Introduction to Quantitative Methods

This subject is not offered in 2014.

120 total hours commitment

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For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Objectives, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and the Disability Liaison Unit: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This course provides students with an introduction to the collection, analysis and reporting of quantitative data in research and evaluation studies. Topics will include: samples and populations; descriptive and inferential statistics; exploratory and confirmatory data analysis; survey design and questionnaire construction; and displaying data using SPSS.

On completion of this subject it is expected that students should be able to:

• understand the key terms, concepts and philosophical foundations of quantitative research;
• select and apply a range of statistical techniques and procedures that are commonly used in applied research and evaluation; and
• present the results of analyses using appropriate tabular and graphical displays.

Subject assessment will consist of two tasks with the first task due in Week 4 (equivalent to 1,500 words) and the final task due at the end of the course (equivalent to 3,500 words).
Assessment for both online and face-to-face students will be 25 per cent for Task 1, 65 per cent Task 2, plus 10 per cent for class or forum participation.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.