Weekly Lecture ZOOM Access:
Click on the "Zoom" Tab in the Canvas Shell to access the weekly lecture.
Weekly Module homework will be due before 3:30 PM each Monday unless adjustments for holiday schedules (see Canvas for more details).
Module 1 (MONDAY 1/12): 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 (3), Ch.1; pp. 17-20
Berman (4), Ch.1; pp. 17-20
Module 2 (TUESDAY 1/20): Research Design
Topics: Experimental design; internal and external validity; threats to internal validity; random sampling; quasi-experimental design; non-experimental design
Reading: Berman (3), Ch. 2
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 (1/26): 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 (3), Chs. 3, 4, 5
Berman (4), Chs. 3,4,5
*Module 2 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 4 (2/2): 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 (3), Chs. 6, 7
Berman (4), Chs. 6, 7
*Module 3 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 5 (2/9): Descriptive Statistics II
Topics: Calculating probabilities with normal distribution
Reading: Berman (3), Chs. 7, 8 (pp. 134-141) and Ch. 10
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 2/15 Sunday)
Module 6 (TUESDAY - 2/17): 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 (2/23): Midterm Exam – No meeting, use the time to work on the midterm
Midterm must be submitted by 11:59 pm on 3/1 Sunday
Module 8 (3/2): Survey Research Methods
Topic: Survey types; conceptualization; cover letter; IRB process; crafting survey questions; sampling methods; sampling error; nonresponse bias; factor analysis
Reading: Berman (3), pp. 110-111.
Berman (4), pp. 109-110
*Module 6 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 9 (3/16): T-tests
Topics: T-test assumptions, test statistics, Independent-samples t-test; paired-samples t-test; one-sample t-test; t-distribution
Reading: Berman (3), Ch. 12
Berman (4), Ch. 12
*Module 8 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 10 (3/23): Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Topics: One-way ANOVA; post-hoc tests; ANOVA assumptions; F-distribution
Reading: Berman (3), Ch. 13
Berman (4), Ch. 13
*Module 9 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 11 (3/30): 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 (3), Ch. 14
Berman (4), Ch. 14
*Module 10 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Module 12 (4/6): 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 (3), Chs. 14, 15
Berman (4), Chs. 14, 15
*Module 11 Problem Due before 3:30 PM
Problem Set #2 (Submitted by 11:59 PM on 4/12 Sunday)
Module 13 (4/13): 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 4/17 11:59 PM
Module 14 (4/20): Final Exam & Portfolio Update
The final must be submitted before 11:59 PM on Monday, April 20th.
Your portfolio must be submitted with the template questions answered before Tuesday, April 21st.