ArgosyUniversity
Ed.D. Organizational Leadership
COURSE SYLLABUS
L 7437 Special Topics in Organizational Leadership
Data-driven decision making for leaders
Syllabus is subject to change (12/31/08)
Thursday evening (dates to TBA)
Faculty Information
Faculty Name: William A. Nowlin, Ph.D.
Campus:Chicago
Contact Information:Telephone Office: 312 - 777-7719
Mobile 708 - 261-8811
E-mail:
Office Hours:Thursdays, 1:00 p.m. to 5:3:30 p.m.
Short Faculty Bio:Nowlin teaches in organizational leadership and advises OL students.
He has published articles on employee and workplace issues. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education (University of Buffalo), Masters of Public Administration (State University of New York, Brockport), a MS in Organizational Psychology (Kansas State University) and a BA in Business Administration (State University of New York, Empire).
Course description: This is a special topics course.Leaders demonstrate excellence in making decisions using intuition and the collective wisdom of groups. Leaders are also required to make decisions based on quantitative and qualitative data. This special topics course on data-driven decision making will (1) introduce and/or reinforce competency in use of data analysis software such as the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) (quantitative), (2) reinforce comprehension of the research process, (3) provide an experience with Atlas.ti (qualitative), (4) require analysis of information in two archives such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the General Social Survey of attitudes on life to include the workplace, and (5) require creation of an electronic survey. Knowledge, skills and competencies gained in this course will apply in future research courses and will enhance data-driven decision making at work and in other personal and professional.
This is an elective course.
Course Pre-requisites: None
Required Textbooks and Software:
SPSS 16.0 Student Version for Windows with CD, 9th Edition. SPSS, Inc. Prentice Hall, Inc.
ISBN-10: 0-13-605349-1
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-605349-1
Kinnear, Paul R. and Gray, Colin D. SPSS 16 Made Simple – Paperback. Routledge, 2008.
ISBN-13: 9781841697291
ISBN-10: 184169729X
Course length: 7.5 Weeks
Contact Hours: 45 Hours
Credit Value: 3.0
Program Outcomes:
- Leadership in Teams: Given an organizational situation, identify strategies to develop, maintain, motivate, and sustain self-managed teams using concepts, theories and techniques of team leadership.
- Collaboration in Teams: Given a case study or leadership situation, collect, assimilate, disseminate, and maximize the views of team stakeholders in order to reach defensible goals with minimal conflict.
- Conflict: Given an organizational situation that requires interpersonal or interdepartmental action, identify situations of conflict, diagnose the impact of both overt and covert behavior, and develop a plan for conflict resolution using evidence-based methods.
- Ethics: Given an organizational setting, identify ethical and dilemma-resolution practices, and make evidence-based decisions that integrate personal, social, and corporate responsibility.
- Communication: Communicate orally and in writing to individuals and groups in a concise, clear, organized, and well-supported manner using formats and technology relevant to the organizational context.
- Motivation: Given a leadership situation, identify workplace commitment theories to incorporate influences and power as a leader to motivate organizational stakeholders.
- Research: Given an organizational need to evaluate and defend its actions or potential actions, select, analyze, and apply the assessment techniques, research methods, and/or statistical analyses needed to evaluate and defend those actions based on evidence
- Knowledge and Understanding of the Field: Demonstrate competency in identifying and integrating the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and key figures in the field of organizational leadership.
- Change: Evaluate the impact of change on organizations, organizational members, and other stakeholders and apply appropriate change models and theories to facilitate successful change.
- Global diversity: Analyze and evaluate the involvement of diversity in leadership issues, with special attention to the implications of diversity for individuals, organizations, and societies.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Achieve personal development and demonstrate positive relationship skills via effective communication, respect for others, and awareness of their impact on others.
Course Objectives:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Use publicly available data to examine phenomena to make decisions.
- Describe the elements in the problem solving or research process.
- Apply design and analysis procedures to problem solving and decision-making.
- Conduct analysis and interpret findings from SPSS outputs.
- Design a survey instrument using a web-based system.
- Analyze both qualitative and quantitative data using computer-based tools.
- Identify planning and decision making tools deployed in process improvement operations.
- Evaluate ethical dilemmas in use of human subjects in conducting research.
Assignment Table:
Module / Topics and Readings / AssignmentsTentative assignments
1 / Analyzing publicly available data at the U.S. Census Bureau and the General Social Survey to make decisions on terms and conditions of employment and on employee satisfaction at work
State & County QuickFacts, Retrieved December 22, 2008, from
Workplace and economic concerns. General Social Survey ( ) (SDA Archives). / Create a table of selected terms of compensation and benefits in three municipalities and write a two page analysis with recommendations.
Additional details will be provided.
Submit project in eCollege dropbox no later than week 3.
2 / Introduction to management decision making tools.
Skymark (n.d.) Retrieved December 22, 2008, from
University of Cambridge. (n.d.) Retrieved December 22, 2008, from
3 / Examination of the research process and data collection options
Research Methods. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Introduction to Research. AllPsych Online The Virtual Psychology Classroom. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from
Research Methods. (n.d.). Chapter 3: Research tools of the trade.
AllPsych Online The Virtual Psychology Classroom. Retrieved December
22, 2008, from
Research Methods. (n.d.). Chapter 8: Research tools of the trade. AllPsych Online The Virtual Psychology Classroom. Retrieved December 22, 2008, from / Submit project from week 1 in eCollege dropbox.
4 / Using SPSS to analyze and display data
Students are introduced to the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program.
Skills in using SPSS to manage and analyze data and to construct diagrams that depict relationships between variables. Specific applications will include descriptive statistics, crosstabulation and correlation.
Read:
Kinnear, P. R and Gray, D. SPSS 16 Made
Simple – Paperback. Routledge, 2008.
- Getting Started with SPSS
- Editing and Manipulating Files
Exercise 2: Questionnaire data
Optional resources:
SPSS Tutorial.
Metcafe Video.
Ethics in data collection; reliability and validity
Survey construction and implementation through a web survey source
Shannon, D. M., Johnson, T. E., Searcy, S. Alan L. (2002). Using electronic surveys: advice from survey professionals. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(1). In Practical Assessment & evaluation. Retrieved December 22, 2008 from / Open a free account at
Develop a survey of 10 questions using at least three types of questions (i.e., multiple choice, single textbox, multiple text box, demographic, etc.).
Create e-mail message to send the link to the survey to your subjects.
Additional details will be provided.
Submit project in eCollege dropbox no later than week 5.
5 / Using SPSS to analyze and display data
Skills in using SPSS to manage and analyze data and to construct diagrams that depict relationships between variables. Specific applications will include descriptive statistics, crosstabulation and correlation.
Read:
Kinnear, P. R and Gray, D. SPSS 16 Made
Simple – Paperback. Routledge, 2008.
- Exploring Your Data
- Comparing Averages
Exercise 4: Correcting and preparing data
Exercise 5: Charts and graphs
6 / Using SPSS to analyze and display data
Skills in using SPSS to manage and analyze data and to construct diagrams that depict relationships between variables. Specific applications will include descriptive statistics, crosstabulation and correlation.
Read:
Kinnear, P. R and Gray, D. SPSS 16 Made
Simple – Paperback. Routledge, 2008.
- Exploring Your Data
- Comparing Averages
- Choosing the Right Test
Chapter 11: Pearson Correlation
7 / Content analysis and review of software that enabled productivity
Analyzing and interpreting qualitative data. (2006.) Retrieved December 22, 2008 from
TobaccoEvaluationCenter. University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources.
A data set that can be used to practice content analysis.
/ Complete a content analysis of
this data set (from a page at author not indicated)
Additional details will be provided.
Submit project in eCollege dropbox no later than Week 7.
8 / Complete Assignments
Grading Criteria
Grading Scale Grading requirements
A / 100 - 93A- / 92 - 90
B+ / 89 – 88
B / 87– 83
B- / 82 - 80
C+ / 79 – 80
C / 77 – 73
C- / 72 – 70
F / 69 and below
Activity / Points
Publically available data project / 30
Survey instrument project / 20
SPSS exercises / 35
Content analysis project / 15
Total / 100
Library
All resources in ArgosyUniversity’s online collection are available through the Internet. The campus librarian will provide students with links, user IDs, and passwords.
Library Resources: ArgosyUniversity’s core online collection features nearly 21,000 full-text journals and 23,000 electronic books and other content covering all academic subject areas including Business & Economics, Career & General Education, Computers, Engineering & Applied Science, Humanities, Science, Medicine & Allied Health, and Social & Behavior Sciences. Many titles are directly accessible through the Online Public Access Catalog at Detailed descriptions of online resources are located at
In addition to online resources, ArgosyUniversity’s onsite collections contain a wealth of subject-specific research materials searchable in the Online Public Access Catalog. Catalog searching is easily limited to individual campus collections. Alternatively, students can search combined collections of all Argosy University Libraries. Students are encouraged to seek research and reference assistance from campus librarians.
Information Literacy: ArgosyUniversity’s Information Literacy Tutorial was developed to teach students fundamental and transferable research skills. The tutorial consists of five modules where students learn to select sources appropriate for academic-level research, search periodical indexes and search engines, and evaluate and cite information. In the tutorial, students study concepts and practice them through interactions. At the conclusion of each module, they can test their comprehension and receive immediate feedback. Each module takes less than 20 minutes to complete. Please view the tutorial at
Academic Policies
Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, ArgosyUniversity requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). WashingtonDC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5thEdition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the ArgosyUniversity catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.
Scholarly writing: The faculty at ArgosyUniversity is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” ( an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.
Americans with Disabilities Act Policy
It is the policy of ArgosyUniversity to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.
Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form. To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor. In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.
TheArgosyUniversity Statement Regarding Diversity
ArgosyUniversity prepares students to serve populations with diverse social, ethnic, economic, and educational experiences. Both the academic and training curricula are designed to provide an environment in which students can develop the skills and attitudes essential to working with people from a wide range of backgrounds.