BUSM014 Quantitative Research Methods

Descriptive statistics and graphical analysis of the variables in the data and the associations between them (30 points - recommend length 400-600):

Your analysis should cover both explanatory variables and the dependent variable. The assessment will consider the correctness of the material presented in tables and graphs, the formatting of the tables and the graphs, and the interpretation and the discussion of the statistical results.

Your main hypotheses and output tests of these hypotheses using t-tests of comparing means (25 points - recommended length 600-700 words): You must specify your statistical hypothesis / hypotheses and test them correctly using t-test. The statistical hypotheses must aim to answer your research question. The assessment will consider the correctness of the hypotheses, the specification of the t-test and its implementation in Stata, the formatting of the statistical table(s) provided, and the interpretation and the discussion of the results.

Regression analysis testing the same hypotheses (25 points - recommended length 600-700 words): You must introduce regression models testing the same hypotheses, explaining the models. You must present the regression model results in a properly formatted table. The assessment will consider the correctness of the regression analyses, the formatting of the statistical tables and graphs provided, and the interpretation and the discussion of the results.

Your recommendations and conclusions from this analysis (10 points - recommended length 300-400 words): You must summarize the key findings from your analysis and interpret their implications for the telecommuting practice.

Each module has word limits for coursework assignments, however the decision about whether to impose a penalty mark for exceeding the word limit is made by each module organiser. You must check the module outline and the assignment briefing documents to see whether the particular module organiser has adopted a penalty system. It is your responsibility to read the handbook and assignment briefing carefully. If no penalty is specified then the module organiser will take into account the word length under the standard marking conventions. For example, if you have exceeded the word limit then it might be that you have not been sufficiently succinct or focused in your assignment and therefore might be penalised for these weaknesses. Please note that word limits do NOT include references or appendices. However if excessive material is included on appendices then this too will be judged accordingly and you may be awarded a lower mark.

What is academic integrity?

Academic integrity simply means that you act honestly when you submit a piece of work for marking and avoid committing any form of assessment offence. By acting honestly we expect that you avoid cheating or plagiarising and maintain high academic standards.

Students found to have plagiarised or committed an assessment offence of any nature will be penalised and penalties can range from failing the module to failing the entire programme of study and exiting without any award.

The University uses Turnitin which is a plagiarism detection service tool where you can upload your work which helps you to reference your work correctly when you write an essay, report or case study for  example. Turnitin will compare the work you submit with stored resources (e.g. from both contemporary and previous submissions, reference texts / periodicals / books and the internet). For each piece of work submitted Turnitin provides two things:

1. A similarity index, which indicates the percentage of the submitted paper that Turnitin has identified as matching other sources.

2. An originality report, which shows each of these matches in more detail, including the source(s) that Turnitin has found. Guidance on interpreting the similarity index and originality report can be found in the SBM UG and PG Information zones on QMplus.

You are strongly encouraged to do the following for each piece of work you submit:

1. Take academic Integrity seriously.

2. Upload your work onto Turnitin well in advance of the submission deadline so that you:

a. have enough time for the system to turnaround your work (the first and the next 3 uploads will typically take 1 hr each to process)

b. have enough time to respond to any issues identified in the originality report

c. Return to your assignment drop box before the submission deadline to make sure you have not left your work in “draft” form.

Only after you have made the draft submission and addressed issues identified in the originality report you should make the final submission. Please note that you will no longer be able to make draft submissions or make changes after the submission deadline. Your module organiser will check the similarity index for all the submissions after the deadline and any submissions with a high similarity index will be sent to the Academic Offences Officer for further investigation which will delay your work being marked.