Introduction to
Statistics (PS 240-02)
Spring 2008-2009
Professor: L.W. McCallum Office:
Evald 15
Phone: 794-7373(work) Hours:
by appointment
563-355-3474
e-mail:larrymccallum@Augustana.edu
website: www.augustana.edu/users/psmccallum
Text: Gravetter, F. J. & Wallnau,
L. B. (2008).
Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral
Sciences 6th ed.
(FYI:
There is a free website for the text. Go to www.thomsonedu.com/psychology/gravetter,
find “Student” and click on “companion site”)
***You will also need a
calculator that can determine square roots – anything more sophisticated than
that is not necessary. Please bring your
calculator to class and lab everyday.
P.A.: Katie McCarthy is
available for individual tutoring. Her
office hours are MWF: D Period and TTh: G Period. Remember that she is a full-time student and
is only at “work” for the psychology department during her office hours. Don’t
stalk her across campus or in the library, don’t call her at
This course has been
developed in accordance with the skills x levels approach adopted by the
a.
critically evaluate statistics from popular
(e.g., Newsweek) and professional (e.g., Journal of Experimental Psychology)
sources
b.
select and conduct an appropriate
statistical test when presented with a data set or research question
c.
interpret the results of major statistical
analyses
d.
understand the appropriate use of statistics
and evaluate their use in terms of reliability and validity
e.
utilize the major functions of SPSS
f.
present statistics
in APA style.
Academic integrity. All course requirements will be completed by
the student him/herself. In other words,
you will do your own homework and take the exams without the use of crib sheets
or the voluntary/involuntary help of others.
I’m sure you know the difference between working together on homework
assignments and copying a colleagues’ work – the first is acceptable, the
second is cheating. If you work with
another student on homework, please paperclip the sheets together when you turn
them in so that we can grade them more easily.
In cases of plagiarism and/or cheating, I will follow the policies
outlined in the Augustana Student Handbook.
Course Work
Homework will be assigned for
each chapter. It is the minimum you should do to learn
statistics – if you struggle with the problems, do more of them until you are
more confident in your abilities.
Remember that Katie is not available to help you or if you are confused
or you can see me. Please email or call to make an appointment. Please make your calculations as legible in
order to facilitate the grading of it.
Circle your final answer when possible.
It will be returned to you much more quickly if we can read it. If we can’t follow your procedures and/or
find your answers, it will be recorded as incomplete.
Homework
will be assigned for each of the 14 chapters we cover and will be due on
specified days (see schedule). Each set
of homework will be graded on a 5 point scale and 10 of the chapters will count
towards your final grade. In other
words, you may “skip” four chapters of homework without being penalized, but
after that you will begin to lose points towards your final grade in the
class. Homework that is turned in late,
is illegible, or incomplete will not be graded.
Lab Projects. Each Tuesday (beginning week 2) at 2:30 we
will have a stats lab in Olin 109. Please note that there is no class on that day. .The
activities that we do in lab are designed to give you a first-person
perspective on statistics. The topics in
lab are paired with the material that we discuss in class. There are 9 lab
dates, but I will count only your best 8 at 10 points each.
Exams. There will be 5 exams throughout the
course. You will find the content of the
exams to reflect the Unit Goals as indicated on the “Course Schedule.”
COURSE GRADE: Your final grade will be determined by the
points earned on these components:
Exams 1, 2, 3, & 4, each
worth 100 points = 400
Exam #5 and the lab practical 100
Homework (5 pts. per chapter) 50
8 weeks of lab activities = 80
TOTAL POINTS =
630
A=90%=567
B=80%=504
C=70%=441
D=60%=378
Please
attend all classes. Statistics is necessarily cumulative in that you really must
master one concept before moving on to the next. If you must miss a class, please let me know
beforehand or make arrangements to get notes from a classmate. If you
must miss a test or if you will not be present to turn in homework on the due
date, then you must notify me in advance so that we can make the
appropriate arrangements. If you fail to inform me prior to the scheduled date,
then you will not be allowed to make it up. You also should be aware that make
up tests will include a separate set of problems from the original test and is
likely to be slightly more difficult. Remember that there is a substantial
penalty for habitually ignoring one's homework.
A few
final words before the schedule is presented
1)
If you are struggling with something in the homework, please let me know as soon as possible! Do not
wait until the
last week of the term to see me about problems. I can help students with their
class-related
problems in most
situations, but the sooner we solve the problem, the better. See me early!
2)
Many people approach Statistics with fear because they don’t see themselves as
a “math” person . Do
not be afraid of
numbers in statistics. We are using simple math that is taught in jr. high. I have some tips
for any math-phobics out there and will be glad to work with you.
3)
It’s really easy to fall behind in the early chapters,
especially for those who are already comfortable with
basic descriptive
statistics. My advice is to keep up every step of the way. Everything in units 3, 4 & 5
depend on and use
the calculations from units 1 & 2.
4)
There is no extra credit in this course. Students earn grades by keeping up
with the homework
and then applying
what they learned in the assignments to the tests.
Special
Syllabus Supplement: How to Type Statistics
In
statistics, we use lots of notation to abbreviate and indicate mathematical
operations. Much of this notation uses greek
symbols Here is a quick index of common
notation and how to type it in MSWord.
|
This symbol |
is pronounced…. |
it represents…. |
and to type it, you will |
|
m |
"mew" |
the
mean (average) of a population |
type
a lower case "m" in symbol font |
|
S |
"sigma" |
adding
up a set of numbers |
type
an upper case "S" in symbol font |
|
s |
"sigma" |
the
standard deviation of a population |
type
a lower case "s" in symbol font |
|
X2 |
(superscript) "x-squared" |
a
variable times itself, in other words, X times X |
type
a regular X2, then select the 2, use the format menu, Font, and check
"superscript" |
|
mseniors |
(subscript) "the mean of
seniors" |
The
mean of a group, in this case "seniors" but could be anyone or
anything you want |
type
the notation that will remind you what the mean represents (e.g. seniors),
select the word (not m), go to Format, Font, and check
"subscript" |
|
√ |
"the square root
of" |
calculating the square root of a number,
e.g. √4
= 2 |
use
the Insert menu, select Symbol, and find the √
in that menu |
|
≠ |
"does not
equal" |
exactly
what it sounds like |
use
the Insert menu, select Symbol, and find the ≠ in
that menu |
|
ŷ |
"y-hat" |
predicted
value of y at a given value of x; the least squares regression line |
use
the Insert menu, select Symbol, and find the ŷ in that menu |
|
H0 or H1 |
"null
hypothesis" or "alternative hypothesis" |
the
mutually exclusive outcomes of a statistical test |
type
H0 (zero) or H1, then using the
subscript function to drop the numeral, like so H0 |
Course Schedule
|
Unit 1: Basic Vocabulary & Descriptive Statistics |
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|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Tests/Assignments |
||||
|
M 3/9 |
1 |
Meet People Why study statistics? |
|
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|
W 3/11 |
1 |
Scales of measurement, Types of
Variables |
Ch 1: 2, 10, 14,16, 20, 24 |
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|
F 3/13 |
2 |
Frequency Distributions & Graphs |
Ch 2: 2,8,10,12,16,20 HW 1 due today |
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|
M 3/16 |
3 |
Central tendency – Come to class knowing how to compute mean,
median, mode! |
Ch 3: 4-14(even) 22, 24 HW 2 due today |
|
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|
W 3/18 |
4.1, 4.2 & 4.3-4.5 |
Variability – Sums of Squares, Standard Deviation and Variance |
Ch 4: 2,4,14,20,22, 26 HW 3 due today |
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|
F 3/20 |
|
TEST 1 |
Test on Ch. 1-4 HW 4 due today |
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Unit 1
Goals: By Test 1, students should be
able to…
(A) provide definitions and examples for the four scales of
measurement and the two 'types' of variables.
(B) distinguish experimental and correlational methods and
identify the variables in each.
(C) create full frequency distribution tables (with groups when
appropriate).
(D) create graphs appropriate to the type of data &identify
elements of a graphing which may be misleading. (E) calculate
and interpret basic descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode, ranges,
variance)
(F) select the best descriptive stats and graphs for a given
type of data (nominal, interval, etc.) or problem
(G) predict how a descriptive statistic will change with certain
changes in data (e.g., if the highest point in the data set doubled, how would
that affect the mean? the median?)
Don’t forget the “rules” and
conventions for creating groups, tables, and graphs!
|
Unit 2: Standardization & Probability in Normal
Distributions |
|
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|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Tests/Assignments |
||||
|
M 3/23 |
5 |
Introduction to Normality and Z
scores |
Ch 5: 4,6,12,14,18,20,24,28 |
|
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|
W 3/25 |
6 |
Probability |
HW 5 due today Ch 6: 2,6,8,10,12,18,22 |
|
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|
F 3/37 |
6 |
Review Z scores, HW |
H HW 6 due today |
|
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|
M 3/30 |
7 |
Sampling distribution and sampling
error |
Ch 7: 2,4,8,10,14,18,20,24 |
|
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|
W 4/1 |
5-7 |
Confidence Intervals; Review & Pretest chapters 5-7 |
HW 7 due today |
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|
F 4/3 |
|
TEST 2 |
Test on |
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|
Unit
2: By Test 2, students should be able to… (A) standardize
data by converting from raw scores to z scores and back again. (B) use the z table to identify percentages
identified with certain z scores & ranges (C) differentiate
between distributions of observations and sampling distributions. (D) Build confidence intervals for m (E) Describe how different elements of a sample
affect sampling distributions (mostly n and S) |
|
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|
Unit
3: Inferential Statistics |
|
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|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Tests /Assignments |
||||
|
M 4/6 |
8 |
Hypothesis testing |
Ch 8: 1-5, 8, 10, 16, 20 |
|
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|
W 4/8 |
9 |
t- tests |
HW 8 due today Ch9: 1, 2, 8, 16,18 |
|
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|
T 4/14 |
10 |
Independent t -tests |
HW 9 due today Ch 10: 2,4,12,14, 18, 24 |
|
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|
W 4/15 |
11 |
Dependent t tests |
Ch 11: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 20,24 |
|
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|
F 4/17 |
|
Review chapters 8-11 |
HW 10 & 11
due today |
|
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|
M 4/20 |
|
complete in-class projects/pretest |
|
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|
W 4/22 |
|
Test 3 |
Test on |
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|
By
Test 3, students should be able to…. A) differentiate between distributions of observations and
sampling distributions. B)
identify and conduct the most appropriate hypothesis tests (e.g. 1 sample ind. vs. dependent -t) C) define both types of error involved in these tests and how
to control them. D) explain effect size and distinguish between statistical
and practical significance. E) identify the four elements that most
influence the outcome of a t-test |
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Unit 4: ANOVA |
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|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Tests/Assignments |
||||
|
F 4/24 |
13 |
One way ANOVA |
Ch 13: 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10*, 18*, 24* * Include an HSD test |
|
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|
M 4/27 |
13 |
One way ANOVA Including Post hocs
|
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|
W 4/29 |
14.1 & 14.3 |
Two Factor ANOVA
We will not calculate this from
raw data |
HW 13 due today Ch 14: 18, 20, 22, 24,26 |
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|
F 5/1 |
14.2 |
Repeated measures ANOVA |
|
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|
M 5/64 |
|
Review & Pretest for ANOVAs |
HW 14 due today |
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|
W 5/6 |
|
TEST 4 |
Test on |
|
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|
By Test 4, students should be able
to… (A) draw
comparisons between Unit 3 hypothesis tests and Unit 4 tests in terms of
comparing the t test statistic to the F test statistic, understanding the
effects of sample size, and describing the effects of error/variability
within independent samples. (B) calculate
Independent 1-way ANOVA (including
Post-hoc tests) from raw data and test Factorial ANOVAs as well. (C) identify the
correct ANOVA (1-way between groups, 1-way within groups, and all varieties
of factorial designs) given a specific type of data or practical problem. (D) describe the
rationale behind the use of post hoc tests. (E) explain exactly
how and why variance is analyzed (broken down). |
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|
Unit 5: Correlation & Regression Analyses |
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|
Date |
Chapter |
Topic |
Tests/Assignments |
|
F 5/8 |
15.1-15.4 |
Pearson Correlation |
Ch 15: 3, 6, 8, 10, 18, 20 |
|
M 5/11 |
15.6 |
Regression equations |
|
|
W 5/13 |
15.7 |
Additional considerations |
|
|
F 5/15 |
16 |
Chi-square tests |
Ch. 16: 2, 12, 14, 18 HW 15 & 16 due
today |
|
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|
M 9/18 TEST 5
Test on Ch. 15 NOON |
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|
By the final exam date, students
should be able to… (A) explain
how regression and correlation relate to the mean and variability (i.e., the
mean squared error) of a single dependent variable. (B) calculate
and test Pearson correlation coefficients and then interpret results (paying
close attention to causal interpretations). (C) use
regression to make predictions for X or Y variables & describing the
accuracy of those predictions in terms of variance. (D) Identify data requirements for
correlation & regression and potential problems with sampling and
interpretation (ordinal data & Spearman's R; nonlinearity, etc.) |
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