Honors Statistics in Journalism Seminar
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Instructor (Stats) | Nancy Pfenning |
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Office | Cathedral 2710 |
Website | www.pitt.edu/~nancyp/index.html |
Contact | nancypfenning@gmail.com |
521-8349 (home, if urgent, before 10pm) | |
624-8336 (during office hours) | |
Office Hrs. | Mon. 1:00 (with advance notice), Thurs. 10:00-1:00 (no appointment necessary) or by appt. |
Instructor (Journalism) | Cindy Skrzycki |
Office | Cathedral 453 |
Website | http://www.creativewriting.pitt.edu/people/faculty/cindy-skrzycki |
Contact | skrzycki@pitt.edu |
Office Hrs. | Mon. 11:00-1:00, Wed. 10:30-12:00 or by appt. |
Stat Lab | The Statistics Computing Lab and its staff can be used as a resource. It's in 435 CL (take stairs up from Bigelow side of Cathedral). 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). |
Tutors | Contact the Academic Resource Center 648-7920 for free tutoring by undergrads or visit their website. |
This course is a follow-up to any college level (including AP) introductory statistics course for students who are interested in the role played by statistics in journalism. It stresses the development of critical reading, writing, thinking, and public speaking skills. Students are encouraged to investigate statistical applications in news reports relevant to their own major or areas of personal interest. Most of the class sessions will be spent on presentations by individual students, each followed by discussion moderated by the presenter, with occasional input from the instructors. Special sessions may feature a guest speaker with expertise in the more quantitative aspects of journalism.
Mandatory for all sessions; points will be deducted for unexcused absences.
A grade of "A" in any introductory statistics course at the college (including AP) level.
One 15-minute presentation and one half-hour presentation per student; reading two featured articles weekly; handing in a question or comment about each article; midterm paper* and final paper**.
For the first set of presentations, each student finds a news article or report
related to one of his or her areas of personal or academic interest,
preferably something that is quite current and relevant.
The student sends a pdf to both instructors by Friday 2:00 pm for approval.
After the article has been approved by the instructors, the student
sends a pdf to the entire class so they can print and read it in advance,
mark it with notes, and bring it to class.
In addition, the non-presenting class members each prepare at least one written
question or comment pertaining to the article that will be handed in
for credit at the end of the class session. Depending on time
constraints and the direction that the discussion takes, not all
students will necessarily speak up with their particular question
or comment.
As far as the presenting student is concerned, he or she
summarizes the article's content, stressing its
statistical aspects and its journalistic merits. Then he or she facilitates discussion of pertinent
issues---for example, are there unjustified claims of causation? Did
the reporter neglect to mention or clarify critical details? Are the results used to slant the article in a particular direction?
For the second set of presentations, each student must find a scientific
journal article about a study that employs statistical methods. Again,
after the article has been approved by the instructors, the pdf is
sent to classmates, and they prepare questions or comments. The
student writes a news story to report on the study briefly
but effectively so that an ordinary reader can get the gist of the
study's results. The length would typically be a few
paragraphs. (For assistance consider getting help at the Writing Center:
http://www.composition.pitt.edu/writingcenter/index.html ) In addition, the student writes a BAD news report (just one paragraph, plus title) incorporating some of the common flaws encountered in the first part of the course.
The presenter first reads the bad news story to the class, and they try to identify the intended flaws. Then he or she
reads aloud the serious news story, followed by
discussion which can include questions about the extent
to which the presenter has succeeded in presenting the facts and conclusions.
Presentations | 15%+25%=40% |
Attendance | 10% |
Written Questions/Comments | 10% |
Midterm Paper* | 20% |
Final Paper** | 20% |
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.
**For the final paper, students are to write a news story with similar parameters as their presentation news story. They may choose one of these topics: autism, Alzheimer's, abortion, gay marriage, global warming, Marcellus shale, education, cheating, AP exams, teen suicides/use of antidepressants, college athletics, sexual abuse/rape on campus; making it as specific as they like. Or they may choose any other topic that interests them. It should be timely: If they word-search with www.googlescholar.com they could start with 2012 and work their way back to 2009. One difference from the presentation news story is that students only submit a final draft to the instructors. For this reason, they should consider teaming up with a classmate or two so they can read and critique each other's stories. (They should inform the instructors if planning to do this, and with whom.) Obtaining additional relevant information from outside sources---or at least attempting to do so---is recommended, especially if something important seems to be missing. The 23rd is the absolute latest to turn in the story.
No text required; if you'd like to borrow Dr. Pfenning's Intro Stats textbook for reference, ask her in office hours. A calculator (any kind) is helpful.
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