ISKB15 Bachelor Thesis Seminar: Methodology of LIS

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Jiří Kudrnáč, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. David Lacko, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Pavlína Mazáčová, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. PhDr. Jiří Kudrnáč, CSc.
Department of Information and Library Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Alice Lukavská
Supplier department: Department of Information and Library Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Fri 16:00–17:40 C11
Prerequisites
ISKB06 Methodology of LIS
Knowledge in the range of ISKB06 Methodology in LIS
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
At the end of the course the student will be able to carry out quantitative or quantitative research in his or her bachelor thesis. The subject is practically conceived, students will gradually pass through the process of quantitative research on the example of questionnaire, learn to analyse their own data, interpret the results and report them in a research report.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- justify the choice of research design and describe its advantages and limitations;
- analyze quantitative and qualitative data;
- prepare, cleanse, visualize, and describe data;
- verify assumptions of statistical tests;
- statistically test and interpret hypotheses;
- perform basic statistical analyses in selected statistical software (IBM SPSS, JASP, or jamovi);
- report results in a research report.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the course. Description of the final report.
  • 2. Introduction to statistical analysis. Misuse of statistics. Statistical softwares. Data preparation and data cleaning. Outlier analysis.
  • 3. Descriptive statistics I: Distribution of values, mean, measure of dispersion. Simple sorting. Data description. Creation of new variables.
  • 4. Descriptive statistics II: Contingency tables. Graphs. Interpretation of descriptive statistics.
  • 5. Data analysis exercise (descriptive statistics).
  • 5. Inferential Statistics I: Probability. Confidence intervals. Significance level. P-value. Type I. and II. errors. Effect sizes. Statistical power. Parametric and non-parametric procedures.
  • 6. Inferential statistics II: Analysis of differences (t-tests, ANOVA, MANOVA, post-hoc tests). Interpretation of results.
  • 7. Inferential Statistics III: Analysis of relationships (Chi-square, Correlation, Regression). Interpretation of results.
  • 8. Evaluation of the questionnaire: Psychometric analysis (reliability analysis, item analysis, item difficulty, validity analysis, factor analysis). Critical appraisal of the questionnaire. Suggestions for improving the questionnaire.
  • 9. Data analysis exercise (inferential statistics).
  • 10. Qualitative research I: Specification of the qualitative approach. Narrative approach. Phenomenology. Ethnographic approach. Case studies. Grounded theory. Document analysis. Bibliographic approach
  • 11. Qualitative research II: Methods of qualitative approach.
  • 12. Introduction to analysis in qualitative research: Types of coding. 12. Data processing. Data interpretation. Consistency of raters.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • HENDL, Jan. Přehled statistických metod : analýza a metaanalýza dat. Páté, rozšířené vydán. Praha: Portál, 2015, 734 stran. ISBN 9788026209812. info
  • MAREŠ, Petr, Ladislav RABUŠIC and Petr SOUKUP. Analýza sociálněvědních dat (nejen) v SPSS (Data analysis in social sciences (using SPSS)). 1. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, 508 pp. ISBN 978-80-210-6362-4. Projekty Nakladatelství Munipress info
  • DISMAN, Miroslav. Jak se vyrábí sociologická znalost. [Brno: Masarykova univerzita. Středisko pro pomoc studentům se specifickými nároky, 2001, 1 online. URL info
  • FIELD, Andy P. Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics. 5th edition. Los Angeles: Sage, 2018, xxix, 1070. ISBN 9781526419521. info
  • AGRESTI, Alan. Statistical methods for the social sciences. Fifth edition, global editio. Harlow, England: Pearson, 2018, 557 stran. ISBN 9781292220314. info
  • HEALEY, Joseph F. Statistics: A Tool for Social Research. 3rd ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Inc., 1993, 555 pp. ISBN 0-534-17742-5. info
  • URBÁNEK, Tomáš, Denisa DENGLEROVÁ and Jan ŠIRŮČEK. Psychometrika : měření v psychologii. [Brno]: [Masarykova univerzita. Středisko pro pomoc studentům se specifickými nároky], 2020, 1 online. URL info
  • HUFF, Darrell. How to lie with statistics. Illustrated by Irving Geis. New York: Norton, 1993, 142 p. ISBN 0393310728. info
  • PALLANT, Julie. SPSS survival manual : a step by step guide to data analysis using IBM SPSS. 7th edition. London: McGraw Hill, Open university press, 2020, xvi, 361. ISBN 9780335249497. info
  • HENDL, Jan. Kvalitativní výzkum : základní teorie, metody a aplikace. Čtvrté, přepracované a r. Praha: Portál, 2016, 437 stran. ISBN 9788026209829. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, e-learning, group research project, discussion, data analysis exercise.
Assessment methods
Writing of the final report of the self-administered survey (5-10 NS). The structure of the report follows the IMRaD. The paper must include a description of:
1) Theoretical background (0-5 points);
2) Questionnaire construction (0-3 points);
3) Hypotheses, research questions and operationalization of variables (0-3 points);
4) Data collection process (0-2 points);
5) The population studied - descriptive statistics (0-4 points);
6) Results - inductive statistics (0-8 points);
7) Discussion and interpretation of results (0-5 points).

A maximum of 30 points can be obtained. A minimum of 1 point must be obtained in each area. Students may work in research teams (pairs, trios).
Grading:
28-30 points = A;
25-27 points = B;
22-24 points = C;
19-21 points = D;
16-18 points = E;
0-15 points = F.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2023/ISKB15