Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM809: Applied Quantitative Data Analysis

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 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/