Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA Urban Studies programme.
Description
In this course students will get familiar with basic concepts in methodology and descriptive statistics necessary to conduct research in Urban Studies such as the empirical cycle, research designs, spatial analysis with use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), central tendency and variability, the normal distribution, relationsips between variables and describing and explaining variance.
Students will acquire practical skills of data analysis through several assignments that are imbedded in urban research.
Together with the course Data Collection, the course will form the compulsory basis for methodology courses in the second year.
Course objectives
General learning outcomes
See tab Additional information for the overview of the programme's general learning outcomes. In the assessment methods below is outlined which general learning outcome will be tested through which method.
Course objectives, pertaining to this course
The student is able to:
1) Describe core concepts of methods and techniques in Urban Studies such as the emprirical cycle, variables, measurement level, central tendency and variability, distributions, association, experimental design.
2) Describe basic concepts in desciptive statistics such as measures of central tendency and variability, measures of association, and elementary geospatial data concepts (data formats, vector/raster, projections, and spatial tools).
3) Use SPSS for descriptive statistics and will have elementary skills in using ArcGIS for spatial analysis
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture (compulsory attendance)
Tutorial (compulsory attendance)
This means that students have to attend every tutorial session of the course. If a student is unable to attend a tutorial or lecture, they should inform the lecturer in advance, providing a valid reason for absence. The teacher will determine if and how the missed session can be compensated by an additional assignment. If they are absent from a tutorial without a valid reason, they can be excluded from the final exam in the course.
Assessment method
Assessment
Tutorial assignments (covering SPSS and ArcGIS).
-measured programme's general learning outcomes: 4, 7, 11, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25
-measured course specific objectives: 1-3Final exam
Written examination with closed questions (multiple choice)
-measured programme's general learning outcomes: 7, 16-17
-measured course specific objectives: 1-2
Weighing
| Partial grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Final exam | 100 |
End grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
All assignments need to be evaluated as ‘sufficient’ in order to obtain an end grade
If any of these assignments is insufficient, the student will get an obligatory extra assignment that needs to be evaluated as ‘sufficient’ in order to obtain the end grade
The exam grade needs to be at least 5.5 to pass
Hence, the student passes the course if (1) all (replacement-) assignments are evaluated as sufficient and (2) the exam grade is 5.5 or higher
Resit
If the final exam grade is lower than 5.50, there is a possibility of retaking the final exam, replacing the previous final exam grade.
Faculty regulations concerning participation in resits are listed in article 4.1 of the Faculty Course and Examination Regulations.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
Howell, D. (2012). Statistical Methods for Psychology (8th international edition). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.
Leary, M.L. (2014).* Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods (6th international edition). Boston: Pearson.
Pallant, J. (2016). SPSS Survival Manual (6th edition). Berkshire: McGraw-Hill.
Examples will be used from Knox & Pinch (2010). Urban Social Geography: An Introduction (6th edition). London & New York: Routledge.
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
Students will be enrolled for Exams by the Administration Office, as long as they have a valid Tutorial enrolment.
General information about uSis is available on the website
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA Urban Studies
Remarks
None.