r-code-studio-4thmay

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Assignment 2 (Individual) Research Methodology

Spring Session, 2018

University of Kentucky

(55 marks, 25%)

Aims:

This assignment aims at establishing a basic familiarity with fundamental concepts of research

methods including literature review, referencing, research design, data collection, quantitative

research and statistical analysis.

Objectives:

On completion of this assignment, you should be able to understand:

quantitative research and statistical analysis for quantitative research.

Specifications: Your research task to find out the usage of computers on the ground floor in the library of any

university, with one sample t-test and analyse your finding.

Research proposal (10 marks): Your proposal should cover the following aspects:

a. the title,

b. the author of research proposal,

c. the background (if there are any related papers, briefly review them),

d. research problem, e. objectives or aims,

f. the methodology and procedure of the study,

g. the significance of the problem,

h. expected outcomes and

i. references.

(Note: You need to completely rewrite the research proposal, as it is an entirely different

research from Assignment 1. The length of the proposal should not be less than 1200 words, or

three pages with 12pt fonts and reasonable margin)

Quantitative analysis (35 marks):

Keep in mind that you will adopt a one-sample t-test method in your quantitative analysis.

(1) Data collection (10 marks):

Collect the data from at least 20 observations at different time from the library. For each

observation at a time, you obtain a counting result of the number of computers which have been

occupied during the particular time. Provide a table in the research report to give the counts and

the time the data was collected and give an explanation about how data were collected. (2) You should follow the following procedure (15 marks):

a. Give a hypothesis, which reflects your research problem;

b. Carry out your t-test with RStudio (provide the entire sample and R scripts in the report);

c. Draw a research conclusion, including an analysis about your finding.

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(3) Write a formal report. Must follow the report writing requirements studied during the lecture.

(10 marks)

Presentation slides (10 marks):

Create a presentation power point file (12 slides only) to present your research to potential

audiences. Save your slides in the form of 6-in-1. To achieve a high score on this part, you need

to clearly outline the key points of your research and should use figures or graphics to illustrate

it.

Submission Week 12: Tuesday 22, May 2018

Hand in a hardcopy to the lecturer prior to the Week 12 lecture (in the classroom).

You need to submit the following

a. Research proposal,

b. Formal research report and

c. Presentation slides (two pages).

Late Submission: 25% deduction per day.

Plagiarism

A plagiarised assignment will receive a zero mark and be penalised according to the university

rules. Plagiarism detection software will be used for this assignment.