I was asked to upload the data I was displaying in class today (4/23/12). Here are all the data, including some for Wednesday.
Students have complained that they don't have software to compute chi-squared. Well, yes you do -- if you're reading this page online, you can also connect to this on-line chi-squared calculator. (Warning: this only give you the final values of chi-squared and the probability P that these numbers come from a population in which the two categorical variables are actually uncorrelated. If you need expected values, contributions to chi-squared, etc., then look elsewhere.)
Here are Exam 2 and some suggested answers
Exam 1 is now history. You might want to see the kinds of answers I was looking for. (If you don't recall the questions, you can see questions and answers together.) ======================================================================
Instructor: Dave Rusin (rusin@math.utexas.edu)
Office hrs: M,W,F 2pm-3pm; T 11am-2pm; and by appointment, in RLM 9.140
Class meets MWF 3:00pm - 4:00pm in ETC 2.108
Text: "The Basic Practice of Statistics", David S Moore (5th ed.)
Unique ID: 55525
Course webpage: http://www.ma.utexas.edu/~rusin/316/
It is unlikely that I will use Blackboard for this course (unless and until someone shows me how it can be useful!)
Graphical presentation, frequency functions, distrubtion functions, averages, standard deviation, variance, curve-fitting, and related topics.
That's the description of the course material; if that sounds like the kind of thing you want to learn, then this might be a good course for you. Administratively, there are things to think about and I encourage you to talk to an advisor to make sure you are in the right course. For starters, there are many courses at UT which may be thought of as an introduction to statistics; they differ in the approach, the mathematical preparation assumed, and the goals for the students. This course may or may not be the best one for you, and may or may not satisfy any requirements you have to meet for the completion of your academic program. In particular note that only one of the following may be counted for academic credit: M316 (this course), SSC303, SSC304, SSC305, and SSC306.
This course carries the QR flag.
The only pre-requisite is an appropriate score on the ALEKS placement examination. (You will be expected to have a fair amount of numerical and algebraic fluency in this course. Calculus is NOT required.)
Homeworks: Homeworks will be assigned on a roughly weekly schedule. Collectively they will count for one-third of the semester grade. I will (mostly?) assign even-numbered problems from out of the textbook. There are answers to the odd-numbered problems in there, so you might want to assign yourself some of those to see whether you are following along.
In this course I want you to actually USE statistics for your homeworks. That requires playing around with data -- sometimes lots of it. You will need something with enough computational power that you can load the data sets on the CD that comes with the book, and then run some computations on those data. I don't much care what combinations of hardware and software you use; whatever makes you comfortable. I expect for many people that will be something like a laptop computer running a spreadsheet program, but you are welcome to use other tools that you have. I will try to help you in my office but I can't claim to be an expert on every kind of statistical tool that's out there!
Exams: There will be 2 mid-term exams. Together they will be worth one-third of your semester grade. The final exam will be cumulative, and also worth one-third of your semester grade.
Class participation: You will not be graded on this. So it's not important, right? WRONG! Wrong, wrong, wrong!. I would like to spend some of the time every class day discussing the readings, the homework, and applications of statistics. Trust me, if you have absolutely nothing to say during class, you're just not getting it, and you should see me pronto. It is very easy to lull yourself into believing that everything makes sense in this subject by never forcing yourself to articulate a question, to try to present a solution, or to propose an example.
Grades: Among the students in this class we will probably see every possible grade from A to F at the end of the semester. Which do you want to earn? Please write down my office location and office hours and plan to see me during the semester. It's a LOT easier to learn statistics in small groups, either ones that you form on your own or ones that cluster in my office.
I have indicated above how I will average your homework and exam scores into a single semester average. There is no fixed scheme for converting that into a letter grade, except for the rule that one student can have a higher letter grade than another only if his or her semester average is higher. Students whose semester average is 90% / 80% / 70% / 60% can count on getting at least an A/B/C/D respectively, but I may set the cutoffs more generously if the situation warrants it.
Students with disabilities: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
Drop dates: Feb 1 is the last day to drop a class for a possible refund. April 2 is the last day an undergraduate student may, with the dean's approval, withdraw from the University or drop a class except for urgent and substantiated, nonacademic reasons. April 2 is also the last day an undergraduate student may change registration in a class to or from the pass/fail basis. For more information about deadlines for adding and dropping the course under different circumstances, please consult the Registrar's web page, http://registrar.utexas.edu/calendars/11-12/
My tentative plan, week by week: