Economics 57: Economic Statistics – Spring 2006
| Datasets |
Professor Margaret Smith
909-607-7897
msmith
Class times: TTh 1:15pm in Carnegie 109 and TTh 2:45 in Carnegie 107
Office hours: TTh 12:30-1:05 Carnegie 218
Course Description:
This course has been designed to teach you to understand and analyze data. The
aim is to make you savvy about the use of statistics in the news as well as to
make you an effective consumer of empirical research. As
such, the topics will be general in nature, and not
necessarily specific to economics issues alone. Real world issues will be
integrated with statistical concepts throughout the course. Some of the
main goals of this introductory statistics course are to develop an understanding
of important concepts such as mean, variability, and correlation. I would also
like for you to understand sampling error, variability of sample statistics, the problems associated with
collecting data, and the importance of testing your hypotheses with data. This
course will involve lectures, in-class activities, and homework discussions.
Textbook:
Gary Smith, Introduction to
Statistical Reasoning, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998).
Email: I will occasionally use email to make announcements to the class. Please do not hesitate to email me about anything (e.g. a misprint or a question.)
20% homework and class participation – The only way to learn and appreciate statistics is by doing problems. Homework will be assigned and collected regularly. These should be written up as neatly as possible and handed in at the end of class on the day it is due. You can and are encouraged to talk to each other and me about the homework. Working on the homework problems is by far the most important way for learning the material. Class participation involves class attendance, mental presence, asking questions, answering questions, successfully completing the in-class quizzes, a good attitude and successfully presenting at least three homework questions. Each student in the class will be asked present the solution to a particular homework question on the board. I will call on students randomly each homework day. If you are present, and you present the solution to your problem correctly, you will get full credit. If you present the solution and it is partly correct and partly incorrect, you will be granted partial credit. If you are absent on the day you are called, you will get no credit . No exceptions will be made for unexcused absences. If you are absent on a given homework day for no reason and you are called to present, you will not be given a chance to make up that grade.
Homework will be graded with these principles in mind:
check plus: made a good effort with the initial assignment and also made all necessary corrections to the initial assignment so that all the correct answers (in a different color pen) are on the homework you turn in.
check: made a good effort with the initial assignment but some errors remain in the homework turned in.
check minus: made little or no effort with the initial assignment, but all the necessary corrections were made.
zero: failed to turn in homework, homework was turned in after the due date, or made little or no effort with the initial assignment and errors remain in the homework turned in.
Late policy: No late homework will be accepted (with the exception of extreme sickness indicated by a note from Baxter or from your own doctor).
20% paper - The paper will be due on Tues April 27. It should be 7-10 pages long (not including appendices), double spaced, 1" margins, 12 point font.
15% Exam #1 – This exam will be given in class on Tues Feb 16. This exam will be closed book.
20% Exam #2 - This exam will be given in class on Tues Mar 21. You may bring one 8”x11” sheet of paper that has anything you want on it (on one-side only) to the exam. You will be asked to turn in your "cheat sheet" along with the exam. You should also bring a calculator to the exam and all the necessary tables.
25% Exam #3 - This exam will cover all of the
course material and will be given on Tuesday May 2. You may bring one
8”x11” sheet of paper that has anything you want on it to the exam (two-sides
ok). You will be
asked to turn in your "cheat sheet" along with the exam. You should also bring a
calculator to the exam and all the necessary tables.
|
Week |
Dates |
Schedule |
|
1 |
Jan 17 Jan 19 |
Chapter 2: Pie Charts, Bar graphs, Scatter Plots, Time Series
Chapter 2: Histograms |
|
2 |
Jan 24 Jan 26 |
HW 1 due
Chapter 3. Summary Statistics, Box Plots |
|
3 |
Jan 31 Feb 2 |
Contingency Tables, Simpson's Paradox
HW 2 due. |
|
4 |
Feb 7 Feb 9 |
Chapter 4
HW 3 due |
|
5 |
Feb 14 Feb 16 |
Binomial Probabilities Exam #1 (chapters 1-4) |
|
6 |
Feb 21 Feb 23 |
Normal Distribution
Sampling Distributions |
|
7 |
Feb 28
Mar 2 |
HW4 due. Chapter 6 |
|
8 |
Mar 7
Mar 9 |
Chapter 6 HW5 due. |
|
9 |
Mar 14
Mar 16 |
No class - Spring Break
No class - Spring Break |
|
10 |
Mar 21
Mar 23 |
begin Chapter 7 / (office hours 12:30-1:10pm) Exam #2 (chapters 5-6) (NOTE: exam moved to Thursday!) |
|
11 |
Mar 28 Mar 30 |
Chapter 7 HW6 due. |
|
12 |
Apr 4
Apr 6 |
Chapter 8
HW7 due |
|
13 |
Apr 11
Apr 13 |
Chapter 11 Multiple Regressions |
|
14 |
Apr 18 Apr 20 |
Multiple Regressions
HW8 due |
|
15 |
Apr 25
Apr 27 |
No class papers due in class/ Review for Final |
| 16 | May 2 |
|
Software to help you learn
Statistics:
Download SSP - Smith’s Statistical Package
Download StatQuiz – Test your knowledge of Statistics
Download StatGame – Learn Statistics better by playing games
** Tips for importing
data into SSP **
Open up data in excel spreadsheet.
Make sure everything is coded numerically (because text is not readable by SSP)
Copy the columns of data in excel
In SSP, highlight a column of cells and then “paste” the column(s) of data into SSP by choosing edit>paste data.
You should type in the variable name at the top so you know what each column represents.
**
Tips for making graphs using SSP **
Choose display data> histogram or box plot
· To change the scale of the axes, click on the axes and it will let you specify the new scale.
· To change the number of bars in the histogram, click on the histogram itself and a dialog box will pop up.
· To copy or save a graph: once the graph is displayed, you can copy or save the graph. You can copy by pressing ctrl-C on the graph. You can then paste into another document, such as a WORD document. You can save the graph by going To edit>save graph. Then in WORD, you can insert a picture from file, to bring the graph into your document.