\(~\)

Schedule and Syllabus

Welcome to course website for MATH-156 General Statistics! On this page you can find all materials we’ll use throughout the semester, starting with the syllabus linked below:

You can find course content by scrolling, or by using the navigation bar in the upper left.

Please note that material will not be posted until we’ve reached that point in the course. Additionally, some topics and activities that listed far into the future may be subject to change.

Daily Graphs

For the first couple of weeks in the semester we’ll begin each class by discussing a graph appearing in a media piece. Below is a compendium of the different daily graphs we’ve discussed:

In-class Labs

Throughout the semester we will practice applying key concepts in applications involving real data during in-class labs. During labs, you will work collaboratively in a group of 2-3 students to progress through a guided data analysis. You will have the majority of class to work independently with your group, and we will will often go over a few key questions towards the end of class. Your group will be expected to turn-in a lab write-up.

Homework Assignments

Homework will be assigned weekly and should be submitted electronically via Canvas in the form of either a scanned hand-written document, a series of legible images of your hand-written responses, or a typed document.

  • Homework #1: 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 2.12, 2.16, 2.18, 2.60, 2.62, 3.1, 3.2, 3.5, 3.6
    • Due date: Friday 1/21 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #2: 3.26, 3.27, 4.16, 4.19, 6.13, 6.14, 6.20, 7.3, 7.41
    • Due date: Friday 1/28 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #3: 10.3, 10.5, 10.6, 10.13, 10.28, 11.1, 11.2, 11.4, 11.8, 11.10
    • Due date: Friday 2/11 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #4: 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.6, 13.15, 13.16, 13.19, 13.20, 13.26
    • Due date: Friday 2/25 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #5: 5.2, 5.3, 5.13, 5.14, 14.10, 14.11, 14.12, 14.24
    • Due date: Friday 3/4 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #6: 16.3, 16.4, 16.6, 16.15, 16.16, 16.28, 16.33, 16.34, 17.11, 17.14, 20.27, 20.28
    • Due date: Wednesday 3/23 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #7: 18.1, 18.6, 18.9, 18.13, 18.14, 18.17, 18.18, 18.27, 18.28, 18.33, 18.34, 19.4, 19.5, 19.10
    • Due date: Friday 4/8 at 11:59pm
  • Homework #8: 18.36, 18.38, 18.40, 20.37, 20.38, 20.59, 20.70, 20.72, 20.77
    • Due date: Monday 4/25 at 11:59pm
    • Please perform all hypothesis tests using a Z or T test. Show all steps of the test (ie: hypotheses, test statistic, \(p\)-value, and conclusion)

Exam Dates and Information

There will two exams throughout the semester on the following dates (announced at least 14 days in advance)

  • Exam #1 - Scheduled for Friday 3/25 during class
  • Exam #2 - Scheduled for Friday 4/29 (open from 8am to 4pm)
    • This exam will be computerized and will require the use of StatKey to perform hypothesis testing
    • A practice exam will be made available as a Canvas quiz

You can expect each exam to take an entire 50-minute class session. Exam #1 will be closed notes, but a formula sheet will be provided. Exam #2 will be computerized and will require the use of StatKey to analyze data.

Projects and Information

  • Midterm Project
    • Description
    • Rubric
    • Example
    • Presentations will take place on Monday 2/14 and Wednesday 2/16, please indicate whether your group has a preference
  • Final Project
    • Information
    • The project report is due Monday, May 2 at 2:00pm, the end of our assigned final exam time slot

Datasets

Dataset links and descriptions will be added here as we use them throughout the semester.

  • Happy Planet
    • This dataset was assembled by The Happy Planet Index using data from a global survey that asks respondents questions about how they feel their lives are going. It documents the health and well-being of the inhabitants of various nations around the world.
  • Tips
    • These data were recorded by a waiter in national chain restaurant located in a suburban shopping mall in the early 1990s. The data document various aspects of each table served by the waiter, including the total bill, tip, size of the party, time of day, day of the week, and whether the party included a smoker. The data were originally obtained from the textbook: Interactive and Dynamic Graphics for Data Analysis: With R
  • Titanic
    • These data record the survival status and demographics of every passenger on the Titanic cruise ship. The data were first compiled by the British Board of Trade in 1990.
  • Colleges 2019
    • This dataset contains select variables describing higher education institutions that primarily bachelors degrees. It was obtained from the College Scorecard, a comprehensive government database. For each institution, it includes enrollment and admissions variables, student demographics, costs and faculty salaries, as well as student outcomes such as median debt upon graduation and median 10-year salary.
  • Police Killings 2019
    • These data were compiled by the Washington Post to document all fatal shootings by a US police officer in the line of duty during the year 2019. Please visit the Washington Post’s github repository to read more about the variables that these data contain and the methodology that was used: https://github.com/washingtonpost/data-police-shootings
  • Wetsuits
    • This dataset contains 1500m swim velocities for 12 competitive swimmers when wearing a specially designed wetsuit and without the wetsuit. These data were originally obtained from the Lock5stat data page.
  • Lead IQ
    • CDC researchers collected data in El Paso Texas from samples of children aged 3-15 living near (within 1 mile) and far (more than 1 mile away) from a local lead smelter. This dataset documents the dependent variable, age-adjusted IQ score, for a subset of those children. These data were obtained from the textbook: Fundamentals of Biostatistics by B. Rosner.