79444 - Research And Evaluation Methods In The Horticultural System

Learning outcomes

The student will:  - have a clear understanding of the nature of science and the values involved in the practice of science, as well as of the scientific method and of the main research approaches;  - be able to plan, perform, and critically evaluate their own scientific work and to communicate the results to a scientific audience;  - have a clear understanding of research methods and of the main data analysis techniques used in the socio-economic disciplines with a special focus on market research in the horticultural system;  - have a clear understanding of the instruments used to analyze agricultural policy at EU and country level.

Course contents

Research methods for horticultural business (6 ECTS): The student acquires the ability to understand the research process in marketing and management and to apply it to the horticulture-related problems. Starting from project idea, the student is able to develop the research question, prepare a research proposal, design a research plan, a data collection plan, and appropriate data analysis procedures. The student is able to implement the research plan, from data collection to presentation of research results, in oral and written form, critically review research proposals and research results. The student knows and applies criteria of the integrity of the research process and results, including credibility criteria, professional, and ethical criteria.

- Unit 1: Theoretical framework and research design. Deductive vs inductive research. Dependent, independent, moderating, mediating variables. Conceptual model, theory, hypothesis. Exploratory, descriptive, causal studies. Level of research interference, study setting (4 hours)

- Unit 2: research strategies, data collection, data sources, primary vs secondary data, census vs sample data, units of analysis, time horizon, cross-section vs longitudinal studies, panel data (4 hours)

- Unit 3: data collection methods, qualitative and quantitative techniques, focus groups, individual interviews, surveys and questionnaires, observation, experiments (12 hours)

- Unit 4: types of measurement and measurement level, objective and subjective measures, concepts and constructs, operationalizing, single vs multiple items, multidimensional constructs, validation and validated scales, primary scales and specific scaling techniques (4 hours)

- Unit 5: elements of sampling. Sampling design. Population, sampling frame, original sample, final sample. Sampling process. Probability vs nonprobability sampling. Types of samples. Sample size. (4 hours)

- Unit 6: specific data analysis techniques. Linear regression, factor analysis, cluster analysis. (8 hours)

- Unit 7 (practical): R statistical software. Installation and basic elements. Data import and types of data. Analysis of single variables, descriptive statistics and graphs. Bivariate analysis, tests of association, bivariate graphs. Multivariate analysis, linear regression, factor analysis, cluster analysis. (16 hours)

- Unit 8 (practical): design of a research proposal. Draft preparation and discussion. Motivation, problem setting, research objective, data, methods, expected results, outputs, responsibilities, workplan, budget (8 hours)

 

Agricultural policy evaluation (3 ECTS): public policy is the action taken by government to address a particular public issue. Local, regional, national, and international government organizations all craft and implement public policy to protect and benefit their populations addressing particular issues with a common long-term goal (Weimer D L, Vining A R, 2010).

Agricultural and food systems remain key sectors in any society (post-industrial societies, newly industrialized countries, emerging economies, low income countries) and they are strongly shaped by government actions in response to human needs, domestic and international pressures, social changes, climatic events. This module is aimed at analyzing public policies in agricultural and food systems.

The module will:

• define public policy and agricultural and food policy;
• discuss the role of agriculture in the economy in high income, newly industrialized and low income countries;
• -outline the policy process and the policy analysis evaluation framework;
• define the critical elements to conduct sound policy analysis (and design/implement sound policies);
• present a set of methodologies to conduct policy analysis.

Readings/Bibliography

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2013). Research Methods for Business: A Skill-Building Approach (6th ed.). Wiley.

Crawley, M. J. (2014). Statistics: An Introduction Using R (2nd ed.). Wiley.

Eugene Bardach (2012), A Practical Guide to Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, Chatham House Publishers, Seven Bridges Press.

EC, Common monitoring and evaluation framework, [Online]. Available from: http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rurdev/eval/index_en.htm (Accessed September 11th, 2015).

Other material will be indicated during classes.

Teaching methods

Research methods for horticultural business (6 ECTS):  The course is based on face-to-face lectures, assignments and practical training. 

The class activity is split into content units. For some units the theoretical and practical sessions will be integrated in the same lesson.

The module is integrated with the course "79446 - SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH" and it is assumed that students have attended its lectures.

Students are invited to propose a non-mandatory individual project work, aimed at preparing a research proposal draft that will be presented and discussed with the class. Student can prepare a written research proposal (length in the range of 30-60 thousand characters) on their individual project work as a replacement of one oral exam question.

A voluntary self-evaluation test will be proposed at the end of the course and before the last lecture to let the student identify possible topics where performance need to be improved.

 

Agricultural policy evaluation (3 ECTS): The module is divided in 5 units and will be based on face to face lectures, assignments and group discussions. Specific case studies will be presented and discussed during the classes in order to enhance participation. An active learning approach will be utilized also to evaluate and discuss papers, reports, strategies and policy briefs. Participants are requested to prepare a final policy paper (approximately 3500 words). More information regarding assignments will be provided during classes.

The module structure might be revised depending on the number of participants.

Assessment methods

Research methods for horticultural business (6 ECTS):

Oral exam, approximate duration 30 minutes. The exam consists in three questions focused on the topics dealt with during the lectures. The questions will cover the three main course areas: research planning strategy (1/3), research techniques (1/3), analysis methods (1/3).
Optional integration with a short paper (research project proposal). Students who decide to make a project work will present and discuss their proposal to the class. The oral exam will start from the discussion on the paper submitted at least three days in advance.

Students who attended at least 70% of the lectures will have the possibility to make the online test as a replacement of the oral exam. The results of the online test will be converted to a grade using a conversion curve based on general test performance. The student can decide to discard the online test results and make the oral exam.

 

Agricultural policy evaluation (3 ECTS):

For attending students the final grade for the module will be calculated thusly:

• In class grade: policy brief, case analysis, articles revision and discussion, and other class activities (50% approximately)
• Policy paper* preparation and discussion (50% approximately)

For non-attending students the final grade will be calculated thusly:

• Policy paper* preparation and discussion (50% approximately)
• Oral (50% approximately)

* Students will be required to produce a policy paper of max 3500 words. Attending students will present the paper during the class and discuss with the lecturer. Non attending students will present and discuss the paper with the lecturer. The topic of the policy paper should be agreed with the lecturer.

Teaching tools

Teaching materials (slides, scientific articles, and grey literature) made available on-line.
Edmodo teaching and social network platform used to communicate notices, assignments, exchange materials and comments.
R statistical software (free) installed on student's own PC. Practical sessions in the PC room.

Office hours

See the website of Maurizio Canavari

See the website of Matteo Vittuari