Faculty Contact Information:
| you may contact me either through the email address noted above or at m.w.grojean@aston.ac.uk | |
Consultation:
| As this is a distance education course, consultation will be conducted either through email or the "help desk" conference area I will establish in WebTycho. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
Text used exclusively in this course --
Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J. & Williams, T.A. (2003).Modern Business Statistics with Microsoft Excel, (1st ed.). New York: South-Western College Publishing.
Texts used in multiple courses --
Weiss, C.( 1997). Evaluation, (2nd ed.). Prentice. Chapters 6, 7, 12 only
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (5th ed.). Washington DC: Author. | |
Supplementary Readings:
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/. The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available. The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.
Student will need:
- a handheld calculator with the capability to do exponentiation, roots and handle 2 variables x & y (the TI-30X IIB currently available at AAFES for ca. $12.95 is adequate);
- access to a personal computer with MS-Excel installed (either your home computer, your work computer with permission from your supervisor, or use the hardware and software at a UMUC computer lab). The use of a computer is highly recommended for working with larger data files assigned as homework and supplied on CD-ROM with the text book.
Optional:
- manuals for Texas Instruments calculators can be found at:
http://education.ti.com/us/global/guides.html
- reference book on MS-Excel | |
Recommended Journals:
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Course Description:
| Prerequisites: The equivalent of College Algebra or permission of the Program Director.Provides the knowledge necessary to interpret published research results and to permit elementary research in business and public administration. Content includes: descriptive statistics, probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, ANOVA, sampling, correlation, linear regression and multiple regression. | |
Course Goals:
| As one of two research methods courses in the MPA program, this course provides graduate students with the conceptual and practical tools to develop proposals for and conduct non-experimental research projects, policy analyses, and program evaluations, as well as to evaluate and incorporate the implications of published reports into their practice as professionals. Upon completion of the course, participants should have an understanding of: Research methods as used in management settings. Quantitative research approaches. The of previous research and related literature. The process of hypothesis formulation and testing. Descriptive and inferential statistics. Data requirements for statistical procedures. Ethical considerations and constraints. The role of information technology in quantitative research and statistical analysis. | |
Course Objectives:
| At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to: Determine when quantitative approaches are necessary and appropriate Interpret quantitative research Apply various inferential statistical tests Develop sampling and data collection techniques Utilize descriptive statistics to report findings Define ethical and legal constraints on research Present research findings in written and graphic or oral formats Analyze the application of information technology in research | |
Grading Information:
Grades for this course will be assigned as follows:
A 90%
B 80 – 89%
C 70 – 79%
F Below 70%
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion. Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog. Hard copies of the catalog are available in your local Education Center. | |
Course Requirements:
Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society. In order to maximize your graduate educational experience in general and this course in particular, the following are required:
30% Homework (6 @ 5% per)
30% Quizes (6 @ 5% per)
20% Midterm Exam
20% Final exam | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 14-week graduate distance education courses require at least 10 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
Participation and homework: The student is expected to participate regularly in discussions and complete homework and class assignments on time. A student must be prepared to discuss and work with readings during the session in which they are assigned; you must read ahead to be prepared for class.
This course uses the principles of each lesson to build and reinforce the next. Thus it is imperative that students stay currnet with the material, completing homework and quizzes on time. Emergencies, illnesses and duty assignments constitute excused absences. The student is responsible for material covered and assignments missed during an absence. It is the student’s responsibility to coordinate make up work.
The case problems are based on larger data sets available to the student on the CD-ROM supplied with the textbook. MS-Excel computer software is required to access the data on the CD. In each assignment, the case problem requires problem solving with statistical calculations and some analysis. The analysis is often as simple as answering three questions associated with the case problem. Even so, it is expected that the successful student will respond in complete sentences, organizing their responses, citing sources where necessary, and using correct standard English. Data, calculations, and tabular results may be presented either as computer-generated output (preferred) or in neatly organized and accomplished hand writing. Pages 122-205 of the 5th edition of the APA manual are especially useful in this course and should be followed in your term paper. Section 3.7. of the manual (pages 174-175) is of critical importance for those wishing to avoid charges of plagiarism.
Exams: This course requires multiple exams and quizzes designed to insure that students are acquiring the skills and knowledge necessary for a passing grade.
The instructor reserves the right to modify the class schedule based on needs of the students and class progress in consonance with course objectives. Computer software [Excel, etc.] may be used for all work within the course. However, many of the problems will need to be solved in a step-wise fashion, thus showing work is essential to receiving partial credit in cases where the final answer may be incorrect. | |
Course Schedule:
week 1 (14-20 Jun)
Data and Statistics , Read chapter(s) 1; homework
week 2 (21-27 Jun)
Descriptive statistics, tabular and graph, Read chapter(s) 2; quiz
week 3 (28-4 Jul)
Descriptive statistics, numerical, Read chapter(s) 3; homework
week 4 (5-11 Jul)
Probability (intro and discrete), Read chapter(s) 4, 5; quiz
week 5 (12-18 Jul)
Probability (continuous), Read chapter(s) 6; homework
week 6 (19-25 Jul)
Sampling and Sampling Distributions , Read chapter(s) 7; quiz
week 7 (26-1 Aug)
Intervals, Hypothesis testing, Read chapter(s) 8, 9; mid-term
Break (2-22 Aug)
week 8 (23-29 Aug)
Population means, variance and proportions, Read chapter(s) 10, 11; homework
week 9 (30-5 Sep)
Fit, ANOVA and Experimental design, Read chapter(s) 12, 13; quiz
week 10 (6-12 Sep)
Simple Linear regression, Read chapter(s) 14; homework
week 11 (13-19 Sep)
Multiple regression, Read chapter(s) 15; quiz
week 12 (20-26 Sep)
Regression Model building, Read chapter(s) 16; homework
week 13 (27-3 Oct)
Non-parametrics, sampling, Read chapter(s) 17, 18; quiz
week 14 (4-10 Oct)
Final examination
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Academic Policies:
Please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center. | |
Faculty Bio:
Prior to accepting a faculty appointment at Aston Business School, Birmingham UK, Dr. Michael W. Grojean held two career culminating positions in the practice of Leadership and Human Resource Management. These were as the Leadership Policy Officer for the United States Army and the Director of Human Resources, for the 1st Infantry Division, Germany. He retired from service at the grade of Major, Regular Army.
As the Leadership Policy Officer he was responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing leadership and leader development policy and doctrine for the 1.4 million person active and reserve force in the U.S. Army. He also coordinated leadership research that assessed the effectiveness of Army Leadership policies and programs by working closely with the premier centers for leadership action and research. Of note, Dr. Grojean authored the Army’s mentorship doctrine, critically changing the organizational paradigm of developmental relationships.
In his final position with the U.S. Army, Dr. Grojean served as a Regional Director of Human Resources in Germany where he was responsible for developing, interpreting, integrating and implementing the Army’s human resource programs and policies for over 28,000 organizational and family members. He accomplished this task through the supervision and staff coordination/control over 7 sections consisting of 95 HR specialists.
Dr. Grojean is certified as a Human Resource Manager, Training Developer, and Master Instructor. He received his Master's Degree and Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. He was a 1989 recipient of the George C. Marshall Foundation's Leadership Award and 1999 Robert J. Wherry Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychologists. His 22 year career prior to joining Academe has given him experience in the application, development and instruction of various leadership, training, subordinate development and mentorship programs. He has taught over 2000 instructional hours as well as has developed dozens of training support packages, lesson plans and course curricula.
Dr Grojean’s research interests lie in the intersection between leadership, leader development, organizational citizenship, and developmental relationships such as mentorship. His research has been published in Human Performance, Leadership Quarterly, and The Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences, as well as many confidential internal Army reports and publications.
In addition to his academic posting to Aston Business School, he is an adjunct Assistant-Professor in the University of Maryland University College. Dr. Grojean is also a partner in a management consultancy group, the PHI Group, LLC, where he specializes in leadership, leader development and coaching. Of recent note, he is the founding co-director of the Aston Center for Leadership Excellence – a not-for-profit organization dedicated to bridging the gap between the science and practice of leadership and leader development.
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