Instructor: A. B. Billings
Email: abilling@stat.wvu.edu
Lecture Time: 3:30 – 4:30 pm MW
Class Location: 259 Hodges
Office Location: 414 Hodges
Office Hours: Click Here for
AB's schedule
Lab Assistants:
Section:
002 W
9:30 am G31 EIE
David Bueller dbueller@gmail.com
Section:
003 T 1:00 pm G31 EIE Chris
Grant cgrant1@mix.wvu.edu
Section:
004 F 12:30 pm G31 EIE Daniel
Szelc dszelc@mix.wvu.edu
Section:
005 T
10:30 pm G33 EIE Joseph
Schutak
Jshustak@mix.wvu.edu
Section:
006 R
12:30 pm G33 EIE Chris Grant
cgrant1@mix.wvu.edu
Lab Grader:
Qilu Zeng email:
qzeng@mix.wvu.edu
This course is
offered in the General Education Curriculum under Objective 2: Basic
Mathematical Skills and Scientific Inquiry; and
Objective 4: Contemporary Society. The course material encourages critical
thinking and challenges students to employ the scientific method to examine
contemporary issues, ideas, and conventional wisdom.
Course Objectives:
In this course
students will:
This course
provides the student with the foundations of statistical theory and the
opportunity to practice using several statistical methods to organize, analyze,
and present data, to design experiments appropriate to the information desired,
to test hypotheses, to make judgments about data and to predict future behavior
based on available data. Descriptive statistics, simple and conditional
probability, probability distributions, and topics in inferential statistics
such as hypothesis testing and estimation are emphasized.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon successful
completion of this course, all students are expected to demonstrate the ability
to:
1.
Understand
the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics;
2.
Identify
the experimental unit and the variable type and to specify the variable values;
3.
Organize
data for statistical analysis, construct, interpret, and understand graphical
displays of a set of observed data;
4.
Calculate,
interpret, understand, and identify when to use the sample mean, quartiles,
IQR, median, mode, and standard deviation and identify outliers;
5.
Measure and assess the association
between two quantitative variables, and understand what the Pearson correlation
coefficient measures;
6.
Understand
the idea of least squares estimation, interpret the intercept and slope of a
least squares regression line, understand the connection between correlation
and regression analysis;
7.
Compute,
understand and interpret the theoretical probability of an event, construct and
interpret probability distributions, know how the laws of probability are used
to compute probabilities of compound and conditional events;
8.
Understand,
examine the sampling distribution of a statistic;
9.
Calculate
the expected value and variance of a discrete numeric random variable;
10. Identify and understand binomial, poisson, and normal random variables, compute their
probabilities, means and variances;
11. Compute z scores and understand the
z-score as a measure of relative position;
12. Use Normal approximation to compute
binomial probabilities;
13. Understand and compute the mean and
standard deviation of the sampling distribution of sample means and use the
Central Limit Theorem to answer probability questions involving the sample mean;
14. Compute and interpret confidence
intervals on population means, population proportions, and mean differences
between two populations using sample data;
15. Construct the null and alternative
hypotheses;
16. Understand and describe the Type I and
Type II errors in the context of a hypothesis test;
17. Relate the steps in hypothesis testing to
the scientific method;
18. Perform large- and small-sample
hypothesis tests on population parameters, use p-values and the classical
methods for making decisions, interpret the results and state the conclusion of
a hypothesis test;
19. Perform chi-square tests of independence
and the chi-square test of homogeneity, through the use of contingency tables;
20. Make inferences concerning the
theoretical slope of a linear regression line and determine the accuracy of
regression predictions.
eBook: (Required)
LifeStats: by Ditlev Monrad,
E. James Harner, Barbara A. Bailey and Xuming He
Note:
You must purchase your eBook online through the website:
LifeStats online ordering instructions are provided at:
http://www.stat.wvu.edu/~hlee/LifeStatsOnlineOrderingInstructions.htm
The Department
of Statistics requires that students
purchase an eBook. Your IDEAL account will be discontinued and you will not be
able to complete the labs and quizzes if you do not purchase the textbook by
the end of the second week of class. This is department policy.
You
should download lecture notes, prior to lecture, at: Statistics
211 Lecture Notes
Performance Measures:
Type Points
Exam
1
100
Exam 2 100
Final
Exam
150
Lab
Exercises 100
Lab
Quizzes 100
Course Grade:
The
course grade will be based on a total of 550 points, using a 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%
criteria for assigning the course grades A, B, C, D respectively. Any total less
than 60% of 550 points will result in the course grade F.
Grade Minimum Points
A 495 (90%)
B 440 (80%)
C 385 (70%)
D 330 (60%)
F
< 330 (<60%)
Failure
to work and submit at least 15 lab exercises will result in the course grade
ÒFÓ, regardless of the studentÕs performance on quizzes and exams.
Text Exercises:
Text
exercises are assigned by section on the class schedule, but they are not
graded. However, you must work the exercises in order to succeed in this
course, since they provide practice problems to the students and are often
representative of exam questions.
Attendance Policy:
Class attendance is required.
Absences, tardiness, and leaving early from lecture adversely affect student
performance.
Your total number of points under the ÒCourse GradeÓ section above will be
modified by the following bonus or penalty score:
Number of absences Grade
modification
2 or fewer 15 bonus points
3 10 bonus points
4 5 bonus points
5 0 bonus points
6 5 penalty points
7 10 penalty points
8 15 penalty points
9 or more 20 penalty points
The
student is responsible for all material missed as a result of an absence. For
further guidelines please refer to http://www.wvu.edu/~acadaff/acad/policies/attendance.htm.
Exams and quizzes:
Students are not permitted to
use the textbook during quizzes and exams. Students are not permitted to use
notes during quizzes and exams. Calculators are required and cannot be shared. Students are not allowed to
use cell phone during quizzes and exams, and students must remove baseball
caps. Students must not
leave the room during a quiz or exam without the instructorÕs permission. The date for each exam is indicated in the class
schedule, but the final determination of material covered on each exam will be
announced in class prior to the exam. The quizzes and exams are timed and are
to be completed in G31/33 Eiesland Hall during
your scheduled lab period.
Lab Exercises:
During
the semester, at least 20 exercises will be assigned and the best 20 exercise
grades will be used to compute the lab component of the studentÕs course grade.
Each exercise will be worth 5 points.
Fifteen (15) of the exercises must be
worked and submitted (i.e., a reasonable attempt must be made) in order to
receive a passing grade. Failure to
work and submit at least 15 lab exercises will result in the course grade ÒFÓ,
regardless of the studentÕs performance on quizzes and exams. You will find
it helpful to bring a pencil, paper, calculator, and your notes when completing
the exercises. The lab instructors will work practice examples similar to the
assigned exercises in G31/33 Eiesland Hall during your assigned lab
period. You can work the exercises during the free periods at the lab or you
can work them at any computer supporting Java. Graduate Teaching Assistants
will teach the labs sections as outlined above and will also be available
during free lab/office hours. You are expected to attend the lab sessions for
the quizzes/examples and complete the exercises on your own.
Lab Quizzes
During
the semester, approximately 12 quizzes will be given and the best 10 will be
used to compute the quiz grade. Each quiz will be worth 10 points. You will
find it helpful to bring a pencil and calculator when completing the quizzes.
The quizzes are timed and are to be completed in G31/33 Eiesland
Hall during
your scheduled lab period.
Make-Up Exams, Quizzes, and
Exercises
Since the due
date for an assignment/exercise is at least a week after the assigned date, no
make up assignment/exercise will be given. In the case of an emergency
situation, I must be notified within two days of the exam. A reasonable excuse is required for a missed exam;
otherwise the grade zero will be recorded for the exam. Your instructor will
determine: 1) whether the excuse is reasonable, and, if so, 2) the manner in
which the missed exam is made up.
Note: Some lab exercise grades, as well as your 1 or 2 lowest quiz grades, may be dropped from the calculation of your course grade. These dropped exercise and quiz grades are in case something catastrophic happens (i.e., IDEAL does not save your answers, a death in the family, serious illness, etc.). This is also to safeguard me in case we do have a mishap with IDEAL and your exercises do not get submitted. Chances are that will not happen, so you will end up benefiting from this. Since I do drop a number of each, there are absolutely NO make-ups, under any foreseeable circumstances (outside of a case where you have an excuse that you missed 3 weeks because of serious illness, or something like that). ALSO: You are given 5 absences until the penalty points take effect. These freebies are in case you forget your WVU student ID, death in the family, serious illness, etc. In summary, there are NO MAKE-UP EXCERCISES, NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES, and NO ATTENDANCE FOR FORGOTTEN IDs.
Prerequisite:
Math
124 or Math 126 or equivalent (college algebra)
Academic Integrity:
The integrity of
the classes offered by any academic institution solidifies the foundation of
its mission and cannot be sacrificed to expediency, ignorance, or blatant
fraud. Therefore, I will enforce rigorous standards of academic integrity in
all aspects and assignments of this course. For the detailed policy of West
Virginia University regarding the definitions of acts considered to fall under
academic dishonesty and possible ensuing sanctions, please see the Student
Conduct Code at http://www.arc.wvu.edu/admissions/integrity.html. Should you have any questions about
possibly improper research citations or references, or any other activity that
may be interpreted as an attempt at academic dishonesty, please see me before the assignment is due to discuss
the matter.
Social Justice:
West Virginia
University is committed to social justice. I concur with that commitment and
expect to maintain a positive learning environment based upon open
communication, mutual respect, and non-discrimination. Our University does not
discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, veteranÕs status,
religion, sexual orientation, color or national origin. Any suggestions as to
how to further such a positive and open environment in this class will be
appreciated and given serious consideration.
Disability Services:
If you are a
person with a disability and anticipate needing any type of accommodation in
order to participate in this class, please advise me and make appropriate
arrangements with the Office of Disability Services (293-6700).
Course Syllabus Modification:
The instructor
reserves the right to make modifications to the policies stated in the course
syllabus. Students will be notified of any changes.
(created 8-21-09)