Resource Economics 212: Introductory Statistics for the Social Sciences Spring 2014

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1 Resource Economics 212: Introductory Statistics for the Social Sciences Spring 2014 Instructor: Lecture Hours: Office Hours: Office Location: Dr. Emily Yucai Wang MW: 4:40pm 5:55pm Tuesdays: 9:00am 11:00am Stockbridge Hall, Room 220B Friday Discussion Sections Section Discussion Leader ResEcon212-01AA Jung Hwan Koh ResEcon212-01AB Jung Hwan Koh ResEcon212-01AC Kelly Miller ResEcon212-01AD Kelly Miller ResEcon212-01AE Christopher Burns Policy All s must be sent to your discussion leader. Any and all questions that cannot be resolved will be forwarded to me for final decision. Allow 48 hours for reply (Please inform me if TA did not respond in allowed time.) Your TA is your academic life-line. Treat them with respect, both in person and in s. Stats Team Members Office Hours: Mondays 6pm Stockbridge Hall 215 Tuesdays 6pm Stockbridge Hall 215 Wednesday 6pm Stockbridge Hall 215 Thursday 6pm Stockbridge Hall 215 TA s on Duty: Christopher Burns Irene Mussio Garcia Jung Hwan Koh Kelly Miller Tejesh Pradham Insung Son ResEcon212 Spring

2 Schedule Course Schedule Lecture Date Content 1 W-01/22/14 Introductions & Chapter 1 2 M-01/27/14 Chapter 2 3 W-01/29/14 Chapter 3 4 M-02/03/14 A/D Chapter 4 5 W-02/05/14 Chapter 4 6 M-02/10/14 Chapter 4 7 W-02/12/14 Chapter 5 8 T-02/18/14 Chapter 5 9 W-02/19/14 Chapter 5 10 M-02/24/14 Midterm 1 11 W-02/26/14 Chapter 6 12 M-03/03/14 Chapter 6 13 W-03/05/14 WD Chapter 6 14 M-03/10/14 Chapter 7 15 W-03/11/14 Chapter 7 16 M-03/24/14 Chapter 7 17 W-03/26/14 Midterm 2 18 M-03/31/14 Chapter 8 19 W-04/07/14 Chapter 8 20 M-04/09/14 Chapter 8 21 W-04/14/14 Chapter 8 22 W-04/16/14 Chapter 9 23 M-04/21/14 Chapter 9 24 W-04/23/14 Chapter 9 25 M-04/28/14 Chapter 9 26 W-04/30/14 Final Exam Review TBA Final Exam ResEcon212 Spring

3 Textbook - Edition 4 of Applied Statistics in Business & Economics - Volume 1 - By Doane & Seward - Publisher McGraw-Hill Irwine Warning: Do not open your textbook seal until you are certain you will take this class! Course Websites MOODLE - Contains Lecture Materials - Lecture Slides - Grades - Class Announcements - Link to McGraw-Hill Connect System Homeworks Quizes Pre-Lecture Assignments (Optional) Course Objective When students complete this course they are expected to have a working understanding of the methods and skills used to organize data, conduct meaningful analysis and draw inferences from the data. As well as being an academic course, knowledge of statistics allows you to experience the world in a different light. The skills you will hopefully learn can be used in your everyday decision-making and communication. While being extremely useful in an age where numbers are increasingly used, and abused, statistics is power. After taking this course you will be able to test your ideas (hypotheses) with a limited amount of information (data) and to judge the usefulness of survey results commonly found in the media. Teaching you key ingredients for the responsible consumption and production of statistical information is the ultimate goal of this class. For your reading pleasure, The NY Times has underscored the importance and value of Statistics with this article, For Today s Graduate, Just One Word: Statistics. ResEcon212 Spring

4 Prerequisite Knowledge of high school algebra is required. You must have access to a personal computer and access to the Internet. Most importantly, you must have a willingness to work hard. Statistics can be difficult for some people. But it will be one of the most useful subjects for preparing for your future. And I hope you will find that it can be fun! Grading System Final Exam 50% 60% (w/o L) Midterm Exam 1 25% 55% (w/ PL) Midterm Exam 2 25% Quizzes (On Connect) 15% Friday Discussion Session 10% Homework (On Connect) 15% Connect Pre-Lecture (PL) Questions ARS (iclicker2) 5% (Optional) 5% (Extra Credit) Minimum Grade Guarantee: Grades are determined by student performance on all components listed on the previous page, not by negotiation based on other factors affecting our lives. There are no extra credit activities in this class. To allow you to check your grade-to-date, we will abide by the following minimum grade cutoff points based on a percentage of the total points available: A = 93, A- = 89, B+ = 85, B = 81, B- = 77, C+ = 73, C = 69, C- = 65, D+ = 61, D = 57, and F<57 Description of Grading Component Connect Homework & Quizzes: There will be weekly homework assignments on Connect based on our textbook. Your combined score from these weekly homework assignments will count to 15% of your course grade. Homeworks must be completed by 11:30PM on Saturday nights. You may have unlimited number of tries, but only the highest grade will count towards each homework. The 3 lowest homework grades will be dropped. Quizzes will be assigned on a bi-weekly basis, on Connect. They are based on completed homeworks and materials from prior lectures and discussion sections. Your combined score from the quizzes will count to 15% of your course grade. Quizzes must be completed by 11:30PM on Sunday nights. The 2 lowest quiz grades will be dropped. A random sample of questions is chosen from a population of questions relevant to the chapter(s) we are studying. Quiz scores are based on percent of quiz mastered, with a maximum of 2 attempts on each quiz. Only your highest score for that quiz will be recorded. Each attempt is 2 hours long and the clock begins ResEcon212 Spring

5 whenever you enter the quiz, even if by mistake (sorry, but I did not mean to hit that button!). You may not see the same question two times as you are dealt a new question with each visit. Quizzes are not like pre-lectures or homework and you will not have access to feedback during the time the quiz is up. Only after the quiz has expired can you see the feedback. These restrictions are meant to make quizzes more like exams in that they measure your knowledge and your readiness for actual exams. Once the quiz has expired you can revisit them with feedback turned on to practice for the exams, but you cannot change your quiz grade. Discussion Sections: The Friday discussion session will provide opportunity for students to work individually and with peers to practice statistics rather than hear us talk about it. We will go over computer use (e.g., Excel), review additional problems and questions on material covered in the lectures. It is important to bring a laptop to discussion if at all possible (or sit beside someone that does) as we will be working with various programs to calculate statistics. You will submit work using the iclicker2 in every Friday's Discussion Section for a grade. Your discussion work will count towards 10% of your grade. Midterm Exams: There will 2 examinations in addition to the final. Exam 1 will be Monday, February 24 th and Exam 2 will be Wednesday, March 26 st. Each exam will take place at our regular class time but at a different location. Make sure you know the exam location in advance. And mark your calendars. No make-up exams will be given for work or personal conflicts. You must be able to take these exams as scheduled. Final Exam: A comprehensive final exam will be given during the normal final examination period, but unfortunately we never know the exact date until later in the semester, so don't book your holiday flights yet! Connect Pre-Lecture Assignments: Before each lecture, you have the option to complete a set of Pre-Lecture Assignments. If you choose to complete these, you may log on to Connect to learn what material you will need to know for the next class lecture. Read the assigned material in the text and complete the Pre-Lecture Assignment before class. You will be asked a few questions by Connect to check your mastery of the new material. You may do the pre-lecture activity as many times as you like, until it expires (10 minutes before lecture) and you have full access to feedback and correct answers. If you chose this option, your total exam grades will account for 55% of the total grade. iclicker2 Grading: At each lecture, a set of questions will be asked using the Audience Response System (ARS) provided by iclicker2. You may receive, up to 5% of the total grade, extra credit for correct responses. The ARS is used to help you learn and improve your grade. The ARS may help you stay engaged and applying your new knowledge. Obviously, you must have your iclicker2 with you at each lecture to earn these points. We will begin using ARS and the iclicker2 on Wednesday Jan 29. At each lecture you can earn up to 1 point regardless of the number of ARS questions asked that day. At each lecture 2 to 6 ARS questions will be asked. The total extra credit awarded ResEcon212 Spring

6 will be based on the ratio of correct answers to the total number of questions asked. For example, if 4 ARS questions are asked and 3 were answered correctly, then 0.75 points will be given for extra credit for the lecture. Other Required Materials CONNECT We will be using CONNECT which is a required online homework management system for this course. It is part of the integrated system in Moodle. Why is this software important? - You ll be required to submit graded assignments through Connect. - Connect provides instant feedback and helps you learn to solve the assignments. - Connect includes an integrated ebook and free student study tools (with the CONNECTPLUS version included for free in all packages from the publisher/bookstore). If you have any questions regarding CONNECT please direct these to McGraw-Hill tech support, either by visiting their website at: for helpful FAQ s, or by calling When you contact McGraw-Hill with a question, please write down the case number they give you. They are open Monday-Thursday 9am- Midnight, Fridays 9am-7pm, as well as Sundays 7pm-Midnight, so if you have any questions you will be responsible for following up with them to make sure that you complete the required homework assignment on time. Statistical Software While our textbook uses both Excel and MINITAB, we will be using Microsoft Excel predominantly. For MAC users: Both Excel and MINITAB run on a Windows platform. It is possible to dual boot a MAC in order to run such software. If you do not wish to do so, both the Excel and Minitab software packages are available at any UMass PC lab. iclicker2 We will be using the iclicker2 in almost every class, starting Wednesday Jan 29, The clicker devices are available at the Textbook Annex, for purchase and rental. Warning: iclicker2 looks like the picture to the left. The previous version, known as iclicker (has only multiple choice buttons) OR the webclicker app will NOT work in this class. You are responsible for registering your iclicker2 in Moodle using the iclicker Registration Block. Failure to register your clicker will result in your performance on the clicker questions in class not counting towards your final grade. ResEcon212 Spring

7 At all times, there should be the same number of iclicker2 s answering questions as there are students in our class. Bringing another student s clicker to class and answering questions for them is considered cheating and academic dishonesty (see comments below). Calculators No real statistics can be done without a calculator, and the modern day most of us use a computer. For exams you must use a calculator, not a Cell Phone, a Palm, or a Pocket PC. The recommended calculators are the TI- 83+, the TI-84+ and the TI-89 (sells for about $85 or $100), or the cheaper TI-30 (sells for about $12), but any calculator that has a memory button, does square roots, factorials and the basic arithmetic will do; especially if the package mentions Statistics (i.e., most any calculator that wasn't given to you as a freebie will be fine. See a TA if you want help.) You cannot bring any "text-storing" devices to an exam; that includes cell phones. Most graphing calculators allow some text storage, including the TIs, so you should buy the TI-30, or an equivalent one, for use at exams. Calculators will be checked at each exam before allowing their use. I will provide any computer screen shots needed for the exam. A backup calculator at exams is needed to protect against bad luck (e.g., battery failure). Please note that you cannot share calculators during exams. Additional Course Policies Academic Dishonesty Policy Cheating will not be tolerated in any shape or form. If you're caught cheating I will follow the University's established procedures to pursue the matter to the fullest extent possible (see your "Undergraduate Rights and Responsibilities" handbook). Bringing a friend's iclicker2 to class or discussion section to enter responses for your friend is cheating and will be treated as such. At each lecture, if the number of students attending the lecture is less than the number of iclicker2 entries, then we will stop the lecture and ask who has multiple clickers. If we do not discover who has the multiple clickers, the entire class will earn zero points for that lecture. Let's not have this happen this semester. Attendance: Class attendance is expected and critical to success in this course. I think we can help you learn Statistics. If you choose to attend class, we insist that you be on time and refrain from visiting with your neighbors. Disruptive behavior will not be tolerated or ignored. Students who do not attend class cannot expect individual tutoring from teaching assistants or the instructor. Also, if you miss class, it is your responsibility to find out about announcements made in class. All lecture notes will be posted on Moodle course site roughly 4 hours after the lecture is completed and they begin with all announcements and material used in class that day. ResEcon212 Spring

8 Additional Information Why this class is a General Education R2 Course? [see ] Statistics can be viewed as Discovery through Data. Through the use of Statistics we can present useful summaries of underlying data that reveal rather than conceal crucial points, provide sound estimates to use when actual answers cannot be determined at acceptable costs, and to make inferences about any number of hypotheses. Students from every part of campus need Statistics to navigate in a world full of information but often lacking in contextual understanding supported by actual evidence, or data. Statistics analyses data, often numerical, using mathematical formulas and formal reasoning to reach conclusions supported by sound information, properly gathered and presented. Most all major debates include some aspects of Statistics including today s major discussions on climate change, education and immigration. The need to understand Statistics further increases with the growing number of political and opinion surveys conducted on most every topic from the silly to the serious. Students will be exposed to the usefulness as well as the pitfalls of using Statistics and should learn to differentiate studies based on proper techniques from those masquerading as numerical proof of one s own prior opinions. In addition, Statistics recognizes uncertainty exists and we will explore how to manage and accept risk and uncertainty as part of our lives, both personally and professionally. We will use Microsoft s Excel as our main technology tool to perform the drudgery part of the analysis as we focus on learning to anticipate and assess the value of our spreadsheet calculations. When Excel is insufficient for the task at hand we will turn to professional statistical packages such as Minitab, the statistical package used by more than 450 companies in the Fortune 500. Thus in addition to learning Statistics you will greatly improve your technology skills. In your discussion sections, you will work in teams to analyze data and to present your findings to the group. Comment: We will be covering a large body of unfamiliar material in a short period of time. The course is structured so that each new section builds on the concepts and ideas of the previous section. It is important, therefore, that you stay on top of lectures and reading assignments. Statistics is not a subject that you can cram for the night before an exam. The ability to use statistical concepts and methods is best developed through a steady and continuous exposure via lecture, readings, activities and problems lots of problems. ResEcon212 Spring