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ECO-10041 - Module Specification
Keele Business School
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

ECO-10041 - Quantitative Methods for Economics & Finance
Coordinator: Rumman Khan Room: SIH UG.020 Tel: 01782733781
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office: 01782 733094

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

N/A

Barred Combinations

N/A

Description for 2025/26

This module is designed to familiarise students following Economics, Finance and related programmes of study, with the essential quantitative methods required for understanding relevant theories and applications. It introduces students to key mathematical functions and operations required for understanding foundational concepts such as growth rates, elasticity, rate of return and compound interest. It enables students to practice solving optimisation problems and applying marginal theory, which they will need for modelling decision making in future microeconomics, macroeconomics, and finance models. Finally, it introduces students to the main theories and concepts required for statistical analysis which they will need to apply using real world data in future modules in Statistics and Econometrics.
The assessments for this module are designed to enable students to demonstrate their quantitative skills in circumstances relevant to future academic and professional settings.

Aims
This module introduces essential quantitative methods necessary for theoretical and empirical analysis in Economics and Finance. The first core component explores mathematical techniques required for understanding relevant economic and financial theories and their applications. These include algebra, non-linear functions, and calculus. The second core component explores statistical techniques for understanding and evaluating data, beginning with basic statistical concepts and common methods for summarising data, then progressing to inferential statistical and drawing conclusions from data. The module develops fundamental skills underpinning future modules covering theory (e.g. Intermediate Economic Principles and Advanced Economic Principles at levels 5 and 6 respectively) and empirical analysis (e.g. Statistics with Bloomberg and Introduction to Econometrics and Econometrics and Data Analytics at levels 5 and 6 respectively).

Intended Learning Outcomes

Apply common mathematical functions in Economics and Finance, including linear functions, power functions, exponentials, and logarithmic functions.: 2
Understand the concept of “margins” used in economic/financial decision making and its relationship to common methods from calculus.: 2
Calculate optimal solutions to economic/financial decisions mathematically using using constrained and unconstrained optimisation techniques.: 1
Identify the main statistical concepts used to summarise data, such as mean, standard deviation, variance, and correlation.: 2
Interpret population behaviour from sample level information using hypothesis testing.: 1

Study hours

Lectures - 36 hours
Tutorials - 12 hours
Preparation for classes - 72 hours
Independent study - 168 hours

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Open Book Assessment weighted 60%
28-hour open book assessment
This is a 28 hour open-book assessment. The assessment should normally take 2 hours to complete. The assessment will focus on longer form questions such as solving constrained optimisation porblems using Lagrange multipliers, conduct hypothesis testings and calculating confidence intervals using distribution tables, and defining key terms used in statistics and probability theory.

2: Open Book Assessment weighted 40%
The assessment represents a 1 hour online computer test.
The online class test comprises of 20 short exercise type questions that test students' familiairty and undertstanding of core mathemathical and statistical functions introduced in the module. This includes solving algebraic functions, calculating derivatives, and working out means and varainces from data . The test is scheduled for the end of semester 1, students are given a 48-hour window where the test is live and have to complete the test within that time. Once they have started the test, students have 1 hour to complete it.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025