Argosy University
COURSE SYLLABUS
R7103
Solutions Oriented Business Research Methods
Fall II 2008
Faculty Information
Faculty Name:
Elias A. Demetriades, PhD
Campus:
Chicago
Contact Information: [email protected] and 312-301-1025
Office Hours:
By appointment
Short Faculty Bio:
 I have spent most of my career in various managerial and consulting engagements in the US, Europe and Africa. I have taught
undergraduate and graduate course for fifteen (15) years.
 I currently teach undergraduate math and economics courses, as well as economics, management and finance at the graduate
level while consulting in finance (quantitative modeling, alternative investments, risk management).
 I hold a BS in Business Administration (concentration in Marketing), an MBA from IMD in Switzerland and a PhD in
Management Science (concentration in Finance).
Course description:
This foundation course in business research provides an overview of business research methods and concepts of probability theory,
regression analysis and assumptions of multivariate analysis. Computer software and the ethics of research in business settings are
also components of the course.
Course Pre-requisites: None
Required Textbook:
Cooper, D. R. Schindler, P. S. (2008). Business Research Methods with CD. 10th Ed. McGraw-Hill. ISBN: 9780077224875.
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Course length: 7.5 Weeks
Contact Hours: 45 Hours
Credit Value: 3.0
Program Outcomes:
1. Research
1.1. Performing – Design, conduct, and justify applied research in a business context using appropriate methodology
1.2. Understanding – Evaluate and apply existing theory and research to current business practice
2. Communication
2.1. Oral – Present orally, complex business information that is concise, clear, organized, and well supported in a professional
manner appropriate to the business context
2.2. Written – Present in writing, complex business information that is concise, clear, organized, and well supported in a
professional manner appropriate to the business context using required format
3. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
3.1. Critical thinking – Evaluate relevance of established theory to current business practice and identify gaps in current literature
3.2. Problem Solving/Decision Making – Given a business situation, diagnose the underlying causes of the situation, evaluate
possible solutions, in relation to underlying business theory and determine and defend appropriate course of action
3.3. Information Literacy - Conduct an exhaustive literature search from a variety of sources, evaluate the credibility of the
sources, and apply that information to create new knowledge
4. Team
4.1. Leadership - Conduct an exhaustive literature search from a variety of sources, evaluate the credibility of the sources, and
apply that information to create new knowledge
4.2. Collaboration - Given a case study or business situation collect, assimilate, and disseminate the views of stakeholders
5. Ethics
5.1. Ethics - Given a case study or business situations, evaluate the ethical dimensions of decision situations and personal, social,
and corporate responsibility not absolved by market forces
6. Diversity
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6.1. Diversity - Given a case study or business situation evaluate the multicultural dimensions of decision situations and
multicultural solutions to business situations
Course Objectives:
1. Structure problems to prepare for decision analysis.
1.1 Given a business situation, identify qualitative and quantitative variables. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
1.2 Given statements about the frequency of two or more events, calculate conditional and joint probabilities. (Program
Outcomes: 3.1, 3.2)
1.3 Calculate z scores, convert them to probabilities and vice versa. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
1.4 Use Excel with PHStat2 to enter data and calculate test statistics and probabilities. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
1.5 Construct confidence intervals. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
1.6 Describe the hypothesis testing procedure. (Program Outcomes: 2.2, 3.3)
1.7 Determine whether the necessary conditions have been met to apply a specific statistical technique. (Program Outcomes:
3.2)
1.8 Identify whether a one-tailed or a two-tailed test is appropriate. (Program Outcomes: 1.2, 3.3)
2. Develop and refine data gathering skills and techniques
2.1 Organize data into frequency distributions. (Program Outcomes: 3.1)
2.2 Explain the relationship between populations and samples. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 2.2)
3. Analyze a business problem by (a) identifying the issues, (b) gathering, compiling and organizing data, (c) recommending
solutions, and (d) determining success measures and objectives
3.1 Select the appropriate functions in PHStat2 to solve basic statistical problems. (Program Outcomes:1.1, 3.1, 3.2)
3.2 Apply appropriate hypothesis testing procedures to one, two and multiple sets of data. (Program Outcomes: 3.2, 5.1)
3.3 Apply appropriate hypothesis testing procedures to categorical data. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 3.1, 3.2, 6.1)
3.4 Find the appropriate balance between Type I and Type II errors. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 3.1)
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3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
Distinguish between statistical and causal relationships. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 2.2, 3.1)
Calculate the least squares regression line. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
Calculate coefficients of correlation and determination. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
Select the appropriate functions in PHStat2 to construct multiple regression models. (Program Outcomes: 1.2, 3.3)
Given a business situation, assess the strengths and weaknesses of statistical analysis. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 2.2,
3.1)
4. Recognize problem resolution skills through the application of systems thinking and creative/innovative methodologies
4.1 Find the relevance of descriptive and inferential statistics to business decision-making. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 2.2,
3.1, 5.1)
4.2 Given different measures of central tendency and variability, determine which are consistent with one another. (Program
Outcomes: 3.2, 3.3)
4.3 Make inferences about populations from sample data, and vice versa. (Program Outcomes: 3.1, 5.1)
4.4 Construct a sampling distribution of the sample mean. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
4.5 Use the Central Limit Theorem to make estimates. (Program Outcomes: 3.1, 3.2)
4.6 Identify the weakness of point estimates. (Program Outcomes: 2,2 3.1)
4.7 Use confidence intervals to augment point estimates. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
4.8 Determine appropriate sample sizes. (Program Outcomes: 3.2)
4.9 Identify dependent and independent variables. (Program Outcomes: 1.1, 1.2, 3.1)
4.10 Given historical data, use simple linear and multiple regression to make predictions, and assess the likely accuracy of
predictions. (Program Outcomes: 2.2, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1)
Assignment Table
Module Module Topics
Introduction to Business
1
Research
Research in Business
Readings
Chapters 1, 3 & 4.
Assignments
Assignment 1
For the first day, write a one-page biography introducing yourself to other
members of the class. The autobiography should include your current
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Thinking Like a
Researcher
profession, career goals, expectations for the class, familiarity with online
courses, major contributions to your profession, and other personal
information. Also, answer the following question.
Ethics in Business
Research
How do you think this course will help you in achieving your career
goals?
Submit your paper on the first day of class.
For the second day in class, spend some time reading the introductions of
others to get to know your classmates and respond with a welcome to each
of them. Communicate your ideas and opinions explicitly and clearly in
writing for discussion in class.
Assignment 2
Develop a theory showing constructs, predictive indicators, and criterion
variable(s) that will explain the differences in academic success that
various students achieve in a K-12 grade school and a higher education
institution. Submit a 1-3 page paper using APA fifth edition.
Assignment 3
Individually locate a peer-reviewed journal article in an area of business,
social science, psychology, or medicine that is of interest to you. Your
selected article should be a research article with sufficient content for a
two page report.
The objective of the critique is to describe how the study followed, or
failed to follow, the criteria for good research, as described in Chapter 1.
You must speculate on which of the writer’s conclusions were warranted,
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and which were not.
Your literature review should be at least five pages discussing your
findings and analysis. Cite three or more references. Adhere to APA
standards as established in the 5th edition.
Assignment 4
The purpose of the research project is to develop a Multiple Regression
Model that will allow your team to study and make inferences about a
quantitative variable of interest to you (the dependent criterion variable
Y). The team should identify the population and at least two other
variables (predictor variables X) that the team believes are highly
correlated with the Y variable.
Secondary published data should be selected from business, education,
psychology, social sciences, medicine, sports, entertainment etc. Before
proceeding with the statistical analysis, consult with your instructor on the
suitability of the dataset. (Refer to CD-ROM supplied with Cooper, D. R.
& Schindler, P. S. (2008). Business Research Methods with CD, 10th
Edition.)
The population of interest must be large (i.e. have a size of at least 1000
units).The sample should be chosen randomly (and stratified if necessary)
and should have a size of at least 20 data points for each independent
variable but no more than a sample of 100 data in total.
The report should be submitted in an MSWord file with tables, graphs,
narrative, interpretation, discussion, and conclusions (see below for
guidelines).
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The Final Report should be brief and follow APA format (maximum 15
pages long, excluding the abstract, references, tables, graphs, and
appendix). The quality of the written work will be a factor considered
when grading.
You will use EXCEL with PHStat2 or SPSS or MINITAB to obtain the
regression equation, the regression analysis output, and appropriate
residual plots. Analyze the model and write a report summarizing your
findings as a research paper worthy of publication. Please include in your
study predictions of interest along with your data.
Guidelines in data selection:
Which ever topic you choose for the project, first identify the variables
and ask the following questions. Then examine if you can obtain
secondary data on those variables.
1. What is the dependent variable Y? The dependent variable must be
metric data (i.e. it must have a numeric scale and an interval.) The
dependent variable must be normally distributed.
2. What are the independent variables X1, X2, X3, ... Xm? The
independent variables must all be metric data.
3. After identifying the dependent and independent variables, ask
yourself if the independent variables are directly affecting the
dependent variable or the relationships between independent and
dependent variables associational. Based on you answer to this
question, propose a hypothesis.
4. Identify the limitations of the study, such as ease of data gathering
and process reliability, sample size, measurement errors etc. Note
that you are NOT designing a questionnaire survey or asking
questions to subjects. You will only obtained secondary published
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data.
The following topics should be included in your study:
a. Problem Statement, questions asked and benefits of this study.
b. Literature review to support your problem statement and
hypotheses.
c. Description of regression model, formal statement of hypotheses,
assumptions and limitations, data collection process, and any other
information relevant to the problem.
d. Processes and methods used in the conduct of the statistical
analyses.
e. Conduct a Reliability Test (Cronbach Alpha) on the dataset.
f. Interpretation and discussion of the regression coefficients. This
interpretation must include confidence intervals or hypothesis tests
about the regression coefficients.
g. Interpretation of R² (coefficient of determination).
h. Discussion of the significance of the regression model using the
ANOVA perspective.
i. Test of significance for each of the independent variables X.
j. Interpretation of confidence intervals and prediction intervals.
k. Analysis of Residual Plots to verify validity of the Regression
Model.
l. Discussion of presence or absence of Multi-Colinearity (supported
by correlation matrix and or scatter plots).
m. If needed, a description of an improved model.
n. Conduct an Internal Validity Test of the dataset and results.
Validity Test is done by selecting 60% of the dataset as holdout
sample and repeating steps f to m to observe if similar results were
obtained. Compare the results between the full 100% and 60%
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holdout samples.
The research paper should be organized as follows (publishable quality,
not exceeding 15 pages excluding abstract, references, tables, graphs,
appendix):
Title Page
Table of Content
Abstract (100-200 words)
Purpose - Design/methodology/approach – Findings - Originality/value Keywords
Chapter 1: Introduction
Problem background - Purpose of the study - Research questions Limitations
and delimitations - Importance of the study
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Chapter 3: Methodology
Hypotheses - Selection of secondary data – Assumptions - Data
Processing
Chapter 4: Analysis of Results
Integrity of data - reliability - Data analysis and interpretations - Internal
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validity of data -Limitations and assumptions
Chapter 5: Conclusions & Recommendations
Findings - Areas of further study - Benefits of the study
Appendix:
Sample Dataset and Computer outputs.
The following must be included in the appendix:
a. Printout of sample data collected
b. Scatter plots and correlation matrix
c. Multiple Regression printout obtained via EXCEL with PHStat2 or
SPSS or MINITAB. Please choose fullest output.
d. Confidence and Prediction Intervals for two sets of values of the X
variables
e. Residual Plots, Homogeneity Test, Homoscedasticity of Variances,
Reliability & Validity results.
You should write this paper with the view that it could be published later
(since the University believes in encouraging students to publish).
The Research Project will involve stating the purpose of the study,
proposing hypotheses, literature review to support the hypotheses,
secondary data collection, statistical analyses and interpretations, data
reliability and validity, conclusions and recommendations.
By the end of Module 2, every group should be ready to discuss in class
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the following information:
1. Names of the assigned 3 or 4 students in the group.
2. Description of the population to be studied.
3. Definition of the dependent variable (Y) and the independent
variables (X 's) to be used in your study.
4. Description of how you plan to collect the sample data so that it is
a valid random sample.
At the end of the course, in Module 8, you will collate all information you
have gathered into a business plan using an Organizing Project document.
Go through the sections in this document to get an idea of how your final
project submission will take shape. This is necessary because this will
ensure that your project task in each module is completed with this final
goal in mind. The document should be about 15 pages long and written in
the APA format with respect to citations and references. The analysis
section must include an interpretation of all EXCEL with PHStat2 or
SPSS or MINITAB printouts.
Team Formation
During the first week, your facilitator will divide you into teams
comprising 3–4 members. As a team, your first task is to complete the
Team Project Plan. Each team member will assume different roles, such as
CEO, Vice president, Director, Manager, etc. Nominate one member from
your team to take on the role of team leader. In the subsequent weeks,
another team member will assume the leadership role so that all members
have an opportunity to be team leader. This will help in effective
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allocation of work among team members.
Your instructor will consult with each class member to assign the member
to a particular team. It is encouraged to designate project meetings to
discuss your progress and work. After you are assigned to a Team, contact
your team member and organize your tasks. Your Instructor will check in
to see how you are progressing.
The task should be equally divided between team members. Your team of
three members will follow the directives below. Allow your team leader to
take the final decision.
As a team, your first task is to complete the Team Project Plan. In the first
week, organize a meeting with all the team members to discuss the scope
of your project. Discuss the following:







Process of teamwork for the entire project
Issues that will be solved in the project
Process to ensure teamwork
Process for conflict resolution in a team
Operating procedures for the team
Process to deal with non-performance if it occurs
Group norms
The Team Project Plan is an assessment instrument which will be used
throughout the duration of the course to determine how well your team
works together and how each team member performs individually.
Remember, as in the workplace, you will be evaluated on your individual
performance as well as your team’s abilities and participation. A thorough
project plan will identify if any team member goes off the track and
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jeopardizes the grade of the team on this project.
The table below defines each team member’s task.
Student Names
Team Member A
Team Member B
Team Member
C
Task
Delivery Deadline
1. Define the process of
teamwork for the entire
project.
2. Identify the issues that
will be solved in the
By week 3, prepare a
project.
report in Word format.
3. Decide on the
E-mail the findings to
dependent and
other team members.
independent variables.
Give your rationale for
this choice.
1. Identify a process to
ensure teamwork.
2. Establish operating
procedures for the team.
3. Draw an organization
chart showing the
company, its domestic
operations, and its
overseas operations
1. Define a process for
conflict resolution in a
team.
By week 3, prepare a
report in Word format.
E-mail the findings to
other team members.
By week 3, prepare a
report in Word format.
E-mail the findings to
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(Team Leader)
2. Establish group norms. other team members.
Indicate how the team
will deal with nonperformance, if it
occurs.
3. State your planned
entry strategy and give
your reasons for this
strategy. Use the BCG
Matrix model to support
your reasons.
In week 4, conduct meeting with all the team members. In this meeting,
discuss all the issues faced in this assignment, and help your team leader
combine individual findings. Use established APA 5th edition guidelines
for effective writing. Submit the Team Project Plan in class.
2
The Research Process
Clarifying the Research
Question through
Secondary Data and
Exploration
Chapters 2 and 5.
Assignment 1
A. Gentlemen’s Magazine has asked you to carry out a research study. The
magazine has been unsuccessful in attracting shoe manufacturers as
advertisers. When the sales force tried to secure advertising from shoe
manufacturers, they were told men’s clothing stores are a small and dying
segment of their business. Since Gentlemen’s Magazine goes chiefly to
men’s clothing stores, the manufacturers reasoned that it was not a good
vehicle for their advertising. The editor believes that a survey (via mail
questionnaire) of men’s clothing stores in the United States will probably
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show that these stores are important outlets for men’s shoes and are not
declining in importance as show outlets. He asks you to develop a
proposal for the study and submit it to him. Develop a managementresearch question hierarchy that will help you develop a scientific
proposal.
OR
B. With the advancement of technology that has created virtual classrooms
and hands-on experiments accessible by all students from any location,
imagine a scenario where K-12 education will no longer be confined to
four walls classroom and where education will take place in a variety of
settings, including cyberspace and virtual reality. Develop a research
proposal that illustrates the research questions you may ask.
Respond to one of the above-mentioned question as assigned by the
instructor in a 2-4 page paper. Be sure to use vocabulary that is relevant to
the topic!
Be prepared to discuss your response in class. When providing feedback in
class, be objective, clear, and concise in your critique. Always use
constructive language, even in criticism, to work toward the goal of
positive progress.
Assignment 2
Answer one of the following research scenarios in a 1-3 page paper using
APA 5th edition standards.
The restaurant business is notoriously difficult; seventy percent of new
restaurants fail within two years of opening. You are deciding whether to
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make a financial investment in a new restaurant. The entrepreneur or chef
who is asking for your backing has started four restaurants previously.
Three of them failed within two years; the other one was sold for a
substantial profit after 3 years in business. Based solely on this
information, is the entrepreneur or chef's track record in the restaurant
business better or worse than average? Give reasons for your answer.
OR
How does it help you to perform statistical analyses and assess the
outcome of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program in a K-12 grade
school if a variable (graduating standardized test scores) is not normally
distributed? Describe three tests that can be used to determine whether a
variable is normally distributed, including the criteria for deciding whether
each test has been met or not.
Assignment 3
Locate a peer-reviewed journal article in an area of business, social
science, psychology, or medicine that involves ethical issues in research. It
should be a research article with sufficient content for a two-page report.
Use the checklist (given below) to evaluate the article.
Provide in APA format detailed reference to the journal article you looked
at so that it can be accessed by others.
Checklist For Evaluating Research Articles
1. Describe the purpose of the article.
2. What is the problem? Is it clearly stated?
3. Does the problem have a theoretical rationale?
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4. How significant is the problem?
5. Is there a review of the literature? If so, is it relevant? Describe
briefly.
6. Are the constructs operationally defined?
7. What are the hypotheses? How clearly are they stated?
8. Is the procedure (or method) used to address and answer the
problem described fully and completely to enable future
researchers to replicate the study? Describe briefly.
9. Was a sample used? If so, how was it selected? Provide sample
information.
10. What are the limitations or delimitations of the study? Were these
stated?
11. Are there any probable sources of error that might influence the
results of the study? If so, have they been controlled or
acknowledged as limitations to the generalizability of the research?
12. What statistical techniques are used to analyze the data? Are they
appropriate?
13. How clearly are the results presented? Describe the results.
14. What are the findings? Are they presented clearly? Do the data
support the conclusions? Does the researcher over-generalize the
findings? Explain.
3
Research Design
Secondary Data
Searches
Qualitative Research
Observation Studies
Chapters 6-10
Assignment 1
Answer any two of the following scenarios.
In the following situations, decide whether you would use a personal
interview, telephone survey, or self-administered questionnaire. Give your
reasons. Respond to the two questions as assigned by the instructor. Be
prepared to discuss in class.
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Surveys
Experiments and Test
Markets
1. A survey of the residents of a new subdivision on why they
happened to select that area in which to live. You also wish to
secure some information about what they like and do not like about
life in the subdivision.
2. A poll of students at Metro University on their preferences among
three candidates who are running for president of the student
government.
3. A survey of 58 wholesale grocery companies scattered over the
eastern United States, on their personnel management policies for
warehouse personnel.
4. A study of financial officers of the Fortune 500 corporations to
learn their predictions for the economic outlook in their industries
in the next year.
5. A study of applicant requirements, job tasks, and performance
expectations as part of a job analysis of student work-study jobs on
a college campus of 2,000 students, where 1,500 are involved in
the work-study program.
Assignment 2
Answer any one of the following scenarios.
A. A sample of randomly chosen customers of your company has been
surveyed; each customer has rated his/her overall level of satisfaction with
the service provided by your company on a scale from 1 to 10. The mean
level of satisfaction of the sample is 6.3, and the standard deviation is 1.5
a. What is the standard error of the mean if the sample included 100
customers?
b. What is the standard error of the mean if the sample included 400
customers?
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c. Explain the relationship between your answers to a and b.
d. What is the distribution of the sample mean? Why?
B. In another setting of a health care institution with the same set of data
as in the previous assignment, what information would you need to know
to decide how many patients should be included in the sample? If you
wanted to infer the mean of the population of patient satisfaction within
plus or minus 0.5 points at a .05 level of significance, how many patients
should be included in the sample? Explain how you calculated your
answer.
Assignment 3: Collaborative Team Research Project
Prepare a progress report on Chapter 1: Introduction describing the
following:





4
The Sources and
Collection of Data
Chapters 11-14
Problem background
Purpose of the study
Research questions
Limitations and delimitations
Importance of the study
Submit this chapter to your instructor for approval before proceeding to
the next phase of the project. Be prepared to discuss your progress in
class.
Assignment 1
Answer any one of the following scenarios.
Measurement
Measurement Scales
A. One of the problems in developing rating scales is choosing the
response terms to use. Below are samples of some widely used scaling
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codes. Do you see any problem with them? Explain.
Questionnaires and
Instruments
Crafting Effective
Measurement Questions
Pretesting Options and
Discoveries
Sampling
a.
b.
c.
d.
Yes—Depends—No
Excellent—Good—Fair—Poor
Excellent—Good—Average—Fair—Poor
Strongly Approve—Approve—Uncertain—Disapprove—Strongly
Disapprove
B. Your task is to interview a representative sample of attendees for the
large concert venue where you work. The new season schedule includes
200 live concerts featuring all types of musicians and musical groups.
Since neither, the number of attendees nor their descriptive characteristics
is known in advance, you decide on non-probability sampling. Based on
past configurations, you can calculate the number of tickets that will be
available for each of the 200 concerts. Thus, collectively, you will know
the number of possible attendees for each type of music. From attendance
research conducted at concerts held by the Glacier Symphony during the
previous two years, you can obtain gender data on attendees by type of
music. How would you conduct a reasonably reliable non-probability
study to find out expected ticket sale?
Respond to the questions as assigned by the instructor.
Assignment 2
Answer any one of the following scenarios.
A. A door manufacturer wants to monitor the performance of a new
painting process, which was designed to apply paint with a mean thickness
of 0.7mm by detecting any departure from this target. One hundred doors
are randomly chosen from each day’s production, and the thickness of
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paint on each of the 100 doors is measured.
a. Explain how you would test whether the mean thickness of paint
on the entire day’s production meets the required standard of
0.7mm, using a .01 level of significance. Include all the following
in your explanation:
i.
whether the test will be one-tailed or two-tailed;
ii.
how you would calculate a test statistic;
iii. how you would define the rejection region;
iv.
any assumptions you would make;
v.
how you would interpret the possible results of the test.
b. In a school study, the mean grade point of ninth graders was 3.57
with standard deviation of 0.30 and sample size of 25. Comparing
to the all-State school’s, the overall mean grade point was 3.42.
Use these data to conduct the test of hypothesis.
B. In your own words, explain in ten steps how two new treatments for a
medical disease could be compared using the statistical method of
hypothesis testing.
Respond to the questions as assigned by the instructor.
Assignment 3: Collaborative Team Research Project
Prepare a progress report on Chapter 2: Literature Review. Submit this
chapter to instructor for approval before proceeding to the next phase of
the project. Be prepared to discuss your progress in class.
5
Analysis and
Chapters 15-17
Assignment 1
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Presentation of Data
Data Preparation and
Description
Exploring, Displaying,
and Examining Data
Hypothesis Testing
Respond to the questions as assigned by the instructor. Answer one of the
following research scenarios in a 1-3 page paper. Be sure to use
vocabulary that is relevant to the topic. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the fifth edition.
A. What hypothesis testing procedure would you use in the following
situations? Explain your reasons, including assumptions and limitations
for selecting the procedure.
1. A test classifies applicants as accepted or rejected. Based on 200
applicants, test the hypothesis that ad placement success is not related to
gender.
2. A company manufactures and markets automobiles in two different
countries. You want to know if the gas mileage is the same for vehicles
from both facilities. There are samples of 45 units from each facility.
B. Suppose you were preparing a two-way table of percentages for the
following pairs of variables. How would you run the percentages?
1. Age and consumption of breakfast cereal.
2. Family income and confidence about the family’s future.
3. Marital status and sports participation.
4. Crime rate and unemployment rate.
Assignment 2
Answer one question.
1. Each year a study is conducted of children’s drug, alcohol, and tobacco
usage. Children in fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades are asked about their
use of cigarettes, chewing tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, (abuse of)
prescription drugs, beer, wine, and liquor. For each substance, they are
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asked about their use during the past 30 days, and during the past twelve
months.
The results of the study are reported separately for boys and girls, and are
compared with the previous year’s results. Typically, media reports of the
annual study take the form of, “Marijuana use rises among eighth grade
girls.”
Explain why it is not possible to know whether the increase in eighth
grade girls’ use of marijuana is statistically significant.
Explain the role that an analysis of variance could play in establishing
whether any of the results of the study are statistically significant, and how
you would identify which results of the study might be statistically
significant.
2. Your company is deciding which of four machines to purchase for a
production line. The machines are all designed to fill and close bottles of
liquid detergent. Each machine is tested for the same period on 10 separate
occasions in a completely randomized design.
The results are as follows:
Bottles Filled Per Minute by Machine
Time period
1
2
3
4
A
251.2
245.1
248.0
251.1
B
263.2
262.9
265.0
254.5
C
269.7
263.2
277.5
267.4
D
251.6
248.6
249.4
242.0
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5
6
7
8
9
10
260.5
250.0
253.9
244.6
254.6
248.8
264.3
257.0
262.8
264.4
260.6
255.9
270.5
265.5
270.7
272.9
275.6
266.5
246.5
251.3
261.8
249.0
247.1
245.9
Conduct an F-test to test the hypothesis that the population means for
machines A, B, C, and D is equal. State the assumptions that are necessary
to ensure the validity of the test. Interpret the result.
Assignment 3: Research Project
Prepare a progress report on Chapter 3: Methodology – Hypotheses,
Selection of Secondary Data, Assumptions, and Data Processing.
Submit this chapter to the instructor for approval before proceeding to the
next phase of the project. Be prepared to discuss your progress in class.
6
Measures of Association
Chapters 18 & 20
Assignment 1
Multivariate Analysis
Answer one of the following research scenarios.
Presenting Results: Oral
and Written Reports
1. From a managerial viewpoint, what type of statistical method do you
recommend in each of the following cases and why? Describe the
variables you would want to measure.

You want to develop an estimating equation that will be used to
predict which applicants will come to your university as students.
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

You would like to predict family income using such variables as
education and stage in the family life cycle.
You wish to estimate standard labor costs for manufacturing a new
dress design.
2. There are a number of graphic presentation forms. As a manager, which
one of the following would you recommend to show each of the
following? Justify your answer and support it would examples.



A comparison of changes in average annual per capita income for
the United States and Japan from 1990-2005.
The percentage composition of average family expenditure
patterns, by the major types of expenditures, for families whose
heads are under age 35 compared with families whose heads are 55
or older.
A comparison of changes in charitable giving between December
31, 2000 and December 31, 2005.
Respond to the questions as assigned by the instructor. Answer one of the
following research scenarios in a 1-3 page paper. Be sure to use
vocabulary that is relevant to the topic. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the fifth edition.
Assignment 2
The Company you work for employs 585 assembly-line workers – 526
men and 59 women. 16 men and 10 women have been selected to be laid
off.
Answer one of the following research applications considering the above
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fact pattern. Use at least five terms relevant to the current module's topics.
Use APA fifth edition style accurately and consistently.
You have been consulted as a statistical expert because your company is
concerned that the 10 women who are to be laid off may sue the company,
claiming that they have been discriminated against.
Apply your business research knowledge to answer the following:
1. Construct the strongest possible argument that the laid off women
could make in favor of their assertion that they have been
discriminated against.
2. Identify the assumptions that underlie the argument made in #1.
3. Defend the layoffs by showing that the assumptions in b) are
inconsistent with the claim – if it can be proved – that the company
chose the 26 workers to lay off based solely on performance-based
criteria.
Write a minimum four-page report on your analysis and submit it by end
of week.
OR
Of the 526 male assembly-line workers, 134 were over 40 years of age. 12
of the 16 laid off men are over 40 years of age. Those 12 men are alleging
that they were discriminated against because of their age.
Apply your business research knowledge to answer the following:

Construct the strongest possible argument that the 12 laid off men
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

over 40 years of age could make in favor of their assertion that
they have been discriminated against.
The 134 male workers over 40 years of age earned a mean of
$38,762, while the 392 male workers under the age of 40 earned a
mean of $36,894. Does this information strengthen or weaken the
argument made in #1? Give reasons for your answer.
The company argues that the men could always have found a cutoff age above and below which the proportions of workers laid off
would be different from one another. If it had not been 40, it might
have been 35 or 30, or 45 or 50; but there would always be some
age that would divide the workers into two groups that would
appear to have been treated differently. Is this argument valid?
Explain your answer.
Write a minimum four-page report on your analysis and submit it by end
of week.
Assignment 3: Collaborative Team Research Project
Prepare a progress report on Chapter 4: Analysis of Results - Integrity of
Data - Reliability, Data Analysis and Interpretations, Internal Validity of
Data, Limitations and Assumptions. Submit this chapter to your instructor
for approval before proceeding to the next phase of the project. Be
prepared to discuss your progress in class.
7
Multiple Regression in
Research
Chapters 16, 19
Assignment 1
Answer one of the following research scenarios.
Statistics Tools in
Multiple Regression
Your company builds roads, bridges, schools, and other multi-million
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Describing Data
Statistically
dollar public construction projects. Competitive bids are invited for the
contracts to undertake these projects. For each project, there are three
costs involved:



Multivariate Analysis
Best estimate of what the project will cost the company
Adjusted cost on which the company bases its bid
Actual cost incurred towards completing the project
Find out whether the cost estimates that are made before the bidding
process are accurate predictors of the actual costs of completed projects.
Explain how you would use a linear regression model to answer that
question.
OR
A study was conducted to see if there was a relationship between
employee salary and employee’s age, education level, and work
experience. For the results of the multiple regression analysis, see the
document below.
R7103datamodule7.r
tf
You need to do the following:



State the hypothesis of this study and limitations you envisage.
Analyze the Model Summary and ANOVA table.
Analyze the Coefficients table.
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


Answer the following questions:
Are all of the coefficients significantly contributing to the
relationship? If so why? If not why not?
What should be your next steps in this regression analysis process?
Respond to the questions as assigned by the instructor. Answer one of the
following research scenarios in a 1-3 page paper. Be sure to use
vocabulary that is relevant to the topic. Adhere to APA standards as
established in the fifth edition.
Assignment 2: Collaborative Team Research Project
Prepare a progress report on Chapter 5: Conclusions & Recommendations
– Findings, Areas of Further Study, Benefits of the Study, and Appendix:
Sample Dataset and Computer Outputs.
Submit this chapter to your instructor for approval before proceeding to
the next phase of the project. Be prepared to discuss your progress in
class.
8
Reflect on Course and
Research Project
Appendices: A, B,
C, D
Submit final collaborative team research project to the instructor. Be
prepared to discuss your project and your thoughts on the overall
process/project in class.
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Grading Criteria
Grading Scale
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CF
100 – 93
92 – 90
89 – 88
87 – 83
82 – 80
79 – 78
77 – 73
72 – 70
69 and below
Grading requirements
Attendance/participation
Weekly Assignments
Final paper
Optional
Optional
25%
20%
35%
10%
10%
100%
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Library:
All resources in Argosy University’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students
with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources: Argosy University’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books
and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers,
Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are
directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at http://library.argosy.edu. Detailed descriptions of online resources are
located at http://library.argosy.edu/misc/onlinedblist.html.
In addition to online resources, Argosy University’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials
searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively,
students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference
assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy: Argosy University’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and
transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level
research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and
practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate
feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at http://library.argosy.edu/infolit/
Academic Policies
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University
requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be
documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). Washington DC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please
refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format.
Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult
the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
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Scholarly writing: The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and
ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources.
You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” (www.turnitin.com), an online resource established to help
educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to
billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common
information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with
the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director
of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be
provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing
via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her
discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the
accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been
approved in this manner.
The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity
Argosy University prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the
academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential
to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
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Mission Statement-College of Business
Argosy University College of Business is dedicated to providing practical, evidence-based, high-quality, solutions-focused
business programs at the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as continuing business education and specified certificate training
to business practitioners in public private, and non-profit, sectors across industries. All undergraduate and graduate programs of the
College of Business & Information Technology are designed for the business practitioner, to instill excellence of execution in
knowledge, skills, and ethical values of the business professional and business educator. The inherent goal of these academic
programs is to foster values of social responsibility in a supportive, learner-centered environment of mutual respect and professional
excellence.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Acknowledgement of Syllabus Content
I
(student name) have read and understand the course syllabus for
at Argosy University, Chicago. The instructor is
, Ph.D.
I hereby agree to the terms stated in this syllabus
________________________
Student signature
______________________
Printed name
_
____________________
Date
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