Course Manual

Quantitative Data Analysis 2

(6012B0423)

BSc Business Administration

Academic Year 2019-2020 / Semester 1 / Block 2

Course Coordinator: Roger Pruppers

Amsterdam Business School 2019-2020

1. Introduction and Objectives

• Good strategic decision making requires first and foremost, high quality information. For managers
and other decision makers it is therefore crucial to understand the quantitative and statistical
methods, and their drawbacks, that are so often used to generate the information they are
provided with. This course reviews and explains more advanced statistical concepts and
techniques that are used in the area of Business Administration, and emphasizes the practical
application of the various techniques using SPSS software. This course is a direct follow-up to the
course Quantitative Data Analysis 1. In that sense, it builds on the knowledge and skills gained in
QDA1, and broadens and deepens the knowledge acquired in that course.
• The topics that are addressed in this course include: analysis of variance, factorial designs and
interaction, regression, factor analysis, reliability analysis, and hypothesis formulation. Apart from
a focus on "applied statistics", we will discuss a few analysis techniques in more conceptual terms
(what do they mean, when do we use them?). These techniques will be covered in more detail and
in a more practical/applied sense in the MSc Business Administration which would be a logical
follow-up to your current program.
• The emphasis will be on logic, understanding, practical application, and skill development. At the
end of this course, you will:
o understand statistical techniques which build on the ones studied in Quantitative Data
Analysis 1;
o identify under which circumstances each can be used;
o evaluate the findings in academic publications and research reports that are based on these
statistical techniques;
o design and execute quantitative research at the level of a bachelor's thesis, including the
ability to analyse quantitative data via specialised statistical software;
o interpret and report the results of such research.

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2. Structure

• Every week there are two lectures and a practical PC Lab session.
• In the first lecture (Thursday morning), the various statistical techniques will be explained and
illustrated with examples of how and why they may be used in research. In addition, the
lectures will show how to calculate the various statistics using SPSS, and how consequently to
interpret the SPSS output. How to identify and solve potential problems in the data and results
will also be discussed.
• The working groups/PC Lab sessions (Fridays and Mondays) provide you with the opportunity
to practice with the topics and techniques discussed at the first lecture earlier in the week.
You will work in smaller groups of students (2 per computer). In these working groups,
students are given practical assignments that can be made using the SPSS software. In addition
to the plenary instructions given by the supervising teacher, there will be plenty opportunity
to ask questions.
• The second lecture (Wednesday morning) provides an opportunity to reflect on the material
covered in that specific (preceding) week. There is the opportunity to ask questions, the
assignments will be covered in more detail, and additional examples will be analyzed,
interpreted and discussed.
• A more detailed overview of the structure and planning of the course is included in the final
section of this course manual (6. Topics & Planning).

3. Contact

• Contact person for issues related to the lectures and general course matters: Roger Pruppers
o Room: M 2.27
o E-mail: r.e.w.pruppers@uva.nl
o Tel.: +31 (0)20 525 4292.
• Contact person for issues related to your individual PC labs: please contact your tutor. Contact
information for the PC lab instructors will be provided via Canvas.

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4. Assessment

• The study load for this course is 6 ECTS (i.e. 168 hours). The examination for the course consists of
three components: six weekly closed book PC lab assignments, a written midterm exam, and a
written final/end of term exam. The requirements for passing this course are the following:

Examination component Responsible Requirement Weight

• 1. PC Labs Team/duo Minimum 5 out of 6 ---
• 2. Midterm exam Individual 40%
• 3. End of term exam Individual 60%
• 4. Final grade Individual Minimum 5.5 100%

1. PC Labs
• The following holds for the six weekly PC lab assignments.
• The closed book assignments are distributed during the PC lab sessions each week.
Students work on these assignments in teams of two students, and submit them at the
end of each session.
• Each of the six the assignments is evaluated as either “pass” or “fail”.
• Students are required to get a “pass” evaluation for at least 5 out of 6 assignments.
• If a student achieves a “pass” evaluation for only 1 to 4 assignments, an extra high average
grade for the written exams is required to compensate (see the point below about the
grading).
• If a student has no “pass” evaluation at all, there is no further possibility to pass the
course. Attendance at the PC lab sessions is mandatory. Absence counts as a “fail”
evaluation for that week’s assignment.
• There is no resit opportunity for the PC lab assignments.

• The PC Labs have the following impact on the grading for the course.
• The basic rule is that a “fail” for 1 out of 6 PC lab assignments (either caused by absence or by
an unsatisfactory performance) will have no negative consequences for the final course grade.
• However, there will be consequences if students get 2 or more “fails” for the PC Labs, in the
sense that every additional insufficient mark leads to a deduction from the final grade.
• 2 or 3 “fails” generate a deduction of 0.5 point from the final grade each.
• Every “fail” beyond 3 leads to an additional deduction of 1 point from the final grade.

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• In concreto, this implies the following:

• 5 or 6 sufficient PC lab assignments: grade of the course is equal to the weighted average
of the written exams, and a minimum of 5.5 is needed to pass the course.
• 4 sufficient PC lab assignments: grade of the course is equal to the weighted average of
the written exams minus 0.5, and a minimum of 6.0 is needed to pass the course.
• 3 sufficient PC lab assignments: grade of the course is equal to the weighted average of
the written exams minus 1, and a minimum of 6.5 is needed to pass the course.
• 2 sufficient PC lab assignments: grade of the course is equal to the weighted average of
the written exams minus 2, and a minimum of 7.5 is needed to pass the course.
• 1 sufficient PC lab assignment: grade of the course is equal to the weighted average of the
written exams minus 3, and a minimum of 8.5 is needed to pass the course.
• 0 sufficient PC lab assignments: it is impossible to pass the course.

• Previous year(s):
• If you fully satisfied the PC Lab requirement in academic year 2018-2019 (5 or 6 closed
book assignments), you need not satisfy this examination requirement again this year.
• If you did not fully satisfy this requirement last year (0 to 4 PC Lab closed book
assignments), there is no exemption or compensation for this year: you “start at 0”.
• A PC Lab requirement “pass” from earlier years in MR2 is not valid.

2. Midterm exam
• For the midterm exam the following holds.
o It will be held in the fourth week of the course.
o The compulsory material for the midterm is the material covered in the first three weeks
of the course (the first half).
o It will last 120 minutes and it will consist of open-ended questions.
o A desk calculator and an unwritten version of the formula sheet may be used. The text
book, lecture slides, notes, etc. cannot be used.
o For midterm exam a grade will be obtained on a scale from 1 to 10.
o There is no resit opportunity for the midterm exam.

3. End of term exam

• For the final exam the following holds.
o It will be held at the end of the term.
o The compulsory material for the midterm is the material covered in the entire course.
o It will last 180 minutes and it will consist of open-ended questions.
o A desk calculator and an unwritten version of the formula sheet may be used. The text
book, lecture slides, notes, etc. cannot be used.
o For the end of term exam a grade will be obtained on a scale from 1 to 10.
o There is a resit opportunity for the end of term exam.

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4. Final grade
• The final grade is the weighted average of the midterm (40%) and the end of term (final) exam
(60%), after potential corrections based on the PC Lab results (see 1. PC Labs), and rounded on
half/whole grade points.
• The minimum of grade required to pass the course is 5.5.
• Resit:
o In case of a resit the end of term exam can be retaken.
o Results obtained for the PC lab assignments will remain valid.
o Results obtained for the midterm exam will NOT remain valid, i.e. in case of a resit, the
final exam determines the final for the full 100%.

5. Course Materials
• Field, A. (2017). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. Sage Publications, London, 5th
edition, ISBN 9781526419521;
• Other materials (e.g. lecture slides, assignments, exercises) will be made available via the
electronic learning environment;
• PC Labs will take place in “regular” seminar rooms, so we will rely on students bringing their
own laptops (at least one laptop per duo).
• To work on data analysis assignments, you will need to install SPPS software. You can purchase
a copy of the program at a very limited price via https://www.surfspot.nl/spss (log on with
your UvAnetID), or if you already did, acquire a new license for a small fee. In principle, install
the latest version available via surfspot.

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6. Topics & Planning

The table on the following page provides a detailed overview of the topics that will be discussed in
each session, and the literature you should study for each week. I have decided to keep the week
indication as simple as possible in the outline below, but to avoid confusion:

• The sequence of a week/topic always starts with “Lecture A”, the lecture in which the core
concepts are discussed. These lectures are offered twice due to capacity problems (on Thursday
morning at 09.00h and 11.00h).
• This lecture is followed by the work group seminar/PC lab session, in which you work on
assignments in small groups. These sessions (depending on your work group) are scheduled on
Fridays and the following Mondays.
• The final session for a topic is “Lecture B”, in which we reflect on the material for that week,
answer questions, discuss exercises etc. These lectures are scheduled on Wednesday morning
(09.00h and 11.00h) of the following week.
• Thus, a week/topic runs from Thursday morning until Wednesday morning the consecutive week,
i.e. we cover topic 1 from Thursday morning in course week 1 until Wednesday morning in course
week 2. We then start with topic 2 on Thursday morning in week 2 etc. etc.
• For exact time slots and locations, please check rooster.uva.nl.

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Week Themes & Topics Literature (Field, Edition 5)

1 Topic 1. Conceptual models & ANOVA

• Conceptual models & hypotheses Chapter 12
• One-way ANOVA
o Sums of Squares & F-test
o Planned Comparisons & Post Hoc tests
2 Topic 2. Interaction & factorial ANOVA
• Concept of interaction Chapter 11, paragraphs 11.3.1
• Analyzing interaction with factorial ANOVA & 11.3.2 (moderation)
Chapter 14

3 Topic 3. Regression basics

• Concept of regression Chapter 9
• Model testing
o Multiple correlation coefficients & F-test
o Model comparison (hierarchically nested
models)
• Coefficient testing
• Different scaling
4 Midterm Exam
5 Topic 4. Regression complications & mediation
• Regression Chapter 9, paragraph 9.9.3
o Categorical variables & dummies
(multicollinearity)
o Multicollinearity
Chapter 11
o Moderation and mediation in regression
6 Topic 5. Logistic regression & hypothesis formulation
• Concept of logistic regression Chapter 20
• Logistic regression
o Testing assumptions
o Conducting logistic regression
o Interpretation
• Hypothesis formulation
7 Topic 6. Exploratory Factor Analysis & Reliability Analysis
• Concept of Factor Analysis Chapter 18
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)
o Pre-analysis
o Factor Extraction
o Factor Rotation & Interpretation
o EFA post-analysis
• Reliability Analysis
o Cronbach's Alpha
o Multi-item measurement
8 Final exam