Study Guide

Objective

After passing the course the student is able to:
· search and utilize scientific literature
· identify and describe the main research and development approaches and analysis methods
· choose and apply an appropriate methodology for his/her work
- choose a suitable software or programming environment for statistical analysis.
- use the basic functionality of the chosen environment.
- be aware of differences in data file formats and is able to open files for reading and writing.
- perform basic data cleansing e.g. to treat outliers and missing data.
- know the difference between data types.
- do basic sampling descriptive statistics
- graphically represent data.
- make linear fits and linear regression analysis.
- do statistical tests, Z-test, F-test and Student’s t-test

Content

Basics of research
Qualitative and quantitative research methods
Start of the Master´s Thesis project

Materials

Qualitative research methods:
Eriksson, P. & Kovalainen, A. 2008.Qualitative Methods in Business Research. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.
Klenke, K., Martin, S. and Wallace, J.R. 2016. Qualitative Research in the Study of Leadership: Second Edition. Bingley: Emerald.
Auerbach, C. & Silverstein, L.B. 2003. Qualitative Data : An Introduction to Coding and Analysis. New York: New York Univesity Press. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Dey, I. 2005. Qualitative Data Analysis: a user-friendly guide for social scientists. London: Taylor & Francis.
Ouantitative methods:
Michael H. Herzog, Gregory Francis, Aaron Clarke. Understanding Statistics and Experimental Design - How to Not Lie with Statistics. Springer Open. 2019 ISBN 978-3-030-03498-6 ISBN 978-3-030-03499-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03499-3
Sarah E. Burke and Rachel T. Silvestrini. The Certified Quality Engineer Handbook. ASQ Quality Press
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 2017
Franz Kronthaler, Silke Zöllner. Data Analysis with RStudio - An Easy going Introduction. Springer Spectrum and R Studio. 2021 ISBN 978-3-662-62517-0 ISBN 978-3-662-62518-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-62518-7.

Teaching methods

Qualitative research methods:
- individual and team work
- self- and peer-assessments
- discussions
- presentations
Quantitative methods:
- Individual and team work
- Exercises
- Presentations

International connections

Qualitative research methods:
- individual and team assignments
Quantitative methods:
- individual and team assignments

Student workload

Qualitative research methods:
2 x 4 h online meetings + independent work individually and in groups
research and analysis methods and tools - exercises
Quantitative methods:
2x4h online meetings + independent work and exercises

Content scheduling

Qualitative Research:
Content:
- different types of approaches and research principles
- qualitative research and analysis methods: interviews, benchmarking, questionnaires with open questions, workshops / brainstorming, content analysis with coding
- quality issues and ethics in the research, data management, IPR and GDPR
- literature search, evaluation and use of the appropriate research methods for projects and master's thesis
Ouantitative methods:
-Basics of Probability Theory
-Basics of Experiment Design
-Data file formats and file reading.
-Data cleansing, outliers and missing data
-Graphical representation of data.
-Curve fitting and linear regression
-Sampling and descriptive statistics
-Statistical tests, Z-test, F-test and Student’s t-test

Master's Thesis plan and opposing - presentations 9.12.2021 9.00-16.00

Evaluation scale

H-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Quantitative methods:
- Individual and group assignments
- Online exams and quick tests

Assessment criteria, fail (0)

- Quantity: Assignments are not completed to an acceptable level and or not returned assignments - instructions have not been followed
- Quality: The minimum learning objectives are not met

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2)

Communication and reflection are acceptable - assignments partly done according to the instructions

Assessment criteria, good (3-4)

Communication and reflection are good - assignments done according to the instructions

Assessment criteria, excellent (5)

Outstanding communication, reflection and application - assignments done according to the instructions and returned on time -by the deadline