Department Name

Educational Administration and Foundations

Course Number

EAF 510

Course Title

Research Methodology and Statistics in Education II

Catalog Description

Logic of statistical inference; introductory study of analysis of variance and multiple regression, with a computer oriented approach.  Prerequisite: EAF 508/509 or equivalent.

Course Overview

This is the third part of a five-semester course that covers a wide range of statistical methods and their applications. Similar to the first and second course, instead of concentrating on how to enter numbers in formulas, emphasis is on understanding concepts and processes behind statistical procedures.  The purpose of this course is to introduce students to advanced statistical techniques for analyzing educational data.  Various univariate and multivariate procedures will be discussed.  The emphasis of the course will be on practical applications of statistical techniques.

The course will concentrate more on statistical inference involving t-test, simple and factorial ANOVA, bivariate correlation/regression analysis and Chi-square using conceptual definitions, without access to formulas. Ability to use SPSS for data analysis is also expected.

Course Organization

This course is divided into four units

Unit 1: Basic Inferential Statistics. This unit will be devoted to statistical techniques which can be used to draw inferences about population parameters. Topics covered will include hypothesis testing and inferences about means and variances. Introduction to the t-statistics, hypothesis tests with two independent samples and hypothesis tests with related samples.

Unit 2: Analysis of Variance. This unit will be devoted to analysis of variance procedures. Topics covered will include F tests, main effects, and interactions.

Unit 3: Correlation and Regression. This unit will focus on correlational and regression procedures appropriate for, interval or ratio, level data. Topics covered will include Pearson correlation, multiple correlation, and regression weights.

Unit 4: Ordinal and Nominal Procedures. This unit will focus on procedures for statistical analysis of ordinal and nominal level data. Topics covered will include Chi-square, Spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney U-test and sign tests.

Topical/Content Outline

Schedule of class and assigned readings: (Subject to change/revision)

Note: Assigned chapters must be studied BEFORE the indicated date/week

H: Hinkle et al

S: Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh—Green, S. B., & Salkind, N. J.

--WebCT Courseware will be used throughout the semester.  Make sure that you are familiar with basic features such as uploading and downloading files, use of discussion forum, taking an online test, etc.

Required Texts

Required Texts

(H) Hinkle, D. E., Wiersma, W., Jurs, S. G. (2003). Applied statistics for the behavioral sciences (fifth ed).  Haughton Mifflin.

(S) Green, S. B., & Salkind, N. J. (2005):  Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh: Analyzing and Understanding Data (4th).   Pearson Education, Inc.

--Can also use 2nd or 3rd editions.

Required Student Tasks

A. The course will combine lecture, discussion and student presentations. 

B. Assignments: The textbook provides a variety of problems and exercises at the end of each chapter. Students are expected to do MOST of these exercises on their own. A subset of these, and/or other problems will be assigned at the end of each class session (Chapter). These assignments will be discussed in the next class session and students must be ready to discuss their parts.

C. Class attendance: Class attendance is strongly expected. Although attendance is not graded, the final course grade will be adjusted for absence from class and/or labs. In case of excessive absence (more than 50% of scheduled class meetings); a grade of F will be assigned at the end of the semester. No prior notification will be provided regarding this change of grade. Students are responsible for keeping their own record attendance to prevent this.

Student Performance Evaluation Methods

Assessment and Evaluation

Various techniques will be used to assess the learning outcomes. This variety will accommodate different teaching and learning styles and provide fair means for students to demonstrate their propensities for particular types of assessment. Grades will be based on two exams (midterm and final), Research Paper (includes two steps--Assignment 1 and 2, and class/WebCT participation. The exams will include lecture material, homework/exercises, texts (including assigned SPSS chapters) and other assigned readings.

Activities Points

Research Project--Assignment #1                       10                 

Research Project--Assignment #2                       10

Final Research Paper                                          20 *

Midterm exam                                                    25

Final exam                                                          25

Research Project Presentation                              5                                 

Class Participation (Class/WebCT)                      5

Total Points                                                      100

* The Research Paper will include data analyses (using SPSS) of educational data (provided by instructor). Additional details concerning these projects, including due-dates and formats, are available on WebCT (assignment link). 

Letter grades will be assigned in accordance with the following scheme:

                         Points                 Letter Grade
            90-100 A (Exceptional Performance)

            80-89   B (Above Average Performance)
            70-79   C (Average Performance)
            60-69   D (Below Average Performance)
            0-59     F (Failing)

Delivery System

This course will be presented using a variety of delivery systems:  The class can combine lecture, discussion, and student presentation, interactive TV and through the Internet (WebCT).