Undergraduate Course: Business Research Methods I: Quantitative Techniques (CMSE08002)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In modern management it is important to be numerate. The objective of this course is to give the student an appreciation and an ability to employ Quantitative Techniques used in Business and Management Research. |
| Course description |
All Business Management students require the ability to deal with quantitative material, including the collection, collation and analysis of such data. This course introduces students to the quantitative techniques in business mainly centred on statistical aspects. It also provides them with experience in designing questionnaires and report writing. In order to effectively carry out statistical analysis, the students are required to have experience of computing. This course reinforces the experience gained in their Computer Literacy course taken in Year 1.
Syllabus
- Types and Sources of Data
- Samples and Surveys
- Exploratory Data Analysis
- Probability, Estimation and Sampling Distributions
- Hypothesis Testing
- Non-Parametric Hypothesis Testing
- Correlation
- Regression
Student Learning Experience
The course is delivered through lectures, tutorials, computing session, problem-solving sessions and self-experiential learning. The lectures provide the concepts of the techniques for collection, presentation and analysis of data. The tutorials reinforce the use of the techniques through examples and discussion. The computing session allows the student to explore the use of software to apply the techniques. The student will gain valuable further understanding and experience through reading the appropriate sections in the suggestion text and through the coursework.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should usually have at least 1 introductory level Business Studies course at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this) for entry to this course. We will only consider University/College level courses. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe basic statistical techniques for data collection, presentation and analysis.
- Critically review the collection, presentation and analysis of data.
- Understand and explain how to tackle business problems through the use of statistical techniques.
- Apply statistical techniques to data.
- Discuss the results of the application of statistical techniques to data in written reports and oral presentation.
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Reading List
Recommended book for the course: Michael Barrow, Statistics for Economics, Accounting and Business Studies Longman, London & New York.
Optional useful reading:
1. McDaniel C., Gates R., Contemporary Marketing Research, 1993 (2nd ed.), West Publishing Company.
2. Hair J.F., Bush R.P., Ortinau D.J., Marketing Research, 2003 (2nd ed.), McGraw-Hill.
3. Oppenheim A.N., Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement,
1992 (2nd ed.), Pinter Publishers.
4. Sekaran U., Bougie R. Research Methods for Business, 2010 (5th ed.) Wiley. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Subject Specific Skills
On completion of the course the students should be able to:
a) Develop their skills to collect, present and analyse data.
b) Develop their ability to design questionnaires.
Key Skills
On completion of the course the students should be able to:
a) Demonstrate their ability to carry out quantitative analysis of data.
b) Demonstrate their ability to use software to obtain analysis of data.
c) Demonstrate their ability to collect data through design of questionnaire.
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
TUTORIALS: 1 hour per week for 4 weeks. Three tutorials and one practical session, in Weeks 3,5,8,10 (sign up through Tutorial Selection Tool on Learn9). PROBLEM SOLVING SESSIONS: 1 hour per week for 7 weeks. (Fridays 13.10-14.00 in Weeks 4-10; also in Lecture Hall B, David Hume Tower Lecture Theatres). |
| Keywords | BRM-1 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Jake Ansell
Tel: (0131 6)50 3806
Email: J.Ansell@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Patricia Ward-Scaltsas
Tel: (0131 6)50 3823
Email: Patricia.Ward-Scaltsas@ed.ac.uk |
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