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2024/2025  BA-BSOCO1024U  Quantitative Methods II

English Title
Quantitative Methods II

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Third Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Florian Hollenbach - Department of International Economics, Goverment and Business (EGB)
Main academic disciplines
  • Methodology and philosophy of science
  • Statistics and quantitative methods
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 01-07-2024

Relevant links

Learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to
  • Formulate and operationalize research problems for which one or more of the methods introduced in the course is suitable
  • Select the appropriate methods to best identify possible causal effects in a given research question
  • After identifying the appropriate approach, conduct quantitative, empirical analysis using R and correctly interpret the results
  • Discuss and account for the underlying principles behind the applied method(s), and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses
  • Discuss the implications of the analytical results, possible modifications, and develop recommendations for potential policymakers, program directors, and organizations
Course prerequisites
Students are presumed to be familiar with basic descriptive and inferential statistics, and with concepts such as statistical significance, p-values, confidence intervals, correlation, and the role of control variables introduced in RDQM.

The course is also related to the issues covered in RDQM (e.g. research design, sampling, and variable measurement as well as the role of quantitative data in mixed methods designs, strengths and weaknesses of using quantitative data).
Prerequisites for registering for the exam (activities during the teaching period)
Number of compulsory activities which must be approved (see section 13 of the Programme Regulations): 1
Compulsory home assignments
The compulsory assignment is a group-based (3-4 students, random assignment) written product (maximum 5 pages) on specific statistical analysis and their interpretation, similar to and in preparation for the exam. The submitted product will be assessed on a approved / not approved basis.

The compulsory assignment must be approved for the student to participate in the final exam. Feedback on the assignment will be offered in exercises and during office hours.

If the compulsory assignment is not approved or there has been documented illness a second assignment will be offered before the ordinary exam takes place. The retake will be similar to the initial compulsory assignment.

For students’ to be eligible for the retake compulsory assignment, they must have made a valid attempt in the first compulsory assignment or be able document that the lack of submission was caused by illness or similar circumstances.
Examination
Quantitative Methods II:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Spring
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • USB key for uploading of notes, books and compendiums in a non-executable format (no applications, application fragments, IT tools etc.)
  • Any calculator
  • In Paper format: Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes
The student will have access to
  • Advanced IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Description of the exam procedure

The exam is based on questions posed by the course instructor. In the exam, students will work in RStudio. They will undertake and interpret statistical analyses covered during the lectures and exercises.

Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

The course introduces students to quantitative methods at an intermediate level. An initial focus of the course is to introduce students to the theoretical concepts behind causal inference. Next, the course focuses on how to design research to identify the causal effects of policy choices as well as impact / program evaluations (both public and private). The course includes a more advanced treatment of regression analysis and introductions to more advanced research methods. Students will learn how to design research and analyze data to better make evidence based decisions (NN2 & NN3).

 

The course consists of a mix of lectures and applied statistical analysis and exercises in lab sessions. Students are expected to participate actively during lectures and exercises. For the exercises, students will be given short assignments, similar to case studies. In these assignments, the students will work in groups to apply one of the covered methods and estimate the causal effect of a policy or other treatment. The group work will help students to practice critical thinking and collaborating constructively (NN6). In the exercise classes, students are expected to discuss their approaches to each problem. We will then go over the solution together. This will allow students to receive feedback on their own work, while also seeing the correct solution.

 

The aim of this course is to provide students with both theoretical and practical knowledge about quantitative methods such as multivariate OLS, panel data methods, and other identification strategies for causal inference at an intermediate and advanced level. The course will enable the student to be analytical with data (NN2) and further develop the knowledge and skills achieved in the RDQM course.

 

Students will learn to understand the fundamental principles behind each of the statistical tools covered in the course and will be able to apply these to specific research problems.

 

Description of the teaching methods
Lectures and class work
Feedback during the teaching period
Students will get feedback on their work during exercise classes. The exercise classes will revolve around group work on exercise questions. Students are expected to complete the assignment in groups prior to the exercise classes. In the exercise class, students are expected to share their solutions to some of the problems. The results will be discussed together in the exercise class.

During the exercise class, students will get feedback on the proposed solutions. Students will get feedback on their work on the questions/tasks from teachers and fellow students, and there will be opportunities to discuss the use and application of methods along with the corresponding analyses. Teachers will give oral feedback based on student answers to exercise questions.
Student workload
Lectures 20 hours
Exercises 18 hours
Preparation of lectures (2 h per 2h lecture) 40 hours
Preparation of exercises (2 h per 2h exercise) 36 hours
Prep workshop: Getting started with R 8 hours
Exam preparation 64 hours
Exam 20 hours
Last updated on 01-07-2024