PAD 5701 Quantitative Analysis Fall 2012 Thursday, 5:30-8:15 PM ...

PAD 5701 Quantitative Analysis
Fall 2012
Thursday, 5:30-8:15 PM
314 HCB
Dr. Jayce L. Farmer
Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 3:00 – 5:00 or by appointment
Office: 650 Bellamy
Phone: 645-1914
E-Mail: jfarmer@fsu.edu
All course materials and instructional changes will be posted on the course’s Blackboard site.
All students must obtain an FSU e-mail account in order to receive messages from the
Blackboard system. FSU’s Blackboard address is http://campus.fsu.edu/webapps/login.
Students not familiar with Blackboard can visit its resource website at
http://resources.blackboard.com/scholar/general/pages/ictraining/. Students may also contact
the computer lab or computing services for help.
Course Description and Learning Objectives
This course is the second of the 5700-5701 sequence of introductory statistics courses. While
the first stresses research design issues, this one concentrates on the utilization and
appropriateness of statistical techniques in the assessment of collected data. Statistics is a
valuable tool that can be used to help public and non-profit managers, or any other
professionals make sound decisions based on the given evidence of data. It contributes to
students’ analytical understanding of such subjects as program evaluation, performance
management, impact assessment, and policy analysis. Upon taking this class, students will be
able to:
• Manage collected data appropriate to a research design
• Present descriptive information of data graphically
• Understand the logic of statistical inference and hypothesis testing
• Know how to use data to improve managerial decisions
• Conduct basic statistical tests such as the T-test, One-Way ANOVA, and linear
regression
• Develop interpretative skills for various statistical tests
• Develop basic computer skills in analyzing statistical data.
Prerequisites and Assumptions
• A “B-“ or better in PAD 5700
• College-level algebra skills
Required Textbook
Meir, Brudney, & Bohte. Applied Statistics for Public & Nonprofit Administration, 8 th ed. (4 th
edition or higher is acceptable). Boston Duxbury Press. Earlier editions may have different
chapter sequences and slightly different content.
The book can be found at the FSU Bookstore, Bill’s Bookstore, www.amazon.com, or
www.bestbookbuys.com.

Additional materials may be posted on the course’s blackboard website.
Required Instruments
• Calculator: Bring a calculator for each class, as occasionally one will be need. A simple
calculator with basic functions will suffice.
• SPSS: Access to SPSS is required. The student version or more sophisticated full
version can be obtained from the bookstores or online. However, the software is
available on several computers located in many computer labs throughout campus,
including our school’s lab located on the 6 th floor of the Bellamy building. Students are
allowed to obtain assistance from lab assistants, doctoral students, or any other sources
regarding the use of SPSS (as long as it is not directly related to graded assignments).
If there are any computers in our department lab that does not have SPSS, please let
me know immediately.
• Excel: Access to Excel is required.
Course Evaluation
Grades will be assessed only by the following, which means no extra credit will be given:
• Homework assignments (three) – 15%
• Midterm (open notes) - 30% (November 1)
• Quantitative research paper – 25%
• Final exam (open book, open notes) – 30% (December 13)
Letter grades will be assigned as follows: A=93 or higher; A-=90 to 92.99; B+=87.5 to 89.99;
B=82.5 to 87.49; B-=79.5 to 82.49 (anything less than a B- is considered as failing this course,
thus resulting in the student having to re-take in a future semester); C+=77.5 to 79.49; C=72.5
to 77.49; C-=69.5 to 72.49; D+=67.5 to 69.49; D=62.5 to 67.49; D-=59.5 to 62.49; F= anything
less than 59.5.
No grade adjustments will be made after the final exam
Incomplete: A grade of incomplete (“I”) will be given if unforeseeable circumstances keep you
from completing the course requirements within the normal semester. If you request an “I,”
please submit the necessary documentation to prove the “circumstances” (either work or
personal related). Please do not ask the instructor whether you need to bring documentation to
prove – you must.
Late Assignments:
• No late homework will be accepted, as the answers will be discussed in class.
• Late research papers will be deducted one letter grade.
• A make-up mid-term exam may be given if you bring documentation proving any
unforeseen circumstances (such as work or personal related). Please keep in mind that
the instructor reserves the right to not accept any documented excuses.
• No make-up final exam will be given.
Group Assignments: Over the course of the semester, the instructor will require students to
work together in groups for homework assignments. All groups and group members will be
organized and chosen by the students. Consequently, it is the students’ responsibility to ensure
that all group participants complete their portions of the assignments, as well as complete them
on time. Good public and non-profit managers often have to put aside their differences to
organize and work with others in order to get things accomplished.

Other Policies
Syllabus Changes: The instructor reserves the right to alter the syllabus as deemed necessary.
Students will be notified of syllabus changes via the class Blackboard site or by e-mail.
Academic Honesty: Borrowing and building upon others’ ideas is acceptable, but presenting
those ideas as our own without acknowledging it is not. All written work should have a
bibliography (or references section) using a standard format (APA style preferred).
To avoid plagiarism, you are advised that:
1. If you take material that is not yours, from any source whatsoever, and copy it into
assignments for this class, you must provide a footnote, endnote, or parenthetical reference
to the source of the material.
2. Any material which quotes verbatim from other sources must be enclosed in quotation
marks and its source attributed as noted in rule #1 above.
3. Material not taken verbatim from a text but paraphrased must be attributed as in rule #1.
4. Violations of these rules in any assignment may be subject to a minimum penalty of a grade
of zero for the assignment and may result in a grade of “F” for the course.
You are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published tin the Florida State University
Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor Policy outlines the University’s
expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged
violations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the
process. Students are responsible for reading the policy and living up to their pledge as can be
found at http://dof.fsu.edu/honorpolicy.htm. Violations to these rules in any assignment may be
subject to a minimum penalty of failing grade for the assignment and could result in a grade of
“F” for the course.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Students with disabilities needing academic
accommodation should: 1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability
Resource Center (SDRC); and 2) bring a letter from the SDRC to the instructor indicating the
need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.
This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request. For
more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact:
SDRC at (850) 644-9566 (voice); (850) 644-8504 (TDD); e-mail: sdrc@admin.fsu.edu;
http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/
Quantitative Research Paper
Students will be required to write and submit a research paper that displays your ability to
conduct a quantitative analysis of some topic in public or nonprofit administration (APA style,
Double-spaced, 12 point font written in Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, Cambria or Calibri.
Page parameters are up to you, but please do not exceed 25 pages). Unlike the research
proposal paper that you should have done in PAD 5700, this paper will require you to conduct
an actual analysis and present/analyze empirical findings. This paper will require you to use
any method of statistical analysis that you have learned in class. Thus, your paper should be a
quantitative research paper, and not qualitative. Keep in mind that quantitative research

equires analysts to use standardized measures that fit diverse phenomena into predetermined
categories. These phenomena are then analyzed using some form of statistical analysis. On
the other hand qualitative research permit analysts to study a small number of selected issues,
cases, or events in depth and in detail. Here, data are not constrained to fixed categories and
are normally not analyzed using numerical measurements.
Your paper will consist of a research question, hypotheses surrounding that research question
and methods of analysis that analyze your hypotheses. The following highlight the full
requirements of the paper:
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Title page
Executive summary or Abstract
Introduction that presents the problem to be analyzed and your research
question (AKA your problem statement)
Review of literature that highlights the issues or prior research regarding your
research question (the literature review develops your conceptual framework and
should give support to your hypotheses)
Hypotheses (these can be included in the literature review section, given their
own section that highlights your conceptual framework or included in the
description of your methods. This depends on the flow of your paper)
Methods
§ Data description, use of data and origin
§ Variable description and operation
§ Brief description of statistical method
§ Descriptive statistics
Findings (This section will describe the results of your statistical analysis and
present any tables, charts or visuals that illustrate your findings.)
Discussion (This section will elaborate your findings within the context of your
conceptual framework. Did the results support or refute your hypotheses Do
your results contribute to or contest the conceptual framework Why or why not
Conclusion (Tie the summary of your findings in with your research question.
What are the implications of your answer to the research question How does
your answer to the research question address the problem you stated at the
beginning Basically, what should we have learned from your research Finally,
how does your research contribute to the literature or how can it assist policy
makers in their decisions Can further research be done on this topic If so,
how)
Appendices (if applicable)
References (The reference list should consist of at least 10 references, of which
the majority should come from reputable books (found in the library), academic
journals or government documents)

Course Outline
Keep in mind that the following schedule may change during the term based upon class
progress.
Week 1: Introduction 8/30
Discussing syllabus, Blackboard, SPSS, and other requirements
Go to lab and play with SPSS
Week 2: Foundations of a Research Design 9/6
Read text: Chap 2 & 3
• Understand the basic components of a research design
• Know what is to be expected in the quantitative research paper
Think about topic for research paper (have topic ready to present to class on 9/13)
Week 3: Frequency Distributions 9/13 (meet in department lab if available)
Read text: Chap 4
• Choose an appropriate graph to present data in a research paper
• Draw a histogram, bar chart, and a frequency polygon using SPSS and Excel
to produce graphs
Be ready to present research paper topic
Week 4: Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion 9/20
Read text: Chap 5 & 6
Calculate the mean, median and mode
• Choose the appropriate measure of central tendency for a given question
• Present the meaning of standard deviation
Homework assignment 1 available on Blackboard site after class (due 10/4)
Week 5: Probability and Normal Probability Distribution 9/27 (meet in department lab)
Read text: Chap 7 & 8
• Summarize the features of a normal distribution
• Calculate the Z score and use the Z score table
Week 6: Inferential Statistics 10/4
Homework 1 due at beginning of class
Read text: Chap 11 & 13
• Know the meaning of the t distribution
• Know the meaning of the standard error and t value and how to calculate
• Calculate confidence limit for proportions & percentages
Be ready to present an update on research paper progress
Homework assignment 2 available on Blackboard (due 10/18)
Week 7: Hypothesis Testing 10/11 (meet in department lab)
Read text: Chap 12
• Formulate a null and working hypothesis
• Conduct one and two-tailed tests
• Understand type I and type II errors
• Determine sample size

Week 8: Testing the Difference between Groups 10/18 (meet in department lab if available)
Homework 2 due at the beginning of class
Read text: Chap 14
• Use two sample t-test
• Use SPSS for two group sample t-test
• Interpret SPSS results
Week 9: Analysis of Nominal and Ordinal data 10/25
Read text: Chap 15
• Be able to use contingency table
• Discussion of parametric and non-parametric tests
• Introduction to One-Way ANOVA
Be ready to present a short update on research paper progress (data collection)
Week 10: Midterm Exam 11/1
Week 11: Statistical Significance of Contingency tables 11/8
Read text: Chap 16
• Use Chi-square test
• Use other measures of association
Week 12 Introduction to Regression Analysis 11/15 (meet in department lab if available)
Read text: Chap 18, 19 & 21
• Understanding B.L.U.E.
• Understanding the linear & multiple regression processes and assumptions
• Running regressions in SPSS
Homework 3 Available on BB
Week 13: No class Thanksgiving Day 11/22
Week 14: Introduction to Regression Analysis (continued) 11/29
Homework 3 due
• Understanding the coefficient and determination
• Interpreting regression results
Week 15 Quantitative Research Papers Due 12/6
Students give a short presentation on research paper, briefly discuss:
• Research question and importance
• Data collection and methods
• Findings
Week 16: Final Exam 12/13 (Regular class time)