BU4S06 - Quantitative Research 01 Sep 2020 - 31 Aug 2021 | Version 1

Associated Module Information

Module Code: BU4S06
Module Title: Quantitative Research
Faculty: Faculty of Business and Creative Industries
Faculty Group: Leadership and Public Services
Faculty Sub Group: Leadership and Public Services
Module Leader: Lauren Thomas
Module Team: Stuart Milligan
First Intended Intake: SEP 2020 Final Year of Intake: 2025
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 7
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100078 - business and management
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 1
Valid From 01 Sep 2020
Valid To 31 Aug 2021

Module Aims

To equip doctoral students with an understanding of the rationale for and appropriate use of quantitative methods in social research, and the skills to conduct quantitative research.

Content Summary

- Understand the relationships between qualitative and quantitative research methods.
- Appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of different quantitative methods.
- Be able to define a researchable problem and formulate research questions and hypotheses.
- Learn to read critically published quantitative research and be able to debate the appropriateness of different methods.
- Be able to carry out simple descriptive analysis
- Select an appropriate statistical test
- Interpret cross-tabulations, results from chi-square tests, and correlations
- Be able to generate basic descriptive and inferential statistics using statistical software
Professional practice skills:
- Understand ethical issues in relation to quantitative research
- Acquire computing skills

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Lecture 10
Practical classes and workshops 30
Independent Study 160
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Be able understand and apply the main quantitative methods used, (such as surveys, analysis of secondary data, and experimental design)
LO2 Gain the ability to distinguish between, generate, and appropriately use descriptive and inferential statistics

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Written Assignment (CW) Critique 1 Students are to critique a quantitative journal article from their area of research 0 2500 50 No 40
Written Assignment (CW) Document Analysis (CW) 1 Conduct an analysis and interpret findings from a data set 0 2000 50 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Critique 1
Document Analysis (CW) 1

Reading List

Baum, J.A., 2012. The skewed few: Does “skew” signal quality among journals, articles, and academics?. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(3), pp.349-354.
Baron, R.M. and Kenny, D.A., 1986. The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of personality and social psychology, 51(6), p.1173.
Gu, Z., 2007. Across-sample Incomparability of R2s and additional evidence on value relevance changes over time. Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, 34(7-8), pp.1073-1098.
Schmidheiny, K. and Basel, U., 2011. Panel data: fixed and random effects. Short Guides to Microeconometrics, 7(1), pp.2-7.