Core Courses (24 Credit Hours)

DAV 711 Foundations of Aviation (3 Credit Hours)

This course will explore the origins of aviation including certain events, developments, milestones, concepts and activities that have helped shape the modern world of aviation. To present the evolution of aviation, its structures, values and cultural impact; to examine the growth of aviation knowledge; and to discuss how these factors affect modern day practices.

DAV 712 Aviation Safety Management Systems (3 Credit Hours)

This course provides an in-depth study of Safety Management Systems (SMS) including safety risk management (i.e., hazards, risk, and controls); positive safety culture; quality management principles; reactive, proactive, and predictive safety management tools and methods; safety assurance; SMS implementation; forensic versus proactive safety management; and proactive airline safety programs, including data sharing issues.

DAV 713 The Economic Environment of Aviation (3 Credit Hours)

Economic applications to the aviation industry including the economics of an airline and how economic problems are analyzed. Demand analysis and its relation with price and economic conditions. Costs and supply and the interaction of demand. An in-depth examination of the economic aspects of the air transportation industry, with microeconomic analysis applied to decision making in the airline, general and corporate aviation, and airport businesses. Topics include: basic economics of air transport supply and demand; demand forecasting; cost drivers; network structures and strategies; ratemaking; yield, revenue and capacity management; regulatory issues; political influences; unique economic characters of international commercial aviation; capitalization and credit facilities; economic and structural analytical tools and models.

DAV 714 The Legal Environment of Aviation (3 Credit Hours)

This course will examine established national and international law and regulations affecting the aviation industry. Emphasis will be placed on the administrative law process, its rulemaking authority, associated laws, and judicial review. Aviation professionals will be introduced to the legal aspects of labor relations, tort liability, contract obligations, and property issues as they relate to aviation operations and decision making. The course will also look at the global impact of treaty law pertaining to passenger rights, cargo, foreign immunity, aircraft registration, and negligence liability.

DAV 721 Quantitative Research Methods in Aviation (3 Credit Hours)

This course provides an in-depth study of quantitative research methods and their integration with mixed methods research including the underlying philosophical and methodological schools of thought that form the foundation for the statistical analyses to test the hypothesis. Multiple worldviews and approaches to knowledge creation are examined. Course foundation techniques focus on the analysis of published research methods that employed statistical techniques. Students will create and manipulate databases, perform exploratory data analysis, interpret and present data graphically, test probability distributions and variances, generate random numbers, perform variable transformation, run statistical models, and make statistical inferences. The students will study the following statistical tests: tests of independence, regression, correlation, and analysis of variance. SPSS grad pack is required. Aviation-related issues are examined during online labs. (Prerequisite: Introduction to Inferential Statistics.)

DAV 722 Qualitative/Mixed Methods Research in Aviation (3 Credit Hours)

This course will explore integration with mixed methods research. In depth coverage of qualitative research methods. Survey of qualitative research methods and their sequencing, emphasis, implementation, and integration in aviation sciences. In-depth qualitative philosophical and methodology grounding with techniques of observational, interviewing, case study, content analysis and multiple models. Examination of mixed methods model designs including subject selection and justification, data collection, coding, thematic analysis, credibility and inference quality found in research literature. NVivo8 software required for each student. (Prerequisite: DAV 721.).

DAV 723 Advanced Multivariate Parametric and Nonparametric Statistics (3 Credit Hours)

This course will explore integration with mixed methods research. Statistical research design concentrating on multivariate applications to answer multivariate research questions and hypotheses.. Topics include advanced general linear and non linear models along with the practical considerations for research designs including data screening, missing data, outliers, normality, linearity, homoscedasticity. The appropriate use of parametric and nonparametric statistics and how this fits into research design. SPSS grad package required for each student. (Prerequisite: DAV 721.)

DAV 724 Advanced Quantitative Research Methods and Modeling Techniques (3 Credit Hours)

This course will explore integration with mixed methods research. Experimental and quasi-experimental designs and analysis will be examined. Other topics covered include survey research methodology, data mining, simulations and techniques for dissertation designs. Emphasis on assumptions and limitations, ethics, process and logic, output and interpretation, and presentation of results. The concept of reliability, validity, and inference quality will be thoroughly examined in a review of applied aviation related research. The student will learn to select and implement efficient and effective research designs suitable for scholarly presentations. (Prerequisites: DAV 721, DAV 722; DAV 723 is suggested.)