Home
Calendar
Assignments
 
Nancy Pfenning
nancypfenning@gmail.com
  

Honors Applied Statistical Methods (STAT 1000)

Fall 2017, Mon.Wed.Fri. 12:00 in Posvar 1811 CRN 12409, 4 credits [recitation CRN 12410 in Posvar 1811 or 1201]
Department of Statistics University of Pittsburgh

Instructor Dr. Nancy Pfenning
Office Posvar 1808
Website www.pitt.edu/~nancyp/stat-1000/index.html
E-mail nancypfenning@gmail.com
  412-521-8349 (home, if urgent, before 10pm)
  412-624-8336 (during office hours)
Office Hrs. Thurs. 10:00-11:45 in Posvar 1809 or by appt.
Stat Lab Posvar 1201; for hours of operation see schedule but avoid times when it's been reserved (schedule to be posted on the door).
 
Course Assistant Arnab Ray arr97@pitt.edu Office Hours Thursday evenings 5:30 to 6:30 and Friday mornings 9:00 to 10:00 in Posvar (room to be announced).
Tutors Contact the 648-7920 for the Dietrich School's Peer Tutoring center, or visit their website.

News

Practice Final available; see solutions
  • Link to number sense activity
  • Try the problems in Practice Midterm 2 and check solutions by mid-November.
  • normal populations (n=1000, n=150, n=100) for activity on sampling without replacement
  • Try all the problems in Practice Midterm 1 by Friday, October 6th; see solutions .
  • Seminar Topics
  • Powerpoint Lecture Slides
  • Practice Quizzes and Solutions
  • Blank Homework Forms (to be printed if you didn't pick one up in class)
  • Monday, October 17 is Fall Break and no classes meet that day. Instead, all Monday classes are shifted to Tuesday, October 18 and classes for Tuesday are cancelled that week.
  • Lab Problems 1 to 4 (done together in Stat Lab for 15 pts.), 5 to 8 (done together in Stat Lab for 15 pts. and may be presented as seminars), 9 to 12 (done independently and handed in for 20 pts.)
  • Student Survey data: Fall2012StudentSurveyData.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.
  • MINITAB is available on the PCs 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 Download Service offers MINITAB for free. Alternatively, a free 30-day demo can be downloaded from www.minitab.com.
  • Recitations on the following dates: Aug. 31, Oct.12, Oct.19, Oct.26, Nov.16, Nov.30, Dec.4, Dec.7 will be held in the Posvar 1201 Computer Lab unless announced otherwise.
  • Handout in recitation on MINITAB 17 Basics to be used as a reference for all MINITAB work; for work on a Mac, see MinitabForMac .

    • Description

    This course is an intensive introduction to statistical methods which stresses the development of critical thinking skills and increased awareness of how these methods are applied in a variety of disciplines. It is designed for students who want to do data analysis and to study further ideas in applied statistics beyond this course. Students are encouraged to investigate applications in their own major or areas of personal interest. The topics covered include descriptive statistics, elementary probability, random sampling, controlled experiments, hypothesis testing, regression, chi-square, and the analysis of variance. In addition, students will be exposed to more advanced topics in modern statistical practice. Emphasis will be placed on the statistical reasoning underlying the methods. Students will also become proficient at the use of a statistical software package, MINITAB.

    Attendance

    Mandatory for all recitations. Up to 3 absences tolerated for lectures.

    Prerequisites

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

    Requirements

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

    Grading

    13 Homeworks 300
    12 Lab (Software) Problems 50
    2 Seminar Presentations 30
    Seminar Questions/Comments 20
    Midterm 1 150
    Midterm 2 150
    Final Exam 300
    Total 1000

    Course Grade

    Note that for seminars involving the discussion of a news story or journal article (1a, 1b, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35) all students must write up at least 2 questions/comments per article(s), which they have read in advance. They should refer to those questions/comments during discussion, then turn them in for credit at the end of class. These questions/comments should NOT be formulated on the spot during the presentation!
    Grading system is the usual 90-100% 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"; doing your best throughout the semester can help you to optimize your chances for the best possible grade.

    Textbook/Calculator

    Pfenning Elementary Statistics: Looking at the Big Picture (c)2011 Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, sold royalty-free at the University of Pittsburgh Book Center. Do not order the Instructor's Edition online. If you'd like to consult other statistics books for reference, ask me in office hours. A calculator (any kind) is needed.

    Recitations

    Recitations (Thursdays 12:00 Posvar 1811 or 1201) will be used for seminar-style presentations featuring either applications of statistical methods in current media or research reports or student-led activities to aid in understanding principles of sampling and random behavior. Sign up with me in class.

    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 our course assistant 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

    Academic Integrity Every student is responsible for understanding and abiding by the University's code for ethical behavior, as outlined on this website: http://www.as.pitt.edu/fac/policies/academic-integrity

    [ Home | Calendar | Assignments ]