Weekly Lecture ZOOM Access:
Weekly Module homework will be due before 3:30 PM each Monday unless adjustments for holiday schedules (see Canvas for more details).
Module 1 (WEDNESDAY 9/3): Introductory and Overview Meeting
Topics: Introduction; syllabus overview; research process; data and statistics; making arguments; ethics in research; quantitative and qualitative research; causality conditions
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch.1; pp. 17-20
Module 2 (MONDAY 9/8): Research Design
Topics: Experimental design; internal and external validity; threats to internal validity; random sampling; quasi-experimental design; non-experimental design
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch. 2
Research method section of the articles:
James, O. (2011). “Performance Measures and Democracy: Information Effects on Citizens in Field and Laboratory Experiments,” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 21(3): 399-418.
Duckart, J. P. (1998). “An Evaluation of the Baltimore Community Lead Education and Reduction CORPS (CLEARCorps) Program,” Evaluation Review 22(3): 373-402.
*Module 1 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 3 (9/15): Measurement and Data Collection
Topics: Measurement levels and scales; validity and reliability in measurement; outputs and outcomes; efficiency and effectiveness; data collection; unit of analysis; sources of data; surveys; sampling; data input and basic analysis using SPSS
Reading:
Berman (4), Chs. 3,4,5
*Module 2 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 4 (9/22): Descriptive Statistics I
Topics: Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode); measures of dispersion (standard deviation, range, interquartile, quartile); Box-whisker plot; frequency distribution
Reading:
Berman (4), Chs. 6, 7
*Module 3 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 5 (9/29): Descriptive Statistics II
Topics: Calculating probabilities with normal distribution
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch2. 7, 8 (pp. 132-138) and Ch. 11
*Module 4 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Problem Set #1 (Submitted by 11:59 pm on 10/5 Sunday)
Module 6 (10/6): Contingency Tables, Chi-square Test, and Correlations
Topic: Constructing contingency tables, hypothesis testing, Chi-square test, covariance, correlation, Pearson’s correlation coefficient
*Module 5 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 7 (10/13): Midterm Exam – No meeting, use the time to work on the midterm
Midterm must be submitted by 11:59 pm on 10/19 Sunday
Module 8 (10/20): Survey Research Methods
Topic: Survey types; conceptualization; cover letter; IRB process; crafting survey questions; sampling methods; sampling error; nonresponse bias; factor analysis
Reading:
Berman (4), pp. 109-110
*Module 6 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 9 (10/27): T-tests
Topics: T-test assumptions, test statistics, Independent-samples t-test; paired-samples t-test; one-sample t-test; t-distribution
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch. 12
*Module 8 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 10 (11/3): Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Topics: One-way ANOVA; post-hoc tests; ANOVA assumptions; F-distribution
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch. 13
*Module 9 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 11 (11/10): Hypothesis Testing & Simple Regression
Topics: Hypothesis testing; Type I error and Type II error, sampling distribution; population regression line and sample regression line; regression coefficient; confidence interval
Reading:
Berman (4), Ch. 14
*Module 10 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 12 (11/17): Multiple Regression & Assumptions of Ordinary Least Squares;
Topics: Interpretation of multiple regression results; model fit; unstandardized and standardized coefficients; dummy variables; multicollinearity; heteroskedasticity; autocorrelation; specification error
Reading:
Berman (4), Chs. 14, 15
*Module 11 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Problem Set #2 (Submitted by 11:59 PM on 11/16 Sunday)
Module 13 (12/1): Wrap-up – PS2 review and Q&A
Topics: Review for the FINAL
*Module 12 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
*Module 13 Problem Due before FRIDAY 12/5 11:59 PM
Module 14 (12/8): Final Exam & Portfolio Update
The final must be submitted before 11:59 PM on Monday, Dec 8th.
Your portfolio must be submitted with the template questions answered before Tuesday, Dec 9th.
The course schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Students will be notified of any modifications to the plan.