Course 2014-2015 a.y.

Course Objectives

This course is designed to develop students' knowledge and skills as users of quantitative data to support management decision making. After completing the course, students are able to prepare accurate and informative data summaries for inclusion in management reports; contribute to the commissioning and interpretation of reports of business research, including experiments, surveys, market research and programme evaluations. They are aware of some of the statistical techniques that can be used to support management decision making.

The course takes a user-oriented, applied approach to use publicly available data, surveys, and statistical methods, to improve understanding of management issues, and to plan and evaluate events, activities and programs. Students have the opportunity to design and participate in a project that applies the techniques covered in the course to a management issue. Calculations are performed using software such as SPSS, with an emphasis on effective use of the software and interpretation of results.

Course Content Summary

• Business research processes and research design.
• Data collection: different approaches, measurement, design, sampling. Examples.
• Data analysis: basic ideas, representations.
• Data analysis: applied multivariate techniques.
• How to report research results.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

• Two partial exams or a general written exam (21 marks);
• group project (9 marks).
  

Textbooks

• R. TARLING, Statistical Modelling for Social Researchers. Principles and practice, London and New York, Routledge, 2009.