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Experimental Methods in Decision Studies (FNCE90070)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
For information about the University’s phased return to campus and in-person activity in Winter and Semester 2, please refer to the on-campus subjects page.
About this subject
- Overview
- Eligibility and requirements
- Assessment
- Dates and times
- Further information
- Timetable(opens in new window)
Contact information
Semester 2
Peter Bossaerts (peter.bossaerts@unimelb.edu.au)
Carsten Murawski (carstenm@unimelb.edu.au)
Please refer to the LMS for up-to-date subject information, including assessment and participation requirements, for subjects being offered in 2020.
Overview
Availability | Semester 2 |
---|---|
Fees | Look up fees |
This subject involves in-depth analysis of experimental design and management, and subsequent data processing for in-laboratory and field experiments on human decision-making, with a focus on choice under uncertainty, inter-temporal choice, and complex choice situations. Experiments include single-subject, small-group, and large-group contexts including financial markets. Emphasis is on incentivised, deception-free experimentation.
Intended learning outcomes
On successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
- Design incentivised, deception-free experiments appropriate to testing or exploring theories about human decision-making
- Obtain the required ethics approval
- Choose or build the right computer interface (if applicable)
- Collect and analyse the resulting data in a way that is appropriate for the scientific question at hand
- Calibrate monetary or other incentives.
Generic skills
- High level of development: written communication; interpretation and analysis; critical thinking.
- Moderate level of development: collaborative learning; formulating problems; problem solving; team work; application of theory to practice; accessing data and other information from a range of sources.
- Some level of development: oral communication; statistical reasoning; designing experiments; synthesis of data and other information; evaluation of data and other information; use of computer software.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
COMP90040 or equivalent
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Decision sciences (decision theory, game theory, microeconomics, finance, machine learning, cognitive psychology).
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Due to the impact of COVID-19, assessment may differ from that published in the Handbook. Students are reminded to check the subject assessment requirements published in the subject outline on the LMS
Description | Timing | Percentage |
---|---|---|
Oral presentations: Four 5 minute in-depth analyses of published experiments on decision-making (500 words each).
| Throughout the teaching period | 20% |
Written proposal for a new experimental paradigm that describes the research question to be investigated and the experimental protocol to be used.
| Week 6 | 25% |
Written report building on the previous assessment task describing experimental method, analysis of a pilot data set and results of pilot data analysis.
| Week 12 | 45% |
End-of-term oral presentation on written report.
| Week 12 | 10% |
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Dates & times
- Semester 2
Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 36 hours (one 3-hour workshop per week) Total time commitment 170 hours Teaching period 3 August 2020 to 1 November 2020 Last self-enrol date 14 August 2020 Census date 21 September 2020 Last date to withdraw without fail 16 October 2020 Assessment period ends 27 November 2020 Semester 2 contact information
Peter Bossaerts (peter.bossaerts@unimelb.edu.au)
Carsten Murawski (carstenm@unimelb.edu.au)
Time commitment details
Estimated total time commitment of 170 hours per semester
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
There are no specifically prescribed or recommended texts for this subject.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Commerce (Decision, Risk and Financial Sciences)
Last updated: 3 November 2022