Syllabus

Information about the Exercises

Check of the exercises

You will have to upload your solution onto ILIAS.
The exercises are checked and rated as "Pass" or "Not pass".
A "Pass" does not mean that your solution is error-free. It simply means that it meets the minimum standards. It is therefore essential that you always compare your work with the suggested solutions, posted on ILIAS after the submission date.

Details on submitting the exercises

Submission date Generally by 08.00 on the following Monday (see table on page 3)
File format  PDF
File name Surname_Firstname_Exercise number (e.g. Doe_John_03)
Location You will find the "Exercises – Student Solutions" folder on ILIAS.
Be sure to upload your solution to the correct subfolder. 
Correspondence It is not possible to communicate by email about the exercises.
Ask questions in the tutorials. 
Important The exercises will be checked only if submitted as a PDF file (with the right name and in the right location on ILIAS) by the deadline.

Structure of the Exercises

An Exercise consists of three types of tasks: Task 01, Task 02, and Divertimento

For Task 01, you are not only handed a task but also a sample solution. In most cases, Task 01 is introductory. The aim is that you work through this task during the tutorial and – if needed – consult with a tutor.
You do not need to submit a solution to Task 01.

For Task 02 you are only handed a task. The aim is – same as above – that you work on this task during the tutorial and consult with a tutor when needed. However, the time during the tu-torial will not always be sufficient to complete writing your solution.
For Task 02 you need to submit your own solution.

For the Divertimento, you develop your own answers but do not need to submit them.
You are expected to consult the sample solutions yourself.

Suggested solutions to Task 02 and to the Divertimento are posted on ILIAS after the submis-sion deadline for the exercise. In addition, you are provided a corresponding up-to-date SPSS syntax file "Syntax_MSC.sps" on ILIAS: … → SPSS Resources. 

What elements must your solution to task 02 contain?

Your solution to every task – except for the Divertimento – must contain the following four elements: 

1. Title of the task
2. The syntax used
3. Results and comments with regard to the task
4. Brief summary with regard to the task

Use the solutions we provide as "Task 01" or later as a guide when writing your solutions.

Keep your solution concise. Do not include the entire SPSS output in your solution but decide which parts are relevant. For example, it is not necessary in most cases to include frequency tables because they take up a lot of space and contain little information.

Include comments on the elements of the SPSS output that you use in your solution. Try to develop arguments based on the content of the items. Because the result may vary depending on the thresholds or specifications used, a number of interpretations may be possible.
Offer a concise explanation on how you arrived at your interpretation. 
When providing a statis-tical interpretation of results, please use the style proposed in the lectures (e.g. under "Typical statistical statement"). 
Example: "There is a correlation between smoking and lung cancer. Cramer's V is less than .3, which means that the correlation is not very strong, 2(1) = 4.658, p = .031, V = .167."

For each task, write a brief summary (3-5 sentences) relating to the topic.