Syllabus: Stat 201, Spring 2015 Instructor: Teaching Assistant:

Syllabus: Stat 201, Spring 2015
Instructor: Sheila O'Leary Weaver [email protected]
Office: 307 Mansfield House
Office Phone: 656-2192
Office Hours: Mon 2 to 3pm, Thur 9 to 9:50am, Fri 10:40 to 11:35am, and by appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Jake Feldman [email protected]
(grades homework; holds office hours; comes to class sometimes)
Office: top floor of Pearl House (on Colchester Ave, between Dewey and the Math Dept Building)
Office Hours: Thur 12 to 1pm, and by appointment.
Section A -- 13982 -- Tues - Thur -- 10:00 to 11:15am -- 205 Votey
Stat201 is "Statistical Analysis Via Computers." The main goal of this course is to give you some experience
with statistical programming and data analysis. We'll discuss some practical issues of using the techniques with
real data, and we’ll divide our time about equally with the SAS statistical software package, and R. It is
important that you have some statistical background, so that you can properly plan your analysis, and properly
interpret your results – something the level of Stat141 at UVM is appropriate as a minimum. Note that though
this is a ‘Stat’ class, and though we will review some of the statistical methods you’ve learned, it is more about
the programming aspect, and not a course in Statistical theory.
Course Materials:
Required Text: The Little SAS Book: A Primer, 5th edition, Delwiche and Slaughter, SAS Publishing, 2012.
SAS: We’ll use SAS first. I'll loan you a copy of SAS on a flash drive, and you can put on your own
computer, if you like. Which version of SAS you need depends on your operating system. To find out which
edition of Windows you have, go to the Control Panel and select System.
To install SAS 9.4, you will need: Windows 7 or 8.
*64-bit machine: If you have a 64-bit version of Windows, you may choose to install the 64-bit version
of SAS 9.4. Note that you’ll need a 64-bit version of Excel as well, if you are going to import excel
files into SAS (which we will do in this class…)
You’ll need SAS 8.2 if you have: Any basic Home edition of Windows. This version has most, but not
all of what you'll need for this class (but you can do these tasks on campus).
If you have a Mac or Linux:
I'm afraid SAS is not available for Macs; and UVM does not have SAS for Linux….
Please don't despair. Here are some options:
 SAS is available on many computers around campus (see below*).
 Some students have installed it on Boot Camp, or other multi-boot utilities.
 Access it using a remote desktop called ‘Virtual Votey.’ Downlad VMware for your
machine at this link:
http://www.uvm.edu/~cems/?Page=compservices/VirtualVoteyMac.html&SM=current/_
currentmenu.html Select Math & Statistics to get the software in 205 Votey.

You can run a web-based ‘University Edition’ of SAS on your Mac. Installation is
tricky, and the program looks a bit different (not the REAL SAS), but you could use it to
do homework if you like. Here are instructions (follow very carefully!):
http://www.sas.com/en_us/software/university-edition.html
Alan Howard ([email protected]) is UVM’s local SAS expert, and he will be providing us with the flash
drives with (real!) SAS. If you have problems installing, he is the best person to ask. His office is on
the main floor of Bailey-Howe Library. He’s often in, but you might want to email first.
*SAS is available on many computers around campus: basement computer lab in Waterman, and 8
computers in Bailey-Howe. It is also in the following rooms: 205 Votey, 206 Votey, 229 Votey, and
102 Perkins. You can use it whenever there are no classes in these rooms. Check here for the
schedule: http://www.cems.uvm.edu/uvmpages/labsched.php).
It is also available via remote desktop, using ‘Virtual Votey.’
R: We'll use R for the second half of class, so feel free to download it at any time. It's open sourceware (free)
and available for PC or Mac or Linux here: http://cran.us.r-project.org. Also download our Graphic User
Interface (GUI), called R-Studio at http://www.rstudio.com
Some useful links:
There’s help available within the SAS program, and there’s also help online. Both are comprehensive, but you
may find that you prefer the setup of one over the other. In terms of what we’re using on SAS, which version
you use does not matter much (except for ODS, SGPLOT, and power calculations)
Online Documentation for SAS: Version 9.3 Version 9.1
Version 8.2
Good resource for SAS: http://www.sys-seminar.com/papers_presentations
Note that we will use procedures in Base SAS, SAS/Graph, and (later) SAS/GLM
Documentation for R: You can use the help() and help.search() functions in R for help. It’s often very
helpful to search on the internet. Including ‘CRAN’ in your keywords sometimes helps focus on R…
Grading:
Your course grade will be determined by:
Homework
Class attendance/participation
Quizzes
Midterm
Final Exam
25% of grade -- 8 homework assignments
5% of grade
25% of grade – 4 quizzes, each worth 6.25%
20% of grade
25% of grade
I'll compute an overall percentage based on this formula, and use this Grade Distribution.
Some other important things:
ACCESS: Any students needing accommodations through the ACCESS program should let me know (bring in
a letter from ACCESS) as soon as possible. We can talk about how to proceed....
Professional Courtesy: Please no texting during class. (Exceptions include, but are not limited to, you or your
spouse being 8 or more months pregnant. See me if you have a good reason to leave your cell phone on.) If
your cell phone rings during class, or if you are seen texting or reading texts, you will be responsible for
bringing cookies or some such treat to class for all to enjoy. It is also not appropriate for you to be surfing the
web during class, as it is not true class participation, and it is distracting to other students.
Attendance: Your regular attendance is expected, of course. 5% of your grade is based on attendance and
participation.
Academic Honesty: Violations of Academic Honesty, such as copying, plagiarizing, and faking data will not
be tolerated. The rules are clear, and the consequences stiff (read here about Academic Integrity programs)