Syllabus-Spring 2008
Quantitative Analysis (GPPS 357)

This is a three-credit graduate level course and is one of three required core courses in the online Master of Professional Studies (MPS) degree. The MPS degree is offered through the University of Connecticut's Center for Continuing Studies and has four fields of study: Human Resource Management, Humanitarian Services Administration, Occupational Safety and Health Management, and Homeland Security Leadership.

This course was developed by Miranda E. Jennings, Ph.D.

Course Title: Quantitative Analysis (GPPS 357)

Credits: 3

Instructor: Miranda Jennings, Ph.D.
Email: miranda.jennings@uconn.edu

This course is designed to help students become informed consumers of statistical information and develop the skills necessary to make data driven decisions regarding practical and workplace questions, such as program evaluation, and forecasting. The course will include basic univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics, such as basic analysis of variance and basic multiple regression analysis. In addition to learning the fundamentals of these statistical procedures, students will also master the use of SPSS for Windows to perform all analysis.

After participation in this course and completing the assignments, students will be able to:

1. Represent data using descriptive statistics.
2. Select and use the appropriate statistical techniques to analyze data.
3. Use statistical analysis as a tool to make data driven decisions.

During a typical week, students will complete readings in the textbook, access other resources on the course Web page or Internet or other print media, complete a module assignment, and post to the discussion board, as well as comment on discussion postings of other students.

Discussion and Participation
Each week you are expected to participate in the discussion exercises. Please feel free to ask questions. For each exercise, you are asked to post an original response, and then read, and respond to your peers' postings. In addition, you are asked to substantiate your responses by referencing the textbook and other sources.

Assignments
There will be four written assignments in this course. Assignment due dates are identified in the course calendar. Written assignments should be submitted via the assignment tool within the course, by the designated due date, to be eligible for full credit. Your grade on each assignment will be determined by the accuracy and quality of your responses.

Quizzes
There will be six quizzes in this course. Quizzes are open book and consist of the following type of questions: multiple choice, short answer, fill-in the blank, and essay. You may take a quiz at any time before its indicated due date; however you are only allowed one attempt and 45 minutes for each quiz. Quiz due dates are included on the course calendar and on the quiz entry page. You must complete each quiz by 11:59 PM EST on its designated due date to be eligible for full credit. Your grade on each quiz will be determined by the accuracy and quality of your responses.

Midterm
The midterm assessment is an opportunity for you to demonstrate and apply your knowledge from the first half of the course. You will be given a journal article and asked to perform a critical review of it. This assessment will also prepare you for the final paper. Further details will be provided in the course.

Final Paper
You will be provided with a workplace scenario and be asked to provide recommendations based on a literature review of at least 5, but no more than 10, articles. In addition, you will be asked to perform a critical in depth review of one of the articles that you have selected. Further, you will need to design a study to explore the limitations identified in the other articles of your literature review. As part of your design, you will need to identify the statistical procedures that you would use.

Your final paper should be in APA style and be at least 5 pages, but no more than 8 pages, double spaced in Times New Roman 12 point font. There are essentially three parts to the final paper, and each part should abide by the following minimum page requirements:

• Part 1: Scenario Response with Literature Review (3 pages)
• Part 2: Critical Article Review (1 page)
• Part 3: Study Design with Statistical Procedures (1 page)

More details about the final paper requirements will be provided in the course.

Grading
The grading breakdown for the course is as follows:

Midterm	160 points
Final Paper	260 points
Six Quizzes (25 points each )	150 points
Four Written Assignments (50 points each)	200 points
Discussion	115 points
Participation	115 points
Total Available	1000 points

Final letter grades for this course will be determined based on the following scale:

Grade	Letter Grade	GPA
97-100	A+	4.3
93-96	A	4.0
90-92	A-	3.7
87-89	B+	3.3
83-86	B	3.0
80-82	B-	2.7
77-79	C+	2.3
73-76	C	2.0
70-72	C-	1.7
67-69	D+	1.3
63-66	D	1.0
60-62	D-	0.7
<60	F	0.0

You are responsible for acting in accordance with the Student Code, available at http://www.dosa.uconn.edu/student_code.cfm?from=im&fn=Judicial%20Affairs.

The required text and software can be purchased locally or from an online vendor.

Required Text:

Hinkle, D.E., Wiersma, W. & Jurs, S.G. (2003). Applied statistics for the behavioral sciences (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin. ISBN-10:  0-618-12405-5 or ISBN-13:  978-0-618-12405-3

Required Software:

SPSS 15.0 Student Version is required for this course.  If you intend to perform advanced quantitative analysis later in your graduate studies, such as for your Capstone Project, then it is recommended that you purchase the SPSS Graduate Pack 15. (For more details about these SPSS products see: http://www.spss.com/vertical_markets/education/SPSS_student_versions.htm)

[Note: Both the SPSS 15.0 Student Version and SPSS Graduate Pack 15 are for student use only and each has a limited period of use. Do not buy used copies of the software. Also, if you plan to perform advanced quantitative analysis beyond your graduate studies (i.e. as part of your work responsibilities), we recommend that you purchase the full version of SPSS.]

Recommended Text:

American Psychological Association. (2005). Publication manual of the american psychological association (5th ed.). Washington , DC: Author. ISBN: 1-55798-791-2

• Word processor software
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• SPSS 15.0

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Students will be provided an opportunity to evaluate instruction in this course using the University's standard procedures, which are administered by the Office of Institutional Research.