Basic Applied Statistics
STAT 200

Spring 2009, Mon.Wed.Fri. 10:00 (CRN 12062) or 11:00 (CRN 12064) or 12:00 (CRN 12112) CL 332, 4 credits
Department of Statistics
University of Pittsburgh

Instructor Dr. Nancy Pfenning
Office Cathedral 2710
Website www.pitt.edu/~nancyp
E-mail nancyp@pitt.edu
Phone 521-8349 (home, if urgent, before 10pm)
  624-8336 (during office hours)
Office Hrs Wed. 1:00-2:00, Thurs. 10:00-1:00 in CL 2710 or by appt.
Stat Lab For hours of operation and names of TAs on staff, see schedule but avoid times when it's been reserved (scroll down to their calendar). Lab is in 435 Cathedral (take stairs up from Bigelow side of Cathedral).
Tutors Contact the Academic Resource Center 648-7920 for free tutoring by undergrads or visit their website .

News

  • Practice Final and Solutions
  • Finals Week Office Hours (CL 2710): Monday, April 20 from 2:30 to 3:30; Wednesday, April 22 from 8:30 to 9:30; Thursday, April 23 from 2:30 to 3:30; Greg's Office Hours Wednesday, April 22 from 3:00 to 5:00 in WWPH 4516
  • Midterm 2 scores averaged 75%; see solutions .
  • Practice Midterm 2 and Solutions
  • Midterm 1 scores averaged 79%; see solutions .
  • Practice Midterm 1 and Solutions
  • Songs that ask questions (open or closed)
  • Powerpoint Lecture Slides
  • Practice Quizzes and Solutions
  • Blank Homework Forms (to be printed if you didn't pick one up in class)
  • Recitations on the following dates will be held in the Stat Lab 435 CL (enter on Bigelow side of Cathedral, take steps up to 4th floor): Jan. 5-9, Feb.9-13, Feb.16-20, Apr.6-10, Apr.13-17.
  • Student Survey data: survey9-21-03.txt. a tab-delimited text file, is now available. To download it into MINITAB, type ctrl A to highlight, ctrl C to copy, start up MINITAB, type ctrl V to paste it. If it asks about delimiters, click OK.
  • Here is a brief guide to MINITAB 15 Basics , used in this course, available in campus computing labs, and featured on the student CD for $5. MINITAB is available at all campus computing labs, such as Cathedral, Forbes Quad, Benedum, and of course the Stat Lab. If in addition you would like to have MINITAB on your PC, Pitt's Software Licensing Service at 105 Bellefield Hall (behind Heinz Chapel) offers MINITAB CDs for only $5 a copy (be sure to have your student ID with you)! Otherwise, a free fully functional demo can be downloaded from www.minitab.com BUT it will only run for 30 days, so consider waiting until later in the semester!

Description

This is a course for students who wish to learn basic methods in order to analyze simple studies and experiments. This course will present the basic methods of applied statistics, utilizing an easy-to-use interactive statistical computing package called MINITAB. Students will be provided with readily understandable and intuitive descriptions of statistical analyses. The topics to be covered include: basic descriptive statistics for univariate and bivariate data, very elementary probability theory, random samplings from populations and random allocation to experimental treatments, sampling distributions, concepts of confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, tests of means in one-sample, two-sample, paired-sample and standard analysis of variance contexts. Categorical data analysis will also be discussed. Most students taking this course will probably not pursue further formal undergraduate study in applied statistics.

Prerequisites

MATH 0031 (Algebra) or equivalent. No Comp. Sci. background needed.

Requirements

Homework,computer lab problems, quizzes, two midterms, and a comprehensive final exam.

Grading

12 Homeworks 350
12 Lab Problems 50
Best 10 of 11 Quizzes 100
Midterm 1 150
Midterm 2 150
Final Exam 250
Total 1050
Course % Total divided by 10

Course Grade

90-105% A; 80-89% B; etc. Plusses are assigned to the students at the top of each grade range and minuses to the students at the bottom. None of us can know in advance if an individual student will be a "borderline case"; completing all the assignments throughout the semester can help you to optimize your chances for the best possible grade; no late homeworks will be accepted.

Textbook/Calculator

Pfenning--- Statistics: Looking at the Big Picture, manuscript for future publication by Duxbury/Thomson, available in bookstore. Previous editions may be purchased used. A calculator (any kind) is needed.

Recitations: *Check this website for office hour updates.*

10:00 Lecture
  • Tuesday, 9:00-9:50 Posvar 5400 [CRN 12092]
  • Tuesday, 10:00-10:50 Posvar 5400 [CRN 12094]
  • Tuesday, 11:00-11:50 Posvar 5400 [CRN 12096]
  • Tuesday, 2:00-2:50 CL 244B [CRN 12090]

Instructor: Maria Dillard (Tuesday recitations) email mkd15@pitt.edu Office Hours* WWPH 2416 Wednesdays 12:00-1:00, Thursdays 1:00-2:00

11:00 Lecture
  • Wednesday, 12:00-12:50 CL 242 [CRN 12098]
  • Wednesday, 1:00-1:50 CL 242 [CRN 12100]
  • Wednesday, 2:00-2:50 CL 242 [CRN 12102]
  • Thursday, 9:00-9:50 CL 339 [CRN 12444]
12:00 Lecture
  • Thursday, 4:00-4:50 CL 236 [CRN 12114]
  • Friday, 9:00-9:50 CL 253 [CRN 12116]
  • Friday, 10:00-10:50 CL 253 [CRN 12920]
  • Friday, 11:00-11:50 CL 253 [CRN 12118]

Instructors: Myungsoon Song (Wednesday recitations and Thurs. 4:00) email mys7@pitt.edu Office Hours* 2504 Cathedral Wed. 4:00-5:00, Thurs. 2:00-3:00
Greg Whitten (Friday recitations and Thurs. 9:00) email gww2@pitt.edu Office Hours* in WWPH 4516 Wednesdays 3:00-4:00, Thursdays 2:30-3:30

Recitations will concentrate on the use of MINITAB (our computer package) and on the clarification and review of lecture material. All quizzes except Quiz 11 will be administered in recitation. In addition, individual questions, especially those pertaining to the homework assignments, may be addressed.

Note: The material in this course is cumulative in nature. Thus, it is important not to fall behind in your reading or assignments or you will find yourself lost. If you are confused, see me or your recitation instructor for help.

Note to Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and Disability Resources and Services, 216 WPU (412) 648-7890, as early as possible in the term. DRS will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course. See their website www.drs.pitt.edu


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