Task 2 Practical Report (90%)
Task 2 is to address one research question of your choice that can be extracted from a case study. The dataset relating to the case study will be provided in an EXCEL file. You are required to use it for the purpose of this assignment and to conduct a thorough analysis. This part should have no more than 2000 words.
In this part, you should fulfil the following requirements.
1. Introduction (20%)
Explain the purpose of your study, use min. 4 citations (must be journal papers) to justify your research question, why it is interesting and important to do, and then clearly state your overall research question (just a single question focusing on single variable of interest). This takes 10%.
Clearly list your hypotheses (min. 4 hypotheses) which will be tested in section 3 and 4. This takes 10%.
Please note: there is no literature review required in this coursework.
2. Descriptive statistics (15%)
Describe the data for your study explain the dataset and conduct descriptive statistics
Use tables and figures to support your analysis
3. Hypothesis testing (20%)
Test the relationship between your variable of interest and other variables.
Clearly State and shortly justify your hypotheses (min. 3 hypotheses) at the beginning of this section
Test your hypotheses in detail, report and comment the results.
4. Regression analysis (20%)
Test the hypotheses related to your research question
Clearly State and shortly justify your hypotheses (min. 1hypotheses) at the beginning of this section
Test your hypotheses by running regression models in detail,report and comment the results.
5. Conclusion (5%)
Summarise your key findings in a professional way.
Limitations of your research if any
Format and Reference (10%)
Put the most important table and figure in the context, and auxiliary or lengthy tables should be appended.
Words count from Introduction till Conclusion and Recommendations.
Please also note:
1. You must make use of all the following data types in your analysis.
Categorical
Numerical: Discrete
Numerical: Continuous
2. Your data analysis must test hypotheses and include:
Describing a group (or several groups)
Inference about one group
Comparing two (or more) groups
Analysing the relationship between two or more variables
Aim at using the above four tasks for combinations of numerical and categorical data.
3. Organise and visualise your data and results clearly, using tables and figures as appropriate.
4. Explain your findings clearly.
5. Draw conclusions from your findings. This may include recommendations where appropriate, depending on your topic.
6. All statistical workings (Excel or other statistical software output) must be shown clearly in the appendix, except for the tables and figures showing your final results (these should be put in main content).
7. The report should include (but not limit to) the components explained below in The structure.
Assignment Number and Weighting Assignment 1
100% Anonymous marking No
Submission Date and Time See Aula submission link Expected return of feedback and marked work 14 working days from the deadline (the last day of submission)
Submission
Procedure Report Submission
Electronically via Aula only (Turnitin system) Word Count 2500; A penalty on excess words
Assignment Title End of Course Assignment Learning Outcomes See Module Handbook
The Task and Requirements
The assignment requires you to write a report (less than 2500 words in total) in which you will apply the knowledge you learn from this module. There are two tasks that should be covered in this report.
Task 1 Weekly Reflection (10%)
You must write a concise summary reflective on what you have learnt in each of the 10 weeks during this module. This part should have no more than 500 words. You should use the following template in your report.
Week 1
In week 1, I
Week 2
Week 10
Task 2 Practical Report (90%)
Task 2 is to address one research question of your choice that can be extracted from a case study. The dataset relating to the case study will be provided in an EXCEL file. You are required to use it for the purpose of this assignment and to conduct a thorough analysis. This part should have no more than 2000 words.
In this part, you should fulfil the following requirements.
1. Introduction (20%)
Explain the purpose of your study, use min. 4 citations (must be journal papers) to justify your research question, why it is interesting and important to do, and then clearly state your overall research question (just a single question focusing on single variable of interest). This takes 10%.
Clearly list your hypotheses (min. 4 hypotheses) which will be tested in section 3 and 4. This takes 10%.
Please note: there is no literature review required in this coursework.
2. Descriptive statistics (15%)
Describe the data for your study explain the dataset and conduct descriptive statistics
Use tables and figures to support your analysis
3. Hypothesis testing (20%)
Test the relationship between your variable of interest and other variables.
Clearly State and shortly justify your hypotheses (min. 3 hypotheses) at the beginning of this section
Test your hypotheses in detail, report and comment the results.
4. Regression analysis (20%)
Test the hypotheses related to your research question
Clearly State and shortly justify your hypotheses (min. 1 hypotheses) at the beginning of this section
Test your hypotheses by running regression models in detail, report and comment the results.
5. Conclusion (5%)
Summarise your key findings in a professional way.
Limitations of your research if any
Format and Reference (10%)
Put the most important table and figure in the context, and auxiliary or lengthy tables should be appended.
Words count from Introduction till Conclusion and Recommendations.
Please also note:
1. You must make use of all the following data types in your analysis.
Categorical
Numerical: Discrete
Numerical: Continuous
2. Your data analysis must test hypotheses and include:
Describing a group (or several groups)
Inference about one group
Comparing two (or more) groups
Analysing the relationship between two or more variables
Aim at using the above four tasks for combinations of numerical and categorical data.
3. Organise and visualise your data and results clearly, using tables and figures as appropriate.
4. Explain your findings clearly.
5. Draw conclusions from your findings. This may include recommendations where appropriate, depending on your topic.
6. All statistical workings (Excel or other statistical software output) must be shown clearly in the appendix, except for the tables and figures showing your final results (these should be put in main content).
7. The report should include (but not limit to) the components explained below in The structure.
The Case Studies in Task 2: Investing for Retirement
Financial advisors offer many types of advice to customers. Generally, people agree that one of the best things people can do is to invest as much as possible in tax-deferred retirement plans. Not only are the earnings from these investments exempt from income tax (until retirement) but the investment itself is tax-exempt. However which group takes advantage of this attractive investment opportunity: everyone, people with low salaries, people with high salaries, or who?
You are asked to write a report on the tendency of couples to invest in tax-deferred retirement plans. The data are in the file 201 Dataset – Investing for Retirement.xlsx. Variables are as follows:
Variable Name Variable Description
Couple Couple ID
City The city the couple living in
Children Number of dependent children
Salary (USD) Combined annual salary of husband and wife
Mortgage (USD) Outstanding mortgage on home
Debt (USD) Average amount of (non-mortgage) debt on other items (including car)
Invested (%) Percentage of combined income invested in tax-deferred retirement plans (limited to 15%)
Layout
The structure of the report
Front matters
PART A: Weekly Reflection
PART B: Practical Report
End matters
Front matters include:
1. Coversheet (showing your ID and Name)
2. Title page
3. Table of contents, automatically created with your word processors index function
4. Lists of tables and figures, automatically created with your word processors index function
End matters include:
1. List of references (APA style)
2. Appendix
Your work should be word processed in accordance with the following:
Font style: Times New Roman; Font size: 12; Spacing: 1.5 line spacing.
Pages should be numbered.
The page orientation should be portrait.
Margins on four sides (top, bottom, left and right) of the page should be no less than 2cm.
Marking Criteria/Rubric
Please check the EXCEL file of marki
