Quantitative Research Methods

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

PhD-course, Mansholt Graduate School

WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY

by Ivo A. van der Lans

Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group

Wageningen University

November 16^th, 21^st-23^rd, 28^th-30^th

December 5^th, 7^th, 12^th-13^th; optionally 21^st

2006

Introduction:

The aim of the course is to enhance students’ knowledge and skills to design and carry out quantitative scientific research. The course focuses for a large part at obtaining knowledge and skills with regard to some data-analysis techniques that are very common in quantitative research in social-science disciplines such as sociology, psychology, consumer behaviour, marketing, communication sciences, and so on. These data analysis techniques are exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, reliability analysis, structural equations modelling, and repeated and multivariate analysis of variance.

The course covers a period of four weeks. In a typical week, you will spend on average 17.5 hours on the course (of which on average 20% on lectures, 15% on computer practicals with groups of two, 15% on discussion sections, and 50% on homework). Examples in the lectures and data sets for the computer practicals will typically come from the above-mentioned disciplines. After the end of the four weeks, students will have to write a short paper, for which they get a mark. Writing this paper will take 30 hours on average.

Intended results:

At the end of this course, the participants will:

Lecturers:

Ivo A. van der Lans, Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Group, Wageningen University

Target Group:

The course is primarily set up for all PhD candidates of Mansholt Graduate School, of whatever background and/or disciplinary focus. Other members of Mansholt Graduate School, PhD students from the WUR at large, MSc students from the WUR at large, and others are also encouraged to participate. Applicants will be admitted to the course in this order of priority.

Course duration:

4 weeks with lectures (14 hours in total), computer practicals (10 hours in total), and discussion sessions on Tuesday (10 hours in total), Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons.

Group size:

Minimum 10 participants, maximum 20 participants.

(the organisers may cancel the course 2 weeks in advance in case the number of registrations did not reach the minimum).

Language:

English

Location:

Wageningen University (exact location will be announced later)

Literature:

Lattin, Carroll, & Green, P.E. (2005).

Programme:

Day 1 (Thursday, November 16th): Introduction and fresh-up I

Time and subject:

13:00-15:00 Lecture: reductionism, variable language, types of research questions and hypotheses, samples and populations, statistical inference, causal model, experiments, correlation analysis, regression analysis

15:00-17:00 Practical: refreshment of SPSS skills in the context of an exercise dealing with correlation and regression analysis (data will be provided)

Homework: Read journal article that will be provided in advance

Day 2 (Tuesday, November 21st): Introduction and fresh-up II

Time and subject:

15:00-17:00 Discussion session: results from exercise and link to own research project

Homework: Finish practical exercise

Day 3 (Wednesday, November 22nd): Scaling techniques I

Time and subject:

13:00-15:00 Lecture: exploratory factor analysis, summated scales, reliability and validity, multidimensional scaling

15:00-17:00 Practical: exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis in SPSS (data will be provided)

Homework: Read literature

Day 4 (Thursday, November 23rd): Scaling techniques II

Time and subject:

15:00-17:00 Discussion session: results from exercise and link to own research project

Homework: Finish practical exercise

Day 5 (Tuesday, November 28th): Confirmatory factor analysis I

Time and subject:

13:00-15:00 Lecture: model, assumptions, estimation, assessment of model fit, interpretation, misfit diagnostics, model selection

15:00-17:00 Practical: confirmatory factor analysis in LISREL (data will be provided)

Homework: Read literature

Day 6 (Wednesday, November 29th): Confirmatory factor analysis II

Time and subject:

15:00-17:00 Discussion session: results from exercise and link to own research project

Homework: Finish practical exercise

Day 7 (Thursday, November 30th): Structural equation modelling I

Time and subject:

13:00-15:00 Lecture: model, assumptions, identification, assessment of model fit, interpretation, model selection

15:00-17:00 Practical: structural equation modelling in LISREL (data will be provided)

Homework: Read literature

Day 8 (Tuesday, December 5th): Structural equation modelling II

Time and subject:

15:00-17:00 Discussion session: results from exercise and link to own research project

Homework: Finish practical exercise

Day 9 (Thursday, December 7th): Advanced analysis of variance I

Time and subject:

13:00-15:00 Lecture: repeated measures, multivariate analysis of variance, assumptions, interpretation

15:00-17:00 Practical: repeated measures and multivariate analysis of variance in SPSS (data will be provided)

Homework: Read literature

Day 10 (Tuesday, December 12th): Advanced analysis of variance II

Time and subject:

15:00-17:00 Discussion session: results from exercise and link to own research project

Homework: Finish practical exercise

Day 11 (Wednesday, December 13th): Epilogue

Time and subject:

13:00-17:00 Lecture: other techniques and statistical software, introduction assignment, open floor for questions and remarks, and evaluation of the course

Homework: Read journal article that will be provided in advance

Extra Day (non-compulsory, Thursday, December 21^st): Consultation on short paper

Time and subject:

13:00-17:00 Opportunity to ask questions or for further advice regarding the short paper. Please announce your intention to come in advance.

Prerequisite courses and recommended readings:

Knowledge and skills in research methodology at the level of the WU courses YSS10306 (BSc course “Research methods in the social sciences” and YSS20306 (BSc course “Research methods for B&C”) (or equivalently ENP22306 “Research design and research methods” and MAT22306 “Quantitative research methodology and statistics”). More on WUR courses can be found at http://csa.wur.nl/bois2005/default.htm

Credits and Examination:

This is a 4-ECTS credit (100 hours) course, which will be finished by a short paper. Students have the following 2 options for the preparation of this paper: 1) carry out and report on an analysis of their own data, using one of the data-analysis techniques discussed, or 2) evaluate a journal article and relate it to their own PhD project. In any case the short paper (from 3 to 10 pages) should give evidence of scientific, reflective thinking. The deadline for submission of the paper is January 31^st, 2006. There is an opportunity to ask questions or for further advice regarding the short paper on Thursday afternoon, December 22^nd. Attendance and active participation to the course and the completion of the short paper are the conditions upon which you will receive credits.

Course fee:

The course fee is €500. For PhD students of Mansholt Graduate School with an approved TSP the course fee is reduced to €250.

The course fee includes the book Analyzing Multivariate Data from Lattin, Carroll en Green, if you already have this book, then let us know as soon as possible. The fee includes also study and training material, coffee / tea.

Registration Procedure:

Register via the website

http://www.sls.wau.nl/mi/mgs/procedures_and_forms/Course_registration_form.htm

Please make sure you provide the most recent contact details so that in case of any changes you will be notified promptly.

Please also indicate your prior experience with quantitative research and statistical data-analysis techniques (mention which software you worked with, which courses you followed).

After your internet registration you will receive a short notification that your name has been registered.

At least 2 weeks before the course you will receive a confirmation about the location and the schedule. MGS will also send a bill to your address indicated in the registration form.

Please e-mail to Marcella.haan@wur.nl in case you have not received the second confirmation two weeks before the course.

Cancellations:

The participants can cancel their registration without any fee 3 weeks before the course starts. Cancellation fee of 100% applies if participant cancels the course less than 3 weeks prior to a course.

The organisers have a right to cancel the course not later than 2 weeks before the course starts in case the number of registrations did not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.

Further Information

For further information about the content of the course please contact the organisers:

Ivo A. van der Lans, Wageningen University, Consumer Behaviour Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands, telephone +31 317 484 353, Ivo.vanderLans@wur.nl

For details about the logistics, accommodation, registration, fees, study materials, etc. please contact

Marcella Haan

Tel +31 317 484126

Marcella.haan@wur.nl

Further information on Mansholt Graduate School and its educational activities: http://www.sls.wau.nl/mi/mgs/courses/index.htm