This is a basic core methods course for graduate students in planning and related fields.  It introduces students to the logic, structure, process, and methods of quantitative planning research. The point of this class is not to teach the theoretical derivations of statistical methods but the practical applications of these methods. The objective is to equip each student with the skills necessary to reconcile gaps between perceived and observed phenomena in the Social Sciences field of study.

To achieve this goal, we will use programs such as Microsoft Excel to analyze data and generate results based on several statistical methods.  Although most statistics programs run the computations for you and quickly provide results, it is important to understand the process and to learn how to correctly interpret the results. Course topics include research design, process, basic methods of statistical analyses, and widely used econometric methods.  After taking this course, students are expected to be proficient in performing analysis required for plan-making and independent research, such as a MUP thesis or project.