ASSESSMENT BRIEF – T1 2019
COURSE: Bachelor of Business / Bachelor of Accounting
Unit: Quantitative Methods
Unit Code: QMTH 104
Type of Assessment: Assessment 3 – Group business report
Length/Duration:
2000 words (maximum)
Unit Learning
Outcomes addressed: 1. Understand ethics and ethical behaviour in undertaking a statistical study.
2. Interpret data by using descriptive statistics.
3. Explain probability, probability distributions and their applications in decision making.
4. Explain the concepts of statistical inference and its application.
5. Interpret results and make decisions through the use of appropriate statistical techniques.
Submission Date:
Week 11
Assessment Task: Business reports are practical learning tasks where students apply the theories they have been studying to real-world situations. The students are required to select a topic, collect information (Primary and/or secondary) and prepare a report describing a business problem or incident. This report should consist of (not inclusive) Abstract, Introduction, Objectives, Methodologies, Information Analysis, Findings, Recommendations, References, and Appendices.
Total Mark:
100 marks
Weighting: 25%
Students are advised that any submissions past the due date without an approved extension or without approved extenuating circumstances incur a 5% penalty per calendar day, calculated from the total mark
E.g. a task marked out of 40 will incur a 2 mark penalty per calendar day.
More information, please refer to (Documents Student Policies and Forms POLICY – Assessment Policy & Procedures – Login Required)
ASSESSMENT DESCRIPTION:
This is an ongoing mini research - group assignment that students need to carry out between week 4 – 11. The title of the mini research is ‘Expenditure Patterns of International Students in Australia (ExPat Survey, T1 2019)’. Students need to follow the steps given below.
a. Forming groups: Students will be formed as groups (3-4 students) by the lecturer between week 3 and 4. Students MUST enroll in a group within this time frame in order to participate in this assignment task.
b. Prepare the survey questionnaire and data collection: Under the supervision of your lecturer design a survey questionnaire with 10 questions by week 5. The contents of the questionnaire must be as follows.
a. No of Categorical questions – 4 (Gender, country, type of studies etc..)
b. No of expenditure related questions – 5 (monthly rent expenditure, monthly internet expenditure, monthly entertainment expenditure etc..)
c. Monthly average income
• Logistics: Group members need to print 20 copies of the questionnaire and prepare for the data collection
• Sampling: Select a random sample of 20 international students from your city (sample size = 20)
• Data collection: Group members need to meet randomly selected 20 students and collect data using the printed survey questionnaire. – by week 6
c. Data filtering: After completing the data collection transfer them into an excel sheet – by week 7
d. Data analysing: The data set must be analysed with the help of Microsoft Excel (making tables, drawing graphs and finding descriptive statics etc. By week 8
e. Reporting and documentation: Your findings need to be reported according to the format given below (week 9 -11)
Reporting Format
1. Title page
Design a title page with an appropriate name for your business report, group members name, and student IDs.
2. Executive summary
Here you need to summarise the whole report findings into a smaller paragraph (need to do at the end)
3. Table of contents
Table of contents needs to be generated electronically in Microsoft Word.
4. Introduction
Give a brief introduction to your population and aims and objectives of the report
5. Method of data collection
Briefly describe your survey questions, nature of your variables, your respondents, sampling strategy and method of data collection. Include your data set in a form of a table with this section or as an appendix.
6. Summary of the data set
Give appropriate graphical and numerical summaries that describe your variables (Microsoft Excel can be used for this task). Also, provide a brief discussion under each of your data summaries based on your judgments and compare your results with similar studies.
7. Descriptive data analysis
Select any four numerical variables from your data set and prepare a summary of descriptive statistics using Microsoft Excel for each of them. Interpret your key findings (mean, variance and standards deviation etc) and provide justifications with a brief discussion supported by appropriate references.
8. Simple linear regression analysis
• Find out the linear relationship between any three expenditure items and monthly income.
• Develop a scatter diagram with the help of Microsoft Excel and discuss about the casual relationship between those two variables by observing the overall trend of your plots of coordinates.
• Estimate the functional relationship (simple linear regression) between the same set of variables with the help of Microsoft Excel. Provide a brief discussion on your findings.
• Predict the expenditure for any given level of income that is NOT available in your data set.
9. Conclusion and recommendations
Provide a brief overview of your collective findings and previous discussions in the report. Finally, provide several recommendations by connecting to your aims, objectives and overall findings.
10. List of references
Minimum five references are required for this assignment task (read ‘general notes for referencing’ below)
ASSESSMENT SUBMISSION:
This assessment is a group activity and students are required to work with their respective groups. No individual submission will be accepted.
You will not receive any marks for this assignment if your group members collectively report against you for non-participation or non-cooperation. You have to nominate someone as your group leader to coordinate the assignment submission.
The assignment must be submitted online in Moodle and Turnitin. All materials MUST be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word format. Other formats may not be readable by markers. Please be aware that any assessments submitted in other formats will be considered LATE and will lose marks until it is presented in MS Word. No paper based or hardcopy submission will be accepted.
Our Academic Learning Support (ALS) team would be happy to help you with understanding the task and all other assessment-related matters. For assistance and to book a one-on-one meeting please email one of our ALS coordinators (Sydney als_syd@kent.edu.au; Melbourne als_mel@kent.edu.au ). For online help and support please click the following link and navigate Academic Learning Support in Moodle. http://online.kent.edu.au/cms/course/view.php?id=437
GENERAL NOTES FOR ASSIGNMENTS
Assignments should usually incorporate a formal introduction, main points, and conclusion, and will be fully referenced including a reference list.
The work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We strongly recommend you to refer to the Academic Learning Skills materials available in the Moodle. For details please click the link http://moodle.kent.edu.au/kentmoodle/course/view.php?id=5 and download the file “Harvard Referencing Workbook”. Appropriate academic writing and referencing are inevitable academic skills that you must develop and demonstrate.
We recommend a minimum of FIVE references unless instructed differently by your lecturer. Unless specifically instructed otherwise by your lecturer, any paper with less than FIVE references may be failed. Work that includes sources that are not properly referenced according to the “Harvard Referencing Workbook” will be penalised.
Marks will be deducted for failure to adhere to the word count – as a general rule, you may go over or under by 10% than the stated length.
GENERAL NOTES FOR REFERENCING
High quality work must be fully referenced with in-text citations and a reference list at the end. We recommend you work with your Academic Learning Support (ALS) site (http://moodle.kent.edu.au/kentmoodle/course/view.php?id=5) available in Moodle to ensure that you reference correctly.
References are assessed for their quality. You should draw on quality academic sources, such as books, chapters from edited books, journals etc. Your textbook can be used as a reference, but not the lecture notes. We want to see evidence that you are capable of conducting your own research. Also, in order to help markers, determine students’ understanding of the work they cite, all in-text references (not just direct quotes) must include the specific page number/s if shown in the original. Before preparing your assignment or own contribution, please review this ‘YouTube’ video by clicking on the following link: Plagiarism: How to avoid it
PLAGIARISM: HOW TO AVOID IT
You can search for peer-reviewed journal articles, which you can find in the online journal databases and which can be accessed from the library homepage. Wikipedia, online dictionaries and online encyclopaedias are acceptable as a starting point to gain knowledge about a topic, but should not be overused – these should constitute no more than 10% of your total list of references/sources. Additional information and literature can be used where these are produced by legitimate sources, such as government departments, research institutes such as the NHMRC, or international organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Legitimate organisations and government departments produce peer reviewed reports and articles and are therefore very useful and mostly very current. The content of the following link explains why it is not acceptable to use non-peer reviewed websites: Why can't I just Google? (thanks to La Trobe University for this video).
MARKING GUIDE (RUBRICS)
Marking
Criteria. Fail (49%) Pass (50%) Credit (65%) Distinction (75%) High Distinction (100%) Mark
Presentation/10 missing or
incomplete
Low-level Apprentice: demonstrates a developing understanding Average level Proficient: demonstrates accomplishment that shows understanding Good level
Distinguished: well developed demonstrates a good understanding Excellent level Exemplary: demonstrates a complete understanding
/10
Proper referencing- the number of references /10 missing or incomplete
Low-level Apprentice: demonstrates a developing understanding Average level Proficient: demonstrates accomplishment that shows understanding Good level
Distinguished: well developed demonstrates a good understanding Excellent level Exemplary: demonstrates a complete understanding
/10
Information
Analysis /30
missing or
incomplete
Low-level Apprentice: demonstrates a developing understanding Average level Proficient: demonstrates accomplishment that shows understanding Good level
Distinguished: well developed demonstrates a good understanding Excellent level Exemplary: demonstrates a complete understanding
/30
Relevant
Calculation /30 missing or incomplete
Low-level Apprentice: demonstrates a developing understanding Average level Proficient: demonstrates accomplishment that shows understanding Good level
Distinguished: well developed demonstrates good understanding ( Excellent level Exemplary: demonstrates a complete understanding
/30
Supported conclusions and justified
recommendation
s
/20 missing or
incomplete
Low-level Apprentice: demonstrates a developing understanding Average level Proficient: demonstrates accomplishment that shows understanding Good level
Distinguished: well developed demonstrates a good understanding Excellent level Exemplary: demonstrates a complete understanding
/20
Total /100