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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Research Methods in Carbon Finance (CMSE11205)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits15 ECTS Credits7.5
SummaryThis course aims to turn out students who are able to approach dissertations with all the necessary research methods training to address most carbon finance issues as well as enter any organisation and have the skills and knowledge on the key areas to research and evaluate carbon finance.
Course description This course has been created specifically for the MSc in Carbon Finance, reflecting the cross-disciplinary nature of the programme, as well as the niche aspects of Carbon Finance as an emerging discipline. Carbon Finance is a rapidly growing niche field which requires an understanding of statistics/econometrics as well as an understanding of the unique nature of carbon trading and investments. In addition to special focus on carbon financial analysis, this course will provide you with applications and motivations for statistical/econometrics model building in modern finance as a whole. The course content in this regard is similar to an undergraduate statistics course and will also be backed up by practical demonstration on an econometrics software package; hence the material should be accessible for both students with strong quantitative backgrounds and those who do not have this background but are willing to put an appreciable level of effort into learning the class material. The skills developed on this course are transferable and may also be very useful for your dissertation.

Syllabus

Qualitative Research Methods
Basic Data Handling
Working with data
Introduction to Probability
Sampling and sampling distributions
Statistical Inference: Hypothesis Testing for Single Populations
Statistical Inference: Hypothesis testing about two populations
Correlation
Classical linear regression model
Dummy variables
CLRM Assumptions and Diagnostics
Modelling long run relationships in finance

Student Learning Experience
Statistics like other branches of applied mathematics is best learnt through individual application. Students should endeavour to study recommended materials in advance of a lecture as well as after the lecture if still unclear. Attendance of lectures does not guarantee the understanding of concepts. Reading materials should also be studied in advance of the lab sessions.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 150 ( Lecture Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Other Study Hours 125, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 0 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 125
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 60 %, Coursework 40 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Individual Assessment worth 40%
Final exam worth 60%

Form of Assessment:
An examination counts for 60% of the grade. The remaining 40% is based on an econometrics-based assessment.

Assessment Criteria:
The exam and other assessments will be assessed using the University¿s Postgraduate Common Marking Scheme, as detailed in the Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes.

Dates of Assessment:
Assessment/coursework ¿ Due Monday 11th April 2016 at 2pm
Feedback Summative marks will be returned on a published timetable, which has been made clear to students at the start of the academic year.

Feedback will comprise students interpreting concepts during lab sessions, coursework Feedback and generic examination Feedback.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Identify, critically evaluate, select, justify and apply appropriate research methods to relevant research questions, in order to ensure that the evidence generated, its analysis and the conclusions drawn from it are valid and reliable.
  2. Present the findings of research in an academic manner.
  3. Define, critically evaluate and apply the major tools used by financial economists (correlation, regression and time series analysis) =.
  4. Link statistical and econometrics theory with empirical applications.
  5. Conduct empirical analysis with econometrics software packages such as EViews 8.
Reading List
Koop, G. (2006) Analysis of Financial Data, John Wiley & Sons Ltd: Chichester. Accessible text for students new to statistics/econometrics.

Brooks, C. (2008) Introductory Econometrics for Finance, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. Relevant text for financial econometrics.

Cortinhas, C. and Black, K. (2012) Statistics for Business and Economics, John Wiley & Sons Ltd: Chichester.

Booth, W. C., Colomb G. G. and Williams, J. M. (2008) The Craft of Research, 3rd Edition, University of Chicago Press.

Business Research Methods, Alan Bryman and Emma Bell, 2nd Edition. This is a text book which covers many research methods used in business and is used in many business schools as the standard research method text.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive Skills:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Develop analytical, numerical and problem solving skills
- Critically assess existing understanding in a defined area of knowledge;
- Recognize qualitative and quantitative techniques appropriate to the analysis of particular circumstances;
- Apply a range of relevant qualitative and quantitative research methods;
- Use relevant literature and data reference materials.

Subject Specific Skills:
After completing this course, students should be able to:
- Understand and use statistics notations and theory to solve a wide range of problems in Finance and particularly Carbon Finance
- Understand various research approaches which they can apply to their dissertation projects
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Gbenga Ibikunle
Tel: (0131 6)51 5186
Email: Gbenga.Ibikunle@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Ashley Harper
Tel: (0131 6)51 5671
Email: Ashley.Harper@ed.ac.uk
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