Stat141: Basic Statistical Methods Instructor: Math and Statistics Department:

Stat141: Basic Statistical Methods
Instructor: Sheila Weaver
Math and Statistics Department:
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 802-656-2192
Phone: 802-656-2940
Office Hours: regular hours posted on Bb site, and by appointment
Course Description: The main goal of this course is for you to be statistically literate. The goal is not to memorize
a lot of formulas and procedures, but to understand the thinking that goes into using data to understand the world,
so that you can use statistical results, and basic statistical methods successfully in their field of study and in daily life.
Prerequisites: Calculus required.
Learning Goals:
1: Students should gain an understanding of and appreciation for the utility and limitations of data and statistical
methods for solving real-world problems.
2: Students should gain an appreciation for the methods of data collection, including an understanding of potential
pitfalls, biases, and ethical issues.
3: Students should gain facility with the terminology, notation, and tools generally found in an introductory statistics
course. In particular, students should be comfortable reading and understanding an article citing summarized
statistics, and be able to dissect it into relevant course-related components.
4: Students should demonstrate a basic understanding of the laws and rules of probability, and how they relate to
statistics, particularly the ideas of randomness and statistical significance.
5: Students should demonstrate facility with basic statistical methods, including confidence intervals and hypothesis
tests, and more importantly, students should understand when a particular method is appropriate, and how to
appropriately interpret results in the context of a stated problem.
6: Students should be able to formulate and communicate solutions to problems in clear, grammatically correct,
precise English.
What You’ll Need for Stat141:
1. A Scientific Calculator – A TI 83 or 84, preferably an 84 (there's one function we'll use that is only
available on the 84, though you can find an applet online). A TI89 can be used, but it’s trickier…
2. A good Internet connection (DSL or cable). If you don’t have one, plan to visit a local library, or UVM, if
you live nearby. You must have access to a means of scanning handwritten documents to send as pdf’s. (a
scanner, or screenshot capability, or a good camera might work, too). You won’t need to do this often, but
should be able to do it a few times during the semester.
3. JMP --Statistical computing package: You're required to use it for a couple homework assignments and
it will come in handy for other homework sometimes. You do not have to buy it. It is available to all
UVM students for free. Go here and choose your platform (PC or Mac -- not available for Linux), then
choose JMP9.0 (not the Pro version). If you have a 64-bit machine, you can use the ‘Pro’ version, but the
regular version is plenty for our purposes. If you have trouble downloading, contact the helpline (802-6562604) or check here for other types of help: http://www.uvm.edu/it/help/
4. A Homework Portal Code (See below)*
5. Textbook or e-book**: Intro Stats, De Veaux, Velleman, Bock, 3rd edition, Pearson/Addison Wesley,
2009. (Note: When you sign up for the homework portal you automatically have access to an e-book so
there is no need to have a hard copy of the textbook unless that is your preference.) This is a well-written
text with lots of good examples, and even a sense of humor.
* Access code to Mylab: You’ll be using the Pearson “MyLab and Mastering” Homework Portal -pearsonmylabandmastering.com The old name of MyLab was CourseCompass, so you can also access it at
CourseCompass.com.
**Access to MyLab comes with the UVM bookstore text package. You might prefer this alternative if you like to
use a ‘real’ textbook. Warning: Do not buy your textbook through Amazon or other sources as they will not usually
include this access code!
Or… for a bit less money, you can purchase just the homework portal, and it comes with an ebook, instead of a
hard-copy book (to purchase this, go to CourseCompass.com. You can pay with a credit card or Paypal, and last
time I checked, the price was around $82)
Registering with Mylab: Go to the webpage – (coursecompass.com), and click the Student button under Register
(over on the right). Enter our Course ID: weaver17774, and follow the instructions.
Academic Integrity:
Violations of Academic Honesty will not be tolerated. The rules are clear, and the consequences stiff (read here
about Academic Integrity programs). Remember to take the Academic Integrity & Copyright Policy Quiz. This is a
simple, two question quiz. However, this is REQUIRED, and anyone who refuses to agree to the academic honesty
code will be asked to remove themselves from the class.
Course Structure:
The structure of this course is pretty simple. Generally, you will read a chapter from the textbook, watch a
screencast (made by me) to reinforce some of the hard concepts, then complete the Course Compass homework
assignment for that chapter. There will be a few (5) additional homework assignments that you’ll need to do by
hand, scan and email to me, as well as a couple Discussion Board assignments. After the first set of chapters is
completed, there will be a midterm exam. This same process is repeated for the second half of the course. The
midterm is all on Course Compass; the final exam has a Course Compass part, and a handwritten (and scanned)
portion.
Grading: Your course grade will be determined by:
Homework
Midterm
Final Exam
40% of grade (Course Compass online homework, and some 'hard-copy' assignments)
30% of grade
30% of grade
I'll compute an overall percentage based on this formula, and use this Grade Distribution.
How to get help:
Screencasts should be helpful, as should the "Help me Solve This" and “View an Example” buttons on the MyLab
homework. Check the announcements page frequently for changes and news once the class gets started.
Send me an e-mail if you still have questions. I will generally respond within 24 hours. I always check my email first
thing in the morning, and may check at other times, too. Please use the Blackboard email, though you can also
email me at [email protected].
Even though this is an on-line course, I am happy to meet with you in person if you have questions. My office is on
the UVM campus, in Mansfield House (in the Votey parking lot next to Ira Allen Chapel). I will post specific office
hours on our Blackboard site. I am available for Skype help as well (email me to request a skype meeting -- my
skype address is sheilaoweaver). Finally, you can also call or text me on my cell phone if there's an emergency (802318-6954)
There’s usually a way to work things out as long as I hear from you in a timely manner. Also, please let me know
about any problems you encounter with this site – broken links, missing documents or files, inconsistent
terminology, confusing instructions, etc. Your suggestions for improving the site and course are always welcome.
Overview of Topics:
Basics of Data and how to summarize (ch. 1 - 5 in text).
The Normal Distribution (ch. 6)
Regression and Correlation (ch. 7, 8, 9)
Simulations, Observational Studies, and Experiments (ch. 11, 12, 13)
Probability and Distributions (ch. 14, 15, 17).
Sampling Distributions (ch. 18)
Midterm on chapters 1 – 9, 11 - 15, 17, 18
Confidence Interval for one Proportion (ch. 19)
Hypothesis tests for one Proportion (ch. 20, 21)
More inference for proportions (ch. 22, 26).
Statistical Inference for Means (ch. 23, 24, 28)
Final Exam on chapters 19 - 24, 26, 28