MAT 130 – Introduction to Statistics

 

Syllabus – Fall 2007

 

 

 

Class Time:       12:40-1:40 M-W-F, Olin 129

 

Text:                 Introduction to the Practice of Statistics by Moore and McCabe, 5th Edition.

 

Instructor:         André Wehner, Olin 111, Ph. 238-5919, e-mail wehner@centre.edu,

                        Office Hours: 3:00-5:00 M-Th, 10:00-12:00 Tu and Th, or by appointment.

 

Tutor:               Jesse Johnson, Tu-Th-Su, 8-9pm, Olin 129   

 

Grading:           3 tests @ 10% each = 30%

8 quizzes @ 2.5% each = 20%

Final 30%

Homework 20%

 

 

Course Description

 

 

In today's world we are surrounded by charts, numbers and poll results. While the intention of this information is to facilitate a better understanding of the raw data, we often find that the conclusions can be drastically different depending on who crunches the numbers. Summary information is produced by looking at a small sample of the population in order to make an educated guess about the characteristics of the entire population. These educated guesses are necessary, because it is impractical to sample all members of a population and impossible to fully foretell the future. Statistics is the study of making sense out of a lot of data. Statistics includes the presentation of data in graphs and charts and making educated guesses about the nature of the population when given a small sample.

 

We will attempt to cover chapters 1-9 of our text, or about one section per day. By the end of this course you should be able to:

  • present and read numerical data in a graphical format
  • master basic probability theory (random variables, distributions and variability)
  • understand the difficulties in creating an unbiased sample.
  • correctly interpret information out of a sample.
  • twist the meaning of any statistic to suit your purposes (or how to protect yourselves from those that would do it to you)

We will be using Microsoft Excel to display graphs for homework and in the preparation and presentation of large projects. The data that go with the exercises are all in Excel format on the CD that comes with the textbook, so you don’t need to enter them. They can also be found online at the textbook website,  http://bcs.whfreeman.com/ips5e/ . You will need a scientific (or graphing) calculator for quizzes and tests.

 

 

Further Remarks

 

Class participation is an essential part of the course. You are expected to attend every class. Three or more unexcused absences will result in the lowering of a grade. During class, you are encouraged to make comments and ask questions. We might also spend parts of some classes working in small groups.

 

The homework assigned in the schedule below will be collected at the beginning of class on quiz or test days. Late homework will be marked down at least 50% (of course, exceptions can be made for emergencies). For excused absences, you should make arrangements to have your homework submitted either early or by the beginning of the class period in which the assignment is due. You are encouraged to cooperate on the assignments, but you should only turn in your own work. Whenever you have questions on assigned problems or anything else, your friendly instructor will be glad to help you. The best time to see me is during my office hours (see above). Free tutoring is available as listed above; please note that our tutor is also responsible for the other section of this class which uses the same text, but proceeds on a different schedule.

 

Quizzes will be administered at the beginning of class on the scheduled days covering the indicated material. They will consist of a couple of questions and should only take about fifteen minutes to complete. If you do the homework and look over your notes before coming to class, you should do fine on the quizzes.

 

There will be three one-hour midterm exams and a three-hour comprehensive final exam. If you have an excused absence for a college activity, you must make arrangements to take an exam early.

 

The solutions you present in homework, quizzes, and tests must be complete, coherent, well-organized, and neat. Simply stating answers or turning in unclear solutions will result in a grade of 0. Expect to be graded on an approximate 90-80-70 scale, depending on the total class average.

 

In cooperation with the disability resource center, reasonable accomodation will be provided for students with disabilities. Please meet the instructor during the first week of class to make suitable arrangements.

 

This syllabus is posted at http://web.centre.edu/wehner/courses/m130f07.htm .

 

                                                                   Schedule Fall 2007

 

Day

Material Covered

Homework

 

 

 

8/27

1.1 displaying distributions with graphs

Ch. 1: 2, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, 20, 25, 33, 37, 38

8/29

1.2 displaying distributions with numbers

42, 44, 45, 49, 54, 58, 66, 69, 71

8/31

1.3 density curves and normal distributions

79, 83, 84, 86, 92, 94, 95, 98, 100, 104, 111, 116-118

9/3

2.1 scatterplots; Quiz 1

Ch. 2: 1, 3, 4, 8, 16

9/5

2.2 correlation

21, 24, 27, 29, 35, 40

9/7

2.3 least-squares regression

43, 45, 49, 55, 59, 60

9/10

2.4 more on correlation & regression; Quiz 2

63-65, 67, 70, 80

9/12

2.5 causation

85, 95

9/14

3.1 producing data

Ch. 3: 6, 7

9/17

3.2 designing experiments; Quiz 3

13, 16, 27, 32, 35

9/19

3.3 sampling design

37, 44, 47, 48, 57, 59, 60

9/21

Test 1

 

9/24

3.4 statistical inference

62, 64, 66, 69, 75

9/26

4.1 randomness

 

9/28

4.2 probability models

Ch. 4: 11, 12, 14, 20, 22, 24, 27, 32, 34, 36

10/1

4.3 random variables; Quiz 4

42, 44, 46, 51, 53, 55

10/3

4.4 means and variances of random variables

59, 65-67, 76, 79, 80, 83

10/5

4.5 probability rules

86, 89, 91-94, 99, 102-104, 106, 108

10/8

5.1 sampling distributions; Quiz 5

Ch. 5: 1, 3, 7, 9, 12, 13-15

10/10

5.1 binomial distributions

17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25

10/15

5.2 sampling distribution of a sample mean

29, 32, 35-37 39, 41, 44, 47, 52

10/17

Test 2

 

10/19

6.1 confidence intervals

Ch. 6: 3, 5, 7, 9-11, 16-18, 22, 23, 25, 26

10/22

6.2 tests of significance

34, 35, 39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 55, 56, 61, 65, 67, 71

10/24

6.3 use and abuse of tests; Quiz 6

73, 74, 77, 82, 83, 86, 87

10/26

6.4 power and inference as a decision

93, 96, 98

10/29

7.1 inference for the mean of a population

Ch. 7: 5, 13-15, 18, 20-22, 26, 29

10/31

7.1 t-distributions

30, 33, 35, 37, 41, 47, 48, 52

11/2

7.2 comparing two means; Quiz 7

53, 55-57, 59, 62-64

11/5

7.2 inference for small samples

68, 73-75, 83, 85, 89, 91

11/7

7.3 inference for population spread

93, 95, 97, 99, 102, 103

11/9

8.1 inference for a single proportion

Ch. 8: 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15

11/12

8.1 significance tests; Quiz 8

21-23, 26, 27, 29

11/14

8.2 comparing two proportions

31, 34, 37, 39, 47, 48

11/16

Test 3

 

11/19

9.1 analysis for two-way tables

Ch. 9: 1, 2, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 19

11/26

9.2 inference for two-way tables

20, 24, 27, 32, 33, 37

11/28

9.3 formulas and models for two-way tables

40, 43

11/30

9.4 goodness of fit

 

 

 

 

12/?

Final (comprehensive)