Empirical Research in Management and Economics
(WI000258 VO/UE)
Winter term 2024/2025
When
Lecture: Mondays 4:45–6:15 pm
Exercise: Tuesdays 8:00–9:30 am (Groups 1 & 2); Tuesdays 1:15–2:45 pm (Group 3); Wednesdays 4:45-6:15 pm (Group 4)
Where
Lecture: N 1179, Wilhelm-Nusselt-Hörsaal (0101.02.179)
Exercise: Group 1 (Linus Hof): Theresianum, 0601 (0506.EG.601); Group 2 (Thorsten Pachur): Karl-Max-von-Bauernfeind-Hörsaal, 2750 (0507.03.750); Group 3 (Alexandra Ortmann): 0220 (0502.EG.220); Group 4 (Sebastian Hellmann & Nuno Busch): Lothar-Rohde-Hörsaal (0101.Z1.070)
Start: 21 October 2024
Instructor
Prof. Dr. Thorsten Pachur
Chair of Behavioral Research Methods
School of Management
Technical University of Munich
Arcisstr. 21
D-80333 Munich, Germany
Website: https://www.msl.mgt.tum.de/en/brm/team/thorsten-pachur/
Team website: https://www.msl.mgt.tum.de/en/brm/home/
Email: pachur@tum.de
Office: 0505.02.534
Office hours: Please email me, and we can set up an appointment.
For exercise sessions also: Linus Hof, Alexandra Ortmann, Sebastian Hellmann, Nuno Busch
Description and Goals
This module prepares students for conducting empirical research (e.g., for their Master's thesis). It provides an introduction to basic and advanced topics of research methods and data analysis. The acquired skills are also important for students in their future professional career and as citizens. The topics covered in the module include: hypothesis development; research design; descriptive and inferential data analysis; linear regression; logistic regression; factor analysis and cluster analysis; conjoint analysis; open science.
After the successful participation in the module students will be able to understand key steps of empirical research, including research design, data collection, data analysis, and interpretation. Students will learn how to understand and conduct empirical research and will be in a position to critically evaluate research findings. Students will learn the basics of how to plan, set up, and conduct an empirical research project, and learn to apply data-analytic techniques to data. Finally, students will learn to interpret the results of data analysis.
Software
For the statistical analyses conducted in the exercise sessions (please bring a laptop), we will mostly work with JASP and R. Please install the latest version of the JASP software (free!) here: https://jasp-stats.org/download/
Background Readings
Bell, E., Bryman, A., & Harley, B. (2022). Business research methods (6th ed.). Oxford University Press.
Field, A., Miles, J., & Field, Z. (2012). Disovering statistics using R. Sage Publications.
Goss-Sampson, M. A. (2025). Statistical analysis in JASP: A guide for students. (free pdf)
Backhaus, K., Erichson, B., Gensler, S., Weiber, R., & Weiber, T. (2023). Multivariate analysis: An application-oriented introduction (2nd ed). Springer.
Spiegelhalter, D. (2019). The art of statistics. Pelican.
Exam
Please make sure to register for the exam before the deadline (see TUMonline for details). If you miss the deadline, according to the resolution of the examination board from December 2022, it is no longer possible to register and you cannot participate at the exam. It is your duty as a student to keep an eye on the deadlines. There will be a re-take exam in the summer (usually at the end of July or first half of August; the re-take exam will be listed in TUMonline once it has been scheduled). In case you are registered for the exam but cannot participant due to illness, you can find more information here.