TU-L0022 - Statistical Research Methods D, Lecture, 2.11.2021-6.4.2022

Topic outline

• Unit 1: Introduction
  To complete this unit you need to

  1. Participate the introductory lecture (optional) or watch the introduction videos
  2. Get access to the course materials stored in the Zotero library.
  3. Read the instructions for written assignments and plagiarism policy.
  4. Complete the unit 1 discussion forum task according to the instructions that will be posted to the forum.
  5. Choose a group to indicate what you want to learn. The course content may be customized based on the choice.
  6. Do pre-exam signup.
  7. Study for the pre-exam and complete the pre-exam.

  The purpose of the introduction unit is to familiarize you with how a blended learning course works. The unit starts with an introductory lecture, followed by a short introductory forum task. The introductory unit concludes with the course pre-exam.

  • 

    Unit 1 discussion forum

    Make forum posts: 1
  • Course practicalities

    These videos explain how the course works and explain some things that you could consider when choosing which statistical software to use for the course assignment.

  • 

    Course introduction (13:35) H5P
  • 

    Focus on the basics (12:30) H5P
  • 

    Structure of a learning unit (3:53) H5P
  • 

    Using interactive videos (5:42) H5P
  • 

    Using discussion forums (3:19) H5P
  • 

    Written assignments and plagiarism policy (7:28) H5P
  • 

    Computer assignments (8:11) H5P
  • 

    Credits and grading (7:58) H5P
  • 

    Course materials (2:13) H5P
  • Course materials

    The reading materials for the course are distributed through the Zotero reference management system. To get access to the materials:

    1. Create an user account at Zotero.org
       
    2. Enter your Zotero username below
       
    3. The course instructor will send you an invitation to a group library, which you need to accept.
       

    After you have accepted the invitation, you can access the material either online with a web browser or by installing the Zotero software on your computer and entering your username and password to the synchronisation options.

    
    

  • Teaching tools

  • Tools for online teaching

    Because of the pandemic, the course will run at least partly online. We will use Zoom for seminars and computer classes. In the computer classes, some of the guidance can be provided using Zoom's remote control feature. If you are using a Mac, you will need to adjust your security settings of your computer to allow this to happen. You will need to do this after the remote control session has been initiated the first time.

  • 

    Zoom documentation: Remote control URL
  • 

    Zoom documentation: Security settings on Mac URL
  • Flinga is an online teaching tool that we will use on the course. Flinga is like an online whiteboard where we can add PostIt notes and draw. See the following short video on how to add content to Flinga. You can also try it out using the whiteboard linked below.
  • 

    Using Flinga (0:35) H5P
  • 

    Try using Flinga Whiteboard here URL
  • Choosing a statistical software

    The analysis techniques that we cover on the course are fairly basic and can be completed with any general statistical package. The course provides support for Stata, R, and SPSS. If you do not have any experience on any of these software, Stata is recommended. More technically oriented students R might also be a good alternative. If you are not sure how to get access to these software, please use the course discussion forum to ask about this.

    If you want to get a thorough introduction to these software, you can also try completing the analysis assignments using different software. The two videos below discuss differences between the software.

  • 

    About statistical software (21:19) H5P
  • 

    Screencast: Demonstration of SPSS, Stata, and R URL
  • Group choice

    The course content will be customized based on your choice. The students that want to do quantitative research themselves are shown a few extra activities that teach concepts that are important if you want to estimate statistical models yourself, but are not important for the interpretation and evaluation of the results. Your choice will not affect the grade or credits and you can change the choice at any time. Your choice will not be visible for other students.
    

  • 

    Choose a group Group choice

    View Choose a group
  • Crowdsourcing captions and video descriptions

    The law requires the video materials of the course to be captioned. 

    To get good captions for the course videos, we use crowdsourcing model where the students will check and fix the captions. All videos are initially captioned using either rev.com service or by undergraduate students. However, some of the specialized terminology is not know to a generic caption worker. Therefore, someone who understands the course material needs to check and correct the captions.

    Captions are edited using the YouTube captions editor. Please enter your YouTube username below and then read the instructions on how the captions are edited.

  • Pre-exam

    The pre-exam is a traditional written exam that you must pass to be able to participate and get credits. The purpose of the pre-exam is to get everyone on the same basic level at the start of the course. The exam covers the following two books:

    Singleton, R., & Straits, B. C. (2018). Approaches to social research (Sixth edition). New York: Oxford University Press. (Hard copy at library, PDFs at course Zotero library)

    Allison, P. D. (1998). Multiple Regression: A Primer (1st edition). Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press. (ebook at library)

    The exam consists of four questions. In the first question is term definitions, in which you need to define 8 terms from the course material. The three remaining questions are essays. The exam questions are chosen randomly form a question pool below. You do not get to choose which you answer, but should be prepared to answer any of them. No materials are allowed in the exam room.

    The exam is done using the EXAM electronic examination system. There are a few classrooms equipped with the system and you need to reserve a time in one of these classes. Then, at the reserved time, you arrive in the EXAM class, log into the computer and follow the instructions to complete the exam.

  • 

    Question pool for the exam File

    PDF document

    View
  • 

    How to operate in the EXAM studio (2:13) URL
  • Sign up for the pre-exam

    Sign up for the pre-exam using the EXAM electronic examination system. The exam is open for the first two weeks of December. See the links below or the syllabus for the exact dates.

    • Sign up for pre-exam at Aalto
    • Sign up for pre-exam at JYU

    If you missed the original exam or did not receive a passing grade, you can complete a retake exam by the end of January

    • Sign up for pre-exam at Aalto (retake)
    • Sign up for pre-exam at JYU (retake)

    
    
    

  • Materials

  • 

    Slides: Course practicalities File

    Powerpoint 2007 presentation
  • 

    Crowdsourcing of captions URL

    View

    Read the instructions for checking the captions and check your current assignments.