spss Sample Second Assignment.docx

1、spss Sample Second AssignmentUniversity of GlamorganMSc AccountingModule: Accounting Research Management and MethodsAssignment 2: Statistical StudyTo: University of GlamorganFrom: Student Number XXXXXDate: XXXXXXXStatistical Research Study:Analysing the performance of a first year undergraduate clas

2、s in the Financial Accounting Module.Statistical Study:Table of Contents:Page 3 IntroductionPage 3-4 Selection and Source of DataPage 4 Research StudyPage 5-11 Results of StudyPage 12 Limitations of Study Page 12 Further ResearchPage 12 ConclusionsPage 13 - 15 Appendices 1 - 3Page 16 Reference listi

3、ng1. Introduction:This report is an analysis of student performance in the Financial Accounting module of an undergraduate business studies course at the XXX Institute of Technology. The group of 79 students were enrolled on the National Certificate in Business Studies (General Options) and the part

4、icipants studied Financial Accounting for the first time. On achieving an average grade of at least 40% in this two year course, the successful graduates have the option to further their studies firstly with a National Diploma in Business Studies and then a Bachelor of Business Studies Degree (subje

5、ct to achieving at least a merit 2 in the Diploma which is an average grade of 55%). At the diploma and degree stages, each candidate has the option to pursue a qualification in Marketing, Accounting or Management. (This course progression is illustrated in appendix 1).Previous research in this area

6、 has indicated that students enrolled on non-specialist accounting courses perform poorly in the core accounting modules (Lane and Porch, 2002).The study, using a quantitative approach, considered whether or not this group of students performed poorly in the Financial Accounting module and tried to

7、establish what were the key quantifiable measures influencing performance.It is recognised at the outset that this sample is not necessarily representative of the entire population of first year undergraduate students enrolled on similar courses at other third level colleges throughout Ireland. It i

8、s also acknowledged that there are likely to be many unknown social factors influencing the performance of students enrolled on first year undergraduate courses. This study is exploratory in nature and the results will hopefully indicate areas for further research.2. Selection & Source of data set:2

9、.1 Choice of group:The primary objective of the study was to explore the performance of a group of students in a Financial Accounting module. This module was one of the core subjects in the two year National Certificate in Business Studies (General Option) offered at the XXX Institute of Technology.

10、 In order to gain entry to this course for the 2003/4 academic year, the applicant had to achieve a minimum of 200 points in their final secondary school examination, the Leaving Certificate. The method used to calculate the number of points achieved by a candidate in the Leaving Certificate is show

11、n in appendix 2.2.2 Selection of appropriate data:The following data was used to analyse the performance of the group: Final grades achieved in the Financial Accounting module; Continuous assessment grades achieved in the Financial Accounting module; Percentage attendance to accounting lectures for

12、each student during the year; The total grade point average achieved by each student in year one; Final grades achieved in the Statistics module; Gender details for the class; Entry level points obtained in the Leaving Certificate for each student; Percentage achieved by each student in Leaving Cert

13、ificate mathematics; (Note: all students, with one exception, sat the lower level Leaving Certificate maths paper. The student who sat the higher level maths paper was given the equivalent percentage grade based on the tables in appendix 2.)2.3 Source of Data:Information relating to first year grade

14、s and grades obtained in the Leaving Certificate details were obtained, in confidence, from the Registrars Office at the XXX Institute of Technology. All of the remaining information (gender, continuous assessment marks and class attendance) was recorded by the lecturer during the year.3. The Resear

15、ch Study:3.1 Objectives:The objectives of this study are to question if:A. This group of students performed poorly in the accounting module when compared with their overall performance in the first year of the course?B. Gender differences exist?C. There are correlations between:i. The level of class

16、 attendance and Financial Accounting grades;ii. Leaving Certificate points and Financial Accounting grades;iii. Leaving Certificate maths grades and Financial Accounting grades;iv. The grades achieved in the Statistics module and the Financial Accounting module;v. Continuous assessment grades for ac

17、counting and the final grades for accounting;vi. The overall grade point average and the Financial Accounting grades.3.2 Approach:The methodology used to answer the research questions posed at 3.1 above was to select an appropriate statistical package (SPSS used), run appropriate statistical tests a

18、nd interpret results in a clear and concise format.4. Results of Study:The statistical results are duly considered under the following four categories: Frequencies; Cross Tabulations; T tests (comparison of means); Linear Regression.4.1 Frequencies:The first tests performed on the data set were to e

19、stablish frequencies for the scale data within the data set. By performing basic tests we are able to establish the mean, median, mode, standard deviation and range of values. This helps us to understand our data better by establishing what the average grades were and if they are normally distribute

20、d whilst at the same time highlighting any obvious discrepancies arising from incorrect data input.It is evident from the summary statistics table (figure 1) that the data for Leaving Cert points, Leaving Cert maths %, continuous assessment, Financial Accounting grades, Statistics grades and grade p

21、oint average all have the characteristics of a normal distribution as the mean and the median in each case are very similar (although the distribution for continuous assessment is slightly skewed to the left).Figure 1: Summary StatisticsLeaving Cert PointsLeaving cert maths %Attendance%Continuous As

22、s. %Financial accounting grade %Statistics grade%Grade point averageMean295.5761.2963.956.3947.0143.4150.23Median2956268.3257.5474250Mode a275577060404051Std. Deviation41.30913.24319.13715.9515.02317.10911.335Variance1706.402175.389366.236254.393225.679292.706128.486Range205539187746850Minimum200427

23、091225Maximum405959887838075First (25th) Percentiles2705253.4748.33382942Third (75th) Percentiles3256778.2268.33565759a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shownFigure 2 shows that the results achieved in Financial Accounting follow a normal distribution. The significance of this is that we

24、can now run a full set of statistical tests on the data as it is symmetric.The first observation of note from the summary statistics presented in figure 1 is that the mean grade for the Financial Accounting module (47%) is lower than the grade point average for the first year (50%). Whereas this con

25、firms that this group of students did not perform as well in the Financial Accounting module when compared with their overall performance in first year, the difference is not that large at 3%. It is worth noting that the mean grade for first year Statistics (43%) is lower, as these are the only two

26、subjects that require analytical skills.It is also worth noting that the distribution of attendances for this group are not symmetric, being skewed to the left with a mean of 63.9% and a median of 68.3%. Whereas the mean or average attendance for the year is 63.9%, the median value (mid point for th

27、e class) indicates that 50% of the class attended considerably more than the mean at 68.3% attendance. Therefore the median is more informative here. Whereas there was some very good attendance figures recorded for this class, there were also some very poor attendances which dragged the average atte

28、ndance for the class down. 4.2 Cross Tabulations:Following on from the frequency tests described above, it was decided to carry out some cross tabulation tests to have a closer look at how male students and female students performed. In order to perform these tests, it was necessary to recode certai

29、n variables into smaller more manageable groupings. This was done for Financial Accounting %, Leaving Cert points, grade point average, attendance and Leaving Cert Maths %. The cross tabs illustrated in figures 3-8 inclusive show horizontal percentage totals for each of the sub groupings for male an

30、d female.The crosstabs presented all show that female students in the class have out-performed their male counterparts. For Financial Accounting, of the 16 students that achieved grades in excess of 60%, 81% of them were female and 19% male. This better performance by female students is confirmed wh

31、en one looks at the grade point average and the Leaving Cert points. Of the 18 students who achieved a grade point average in excess of 60%, 72% of them are female students and 18% male. Of the 35 students who entered this course with 300 points or more, 66% of them are female and 34% male. A closer

32、 look at attendances shows us that 68% of those who attended 60% or more of all classes were female students. When interpreting these results it should be noted that there are more female students than male in the class (57% of the class are female students and 43% male).Despite the fact that female studen