 3: Collecting data, sampling, data management and data integrity
Topic 4: Describing data and dealing with missing data
Topic 5: Writing up the results
Topic 6: Testing relationships between variables
Topic 7: Visual displays of data
Topic 8: Multivariate statistics
Topic 9: Ordinal and binomial data Topic 10: Advanced techniques Topic 11: Student Presentations
The module will be taught through 7 weekly two-hour sessions (including introductory session). There will be a mix of formal lecture led by the co-ordinator, practical experience, student presentations and student discussion. The emphasis is on active seminar participation, practical experience and the development of techniques and tools with regard to assessed work. The techniques will be explored through appropriate practical work and independent study.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
14 | 136 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 14 hours | 7 weekly two-hour sessions (including introductory session). |
Guided independent study | 66 | Reading, thinking and preparing for weekly sessions |
Guided independent study | 10 | Web-based learning |
Web-based learning | 60 | Preparation and completion of assessments |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Basic reading:
Making History Count: A Primer in Quantitative Methods for Historians (2002, Cambridge) by Charles H. Feinstein and Mark Thomas
History by Numbers: An Introduction to Quantitative Approaches by Pat Hudson
Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (2003, Sage) by John W. Creswell
Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (Introducing Statistical Methods S.) (2005, Sage) by Andy Field
Research Methods in the Social Sciences w/Data Bank CD (2007, Worth Publishers)
by Chava Frankfort-Nachmias and David Nachmias
The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking (9th edition, Thomson Learning) by Kenneth Hoover and Todd Donovan
Additional resources available on ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/