Undergraduate Course: Business Research Methods I: Quantitative Techniques (CMSE08002)
Course Outline
| School | Business School | 
College | College of Humanities and Social Science | 
 
| Course type | Standard | 
Availability | Available to all students | 
 
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 2 Undergraduate) | 
Credits | 20 | 
 
| Home subject area | Business Studies | 
Other subject area | None | 
   
| Course website | 
None | 
Taught in Gaelic? | No | 
 
| Course description | Presentation and interpretation of statistical data, statistical arithmetic, and use of statistical packages on micro-computers, elementary time series, elements of regression, probability. Sources of business information, methods of data capture, questionnaire design, types of sampling, introduction to qualitative methods of research, preparation of project proposal. Elements of statistical inference, hypothesis testing, introduction to non-parametric tests. This course is compulsory for all 2nd year MA with Honours Business Studies and MA with Honours in International Business students. A pass in a suitable alternative may be considered as a pass for Business Research Methods I in the MA programme. This decision is at the discretion of the Senior Director of Studies in conjunction with the course co-ordinator. | 
 
 
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. | 
 
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes | 
 
 
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2014/15  Semester 1, Available to all students (SV1) 
  
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Learn enabled:  Yes | 
Quota:  None | 
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Web Timetable  | 
	
Web Timetable | 
	| 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). | 
 
 
| Course Start Date | 
15/09/2014 | 
 
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) | 
 
 Total Hours:
200
(
 Lecture Hours 30,
 Seminar/Tutorial Hours 4,
 Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 7,
 Summative Assessment Hours 2,
 Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
153 )
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| Additional Notes | 
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) | 
 
  Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
20 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information | 
 
    | Exam Diet | 
    Paper Name | 
    Hours & Minutes | 
    
	 | 
  
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Business Research Methods I: Quantitative Techniques | 2:00 |  |  | Resit Exam Diet (August) |  | 2:00 |  |  
 
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes 
OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES 
Knowledge and Understanding 
 
On completion of the course students should be able to: 
a)	describe basic statistical techniques for data collection, presentation and analysis; 
b)	critically review the collection, presentation and analysis of data; 
c)	gain insight into tackling business problems through the use of statistical techniques. 
Cognitive Skills 
 
On completion of the course students should be able to: 
a)	demonstrate they can apply statistical techniques to data; 
b)	demonstrate they can discuss the results of the application of statistical techniques to data in written reports and oral presentation. 
 
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. 
 
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 
 
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Assessment Information 
| Coursework 20%; final examination 80%. |  
 
Special Arrangements 
| None |   
 
Additional Information 
| Academic description | 
Not entered | 
 
| Syllabus | 
Data Availability and Collection 
Survey Research 
Exploratory Data Analysis	 
Probability and Distributions 
Estimation and Sampling Distributions 
Introduction to Hypothesis Testing 
Further Parametric Testing 
Non-Parametric Testing 
Correlation and Simple Linear Regression 
Multiple Linear Regression 
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| Transferable skills | 
Not entered | 
 
| Reading list | 
Recommended book for the course: Michael Barrow, Statistics for Economics, Accounting and Business Studies Longman, London & New York. | 
 
| Study Abroad | 
Not entered | 
 
| Study Pattern | 
Not entered | 
 
| Keywords | data collection and analysis | 
 
 
Contacts 
| Course organiser | Dr 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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© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh -  29 August 2014 3:40 am 
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