讲解 POLS0008 - Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods 2024–2025讲解 Prolog

POLS0008 - Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods

Final report 2024–2025

Guidelines for Completing and Submitting POLS0008 Report

    Read the below guidelines to avoid losing unnecessary marks.

    The assessment is due on 7th May 2025 at 14.00 hours. Please follow all designated Department of Political submissionguidelines. THESE MAY BE DIFFERENCE TO THOSE OF YOUR HOME DEPARTMENT. The submission guidelines are available also on the Moodle page for this module. The word limit is 3,000 words, including tables and graphs, references, and your R script. appendix (see below).

    Name the file you submit using your 2024-25 Candidate number.

    This is an assessed piece of coursework for the POLS0008 module; collaboration in the writing of your essay is strictly prohibited. You are encouraged to discuss coding solutions and variable selection with your classmates but NOT advised to share written code or answers with anyone.

    Along with the report outline, the datasets for the report can be found in the ‘Datasets’ folder on Moodle.

    The data come from The Children,s People and Nature Survey for England.

    You may open the dataset and work on the report anytime up until the submission date. There is no limit on the number of times you may open the data files. Be sure to save your data file and R script file.

    Where appropriate, answers should be written in complete sentences; no bulleting or outlining. Be sure to answer all parts of the questions posed and interpret output statistically and substantively. An attempt will almost always be worth more marks than no attempt.

    You should include tabular and graphical output alongside your written answers.

    You are required to submit a copy of your R script appended to your report. You can copy and paste this from your R script window to the end of your word- processed document.

    FAILURE  TO  SUBMIT  YOUR  R  SCRIPT  WILL  INCUR  A  5-POINT PENALTY.  Note that your R script file should include comments indicating the question   being   addressed.    Your   R    script.   file    should    contain   only    the exercises/questions asked here.

    You do not need to explain in detail the background to the study or methods of data collection.

    You should not cite or discuss relevant literature.

    You should discuss the interpretation of your results and how they relate to the questions you were asked.

    You may  assume  the methods you have used  (e.g.,  chi-square  and  t-test)  are understood by the reader and do not need definitions, but you do need to say which techniques you have used and why.

    10 points will be awarded for presentation.

Submission checklist

These documents should be submitted in one file to a Turnitin link on Moodle.

The data file is “c-pans_waves_ 1-6_holiday_2021_term_2023_open_access.dta” . You can download this file in the usual way from Moodle. A description of the data and links to technical details of the survey can be foundhere.

The variables in the “c-pans_waves_ 1-6_holiday_2021_term_2023_open_access.dta” dataset that you might require are:

DOs and DON’Ts

-     DON’T include raw variable names in the text or tables

-     DON’T use too many decimal places, but be consistent

-     DON’T include unedited R output or you will lose marks

-     DO make sure tables and figures have titles and are referred to in the text

-     DO make sure your tables and figures can be understood without reading the text

-     DO make sure you have given a clear enough description of what you have done so that the reader can reproduce any numbers/results that you present

-     DO be careful how you use the terms ‘significant’ and ‘correlation’ because they have specific meanings in social statistics.

Report brief

You have been commissioned by Natural England to write a report on children’s wellbeing and their connection with the environment. You will use data from the Children’s People and Nature Survey waves 1-6. You should start your report with an introduction describing the data and variables you will use and present complete case sample characteristics in a table (10 points). Your report should end with a concluding section, using no more than 400 words, summarising how your findings can inform whether connection with the environment improves wellbeing, as well as addressing limitations with your data and methods that are based within your findings (20 points).

You should present your results using a maximum of eight figures (tables or plots). Ensure all results are interpreted substantively and statistically. You may be required to recode the data to answer certain questions. You should specify an alpha level of 0.05.

1.   How  does  mean  happiness  vary  within  and  between  the  following  measures: whether the survey was conducted during the school holidays or term time, year the survey was completed and region the child lives in? (10 points)

-     Calculate  an  appropriate  measure  of  central  tendency  and  dispersion  for happiness for categories of period, year and region. Report a table and describe its contents.

2.   Is there a difference in the mean happiness between those who spent time in hills, mountains or moorland in the last week? (15 points)

-     Use  an  appropriate  statistical  test  to  test  this  hypothesis  and  demonstrate whether  your  data  meet  the  assumptions  to  conduct  the  test.  State  your hypothesis and report the results of your test in a table. Describe whether the data meet four assumptions required for the test using the data in the table and using up to two separate plots.

3.   Do children who spent time in hills, mountains or moorland feel more connected to the environment? (10 points)

-     Produce  a  cross  tabulation  between  how   connected  to  the   environment. Describe the finding from your table and report the result of an appropriate statistical test to  determine whether there  is  a  difference  between  the two variables. Present only a final cross-tabulation that meets the assumptions of the test.

4.   Are children who are more connected to the environment happier? (25 points)

-     State a research hypothesis.

-     Report the result of a statistical model in a table.

-     Describe the findings from your model relating to your hypothesis.

-     Check for model fit and describe what it tells you about your model.

-     Check   your  model  for  two  assumptions  of  your  residual  values  using appropriate tests and plots.

10 points are reserved for clear presentation and clarity of answers, especially regarding production of tabular and graphical outputs. This includes readability of all outputs and correct labelling of axes in plots. Table and figure titles as well as numbering are important aspects of presentation. Please make sure to label a  table with a table title, and a figure with a figure title.

    8-10 clear answers with outputs shown in concise format

    5-7 correct answers with outputs that can be understood but cumbersome

    0-4 confused answers with unclear outputs.