Statistical
thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability
to read and write.
–
H.G. Wells
(1866 – 1946)
Professor: Joy Jordan
Office:
410 Briggs Hall
Phone:
832-6894
E-mail:
joy.jordan@lawrence.edu
Web
page: www.lawrence.edu/fast/jordanj/
Please note the
URL for my homepage. On this page is a link to the Math 117 web page, where I
will post homework assignments, solutions, handouts, etc. You should visit this website regularly. Also note that I check
email fairly regularly throughout the day (typically 3 times), but if you have an emergency or a message that
is urgent, then you should definitely call, not email.
Introduction
to the Practice of Statistics, 5th
Edition,
The textbook
has a helpful companion website (a link to this site is included on the course
web page). There is a new (6th) edition of this textbook, but in an
effort to keep costs down for students, we use the 5th edition of the book (that is, used copies should be
easy to find—you don’t need the CD
that accompanies the book). Also, a copy of the textbook is on 2-hour reserve
at the library (under Mr. Clemons – Math 107).
Monday: 12:30 – 1:30, Tuesday: 1:30 – 2:30, Wednesday: 10:00 – 11:00, Thursday: 2:00 – 3:00
If these times
do not work with your particular class schedule, I am happy to make individual
appointments for other times. (You need not make an appointment during regular
office hours—just come in.) Please ask if
you need help, and I will do all I can to assist you. That said, I expect
you to come to office hours prepared (e.g., having done the reading, knowing
the definitions) and not simply looking for easy answers. Besides office hours,
anytime my door is open, feel free to come in and ask questions. If my door is
closed, I am either out of the office, or I’m working and prefer not to be
disturbed.
I will assign
homework problems most days (and post them to the course website). These
problems will not be collected, but they will be discussed in class, and they
will be integral to your learning of
the material. I will provide written solutions to all of the problems (they
will be posted on the website), so you can check your work. My homework
solutions should be thought of as required
reading for the course, since certain (small) topics may be illustrated
through homework problems rather than lecture. Please see me with any questions
you have on the homework.
An announced
quiz will be given on some Wednesdays (and one Friday—see attached course
schedule). This will be an in-class quiz (given at the beginning of class) that
will take 20 minutes to finish. The quizzes are not meant to scare you, but
rather to regularly gauge your understanding and to serve as a motivational study
aid. Quizzes will cover the major topics of the week, and will include
questions requiring both problem solving and explanation. There will be no
make-up quizzes, except for excused absences.
There will be
two in-class exams during the
term and a final exam. The first exam is on Friday, April 23 and the second
exam is on Friday, May 28 The final exam is Monday, June 7 at 1:30 p.m.
Your final
grade is based on a weighting of quizzes (10%), computer lab assignments (10%),
and exams (first exam – 25%, second exam – 25%, final exam – 30%). The letter
grades will be assigned as follows, corresponding to
Cutoff
|
Grade
|
|
93.75 |
A |
|
90.00 |
A- |
|
86.25 |
B+ |
|
83.75 |
B |
|
80.00 |
B- |
|
76.25 |
C+ |
|
73.75 |
C |
|
70.00 |
C- |
|
66.25 |
D+ |
|
63.75 |
D |
|
60.00 |
D- |
Even though
this is a large class, I strongly encourage questions from students, responses
to my queries, and lively discussion. You are warmly welcome to participate in
class, regardless of whether you have the “right” answer. Please join the
conversation.
Because I love
statistics so much, I will encourage you to work hard to learn the material.
But please realize that your self-worth is not associated with your letter grade
on a particular quiz or exam (or even with your final course grade). You are
all good people, regardless of your official class performance on tasks.
Furthermore, I
think as a society in general, and at
Date
|
General Material
|
|
|
M 3/29 |
Introduction |
To Students:
What is Statistics? |
|
W 3/31 |
One variable
– graphs, interpretation, numerical summaries, and transformations |
Sections 1.1
– 1.2 |
|
F 4/2 |
One-variable
summaries |
Sections 1.1
– 1.2 |
|
M 4/5 |
Normal
distributions |
Section 1.3 |
|
W 4/7 |
Quiz and normal distributions |
Section 1.3 |
|
F 4/9 |
Scatterplots and correlation |
Sections 2.1
– 2.2 |
|
M 4/12 |
Regression
analysis |
Sections 2.3
– 2.4 |
|
W 4/14 |
Quiz and regression analysis (and diagnostics) |
Sections 2.3
– 2.4 |
|
F 4/16 |
Explaining
association and experimental design |
Sections 2.5,
3.1 – 3.2 |
|
M 4/19 |
Experimental
design and sampling design |
Sections 3.2
– 3.3 |
|
W 4/21 |
Sampling
distributions and review |
Section 3.4 |
|
F 4/23 |
Exam 1
(Chapters 1 – 3)
|
Reread
Chapters 1 – 3 |
|
M 4/26 |
Probability definitions and specific probability rules
|
Sections 4.1
– 4.2 |
|
W 4/28 |
Conditional
probability, independence, and general probability rules
|
Section 4.5 |
|
F 4/30 |
Bayes’ rule (tree diagrams) and probability
review
|
Section 4.5 |
|
M 5/3 |
Random
variables (distribution, mean, variance)
|
Sections 4.3
– 4.4 |
|
W 5/5 |
Quiz
and random variables (distribution, mean, variance) |
Sections 4.3
– 4.4 |
|
F 5/7 |
No class – Reading
Period |
Catch
up on reading and homework problems |
|
M 5/10 |
Means and variances of random variables, and binomial distribution
|
Sections 4.4,
5.1 |
|
W 5/12 |
Binomial
distribution |
Section 5.1 |
|
F 5/14 |
Quiz and normal approximation in the
binomial setting |
Sections 5.1 |
|
M 5/17 |
Central Limit
Theorem and linear combination of normal variables |
Section
5.2 |
|
W 5/19 |
Quiz and linear combination of normal variables |
Section 5.2 |
|
F 5/21 |
Confidence
intervals
|
Section 6.1 |
|
M 5/24 |
Confidence
intervals and significance testing |
Sections 6.1
– 6.2 |
|
W 5/26 |
Significance testing and review
|
Section 6.2 |
|
F 5/28 |
Exam 2
(Chapters 4 – 6)
|
Reread
Chapters 4 – 6 |
|
M 5/31 |
No class – Memorial
Day |
|
|
W 6/2 |
One-sample (and paired-data) t procedures
|
Sections 6.3,
7.1 |
|
F 6/4 |
Two-sample t procedures and review |
Section 7.2 |
|
M 6/7 |
Exam
3 (Chapters 1 – 7) – 1:30 pm |
Reread
Chapters 1 – 7 |