Cursos / 2º Ciclo / Faculty of Law :: Criminology

MÉTODOS QUANTITATIVOS - 2018/2019

2º curricular year
Semestralidade: 1st semester
ECTS: 7.5

Teachers

Leading Teacher: Prof. Doutora Olga Cunha
Assistant Professor: Prof. Doutora Olga Cunha

Class type and School hours

Teórico-prática : 1 Horas

Teaching Language

Portuguese

Main Aims/Objectives

The course "Quantitative Methods" has as general objective to equip the students with framed and sustained theoretical knowledge (to know-to know) and with practical and critical skills about quantitative research (to know-to do), in social sciences in general and Criminology and its objects of study in specific.

Specific Aims/Objectives

It is intended that the students contact with the concepts and basic techniques of quantitative research, to be able to apply them to concrete objects, according to their potentialities, through an exercise of operationalization of a quantitative study, which includes the definition of who and how to ask (presenting the possible types of samples and the technique of data collection) and the data analysis using SPSS.

Skills to be acquired

To know the basic concepts: variables; internal and external validity; measurement scales; numerical and graphical methods of data description; types of hypothesis and error; sample types. To build questionnaires, identifying strengths and limitations of this technique. To explore SPSS: to create databases and to introduce data; to apply descriptive statistics; to select the appropriate statistics to explore relationships and differences between groups.

Teaching Procedures

The teaching methodology will be based on theoretical and practical classes with theoretical exposition relating to the basic theoretical statistic and methodological concepts, through a participatory and interrogative methodology to maintain the active involvement of the students in the learning process followed by practical implementation of learning in exemplification exercises of quantitative research phases applied to the specific context of Criminology.

Programme

I. Investigation methodology and quantitative data analysis
1.1. Investigation methodology and data analysis
1.2. Variables
1.3. Quantitative data analysis techniques
II. Data files construction in SPSS
2.1. Data editor, Data view e Variable view
2.2. Data file construction
2.3. Output e Syntax
III. Descriptive statistics on SPSS
3.1. Central tendency and dispersion measures
3.1.1. Mode and frequencies
3.1.2. Median and Interquartile range
3.1.3. Mean and standard deviation
3.2. Charts
3.2.1. Pie chart
3.2.2. Bar chat
3.2.3. Histogram
V. Inferential statistics
4.1. Statistical probabilities
4.2. Statistic errors
4.3. Investigation issues and decision-making process in the selection of the statistical test
4.3.1. Association tests: Pearson correlation coefficient; Spearman Correlation coefficient; Point-Biserial correlation coefficient; Chi-square test
4.3.2. Inter-subjects design: t test for independent samples; Mann-Whitney test; One-Way ANOVA; Kruskal-Wallis test
4.3.3. Intra-subjects design: t test for paired samples; Wilcoxon test; ANOVA for repeated measures; Friedman test

Evaluation Type

Continuous assessment will take into account the classes attendance and will address the following elements: two written exercises, frequency and final exam (when necessary).

Teaching Resources

Video projector to display the essential concepts to the students, as well as the application of examples and specific procedures. The students must solve the exercises using the computer equipment in the classroom.

Sustainability Objectives

Keywords

Quantitative research; data analysis; statistics; SPSS.

Main Bibliography

Complementary Bibliography