Department of Management

King’s College London

7SSMN405 RESEARCH METHODS IN THE PUBLIC SERVICES

Take-home test

Deadline: 23h59m on Thursday, 4th December 2014

Format: Word or PDF file via email to sonia.goncalves@kcl.ac.uk

Word Limit: 1,200 words maximum

Weight: 10% of module mark

Table 1 describes a dataset taken from a survey of students sampled over 3 semesters –
spring and fall 2013 and spring 2014 – taking a Statistics course at a NYU. The data was
analysed using a linear regression model that explored the relationship between lecture
attendance and student performance. Table 2 reports the results of the regression analysis.

Questions:

(a) Interpret the estimated coefficients of variables SATmath and male.

(b) Compute the standard error for variable male. Is this variable statistically significant
(assume 5% significance level)? Cite the relevant statistics to justify your answer.

(c) Why is variable hoursstudy included in the model if the objective is to assess the
impact on attendance on grades?

(d) According to the model, does lecture attendance improve students’ grades? Justify
your answer.

(e) How well does the model explain the data? Can you think of any possible omitted
variables?

1
 Table 1: Data description

Variable Description Mean

grade student course grade (%) 72.234

skip12 1 if student had 1 or 2 absences; 0 otherwise 0.277
skip34 1 if student had 3 or 4 absences; 0 otherwise 0.159
skip56 1 if student had 5 or 6 absences; 0 otherwise 0.162
skip78 1 if student had 7 or 8 absences; 0 otherwise 0.061
skip9+ 1 if student had 9 or more absences; 0 otherwise 0.104
SATmath score in pre-university maths test 515.647
SATverbal score in pre-university verbal reasoning test 466.96
hourstudy hours of statistics studied per week 2.4
hourswork hours worked per week in a job 7.818
parents 1 if at least one parent has university degree; 0 otherwise 0.726
white 1 if white; 0 otherwise 0.951
male 1 if male; 0 otherwise 0.621
Note: SAT scores range between minimum 200 and maximum 800 points.

Table 2: Results of OLS regression

Variable Coefficient t-statistic p-value

skip12 0.465 0.38 0.704

skip34 -1.538 1.11 0.268
skip56 -3.228 2.29 0.023
skip78 -3.475 1.83 0.068
skip9+ -3.521 2.12 0.035
SATmath 0.011 1.97 0.050
SATverbal 0.014 2.35 0.019
hourstudy 0.093 0.41 0.682
hourswork -0.049 1.28 0.202
parents 0.695 1.83 0.068
white 4.524 2.33 0.020
male 0.736 0.8 0.424
intercept 33.919 3.94 0.000
Adj-R2 0.435
No. of obs. 346