Academic knowledge required at the start of the IOB Master programmes

All incoming students are required to have some knowledge of Micro- and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Data Analysis (basic statistics) and Microsoft Excel. This knowledge is essential for several courses offered in all three Master programmes.

Students who intend to choose the unit ‘Regression analysis and inference’ within the course Research Methods II are also required to have knowledge of Stata and Advanced Statistics.

IOB provides an online learning platform with a self-study guide that allows incoming students to refresh their knowledge or to study the required material.

The online platform https://iobprecourse.neolms.com/ provides study guides, textbook chapters as well as online videos and tutorials on Micro- and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Data Analysis and Excel:

-          Micro- and Macroeconomics introduces you to the (most) basic concepts and ideas in economics. For micro-economics, this includes among other topics, demand and supply (curves), the market equilibrium, price and income elasticity, as well as the law of diminishing returns and different market structures. For macro-economics, emphasis is put on measuring national income, economic growth and exchange rates.

-          Quantitative Data Analysis refreshes your knowledge on statistics. You will be provided with a short update on sampling, and are invited to read about (and apply) univariate statistics and probability theory and are (again) introduced to inferential statistics, like confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. You will go through this material by yourself. Yet, inferential statistics will also partly be addressed in class, given its complexity and its central role in social science research.*

-          Excel

An invitation to register on the online platform will be sent to you as soon as you are registered at the University of Antwerp.

Pre-test

During the introduction week at the start of their Master programme, all students are required to take a pre-test on Micro- and Macroeconomics, Quantitative Data Analysis (basic statistics) and Excel. Participation in the pre-test is compulsory, but the result is merely informative, no sanctions are imposed when failing the pre-test.

The test results of students who are interested in the Mobility Window programme may be taken into consideration during the selection process.

Students for whom this is relevant will also take a test on Advanced Statistics during the introduction week. A pre-test for Stata is organised prior to the start of the course Research Methods II. 

Access and use of the platform: Please check the instructions here. An e-mail invitation to register on the platform will be sent to you when you finalised your registration at the University of Antwerp.