Applied Economic Statistics

ECO 148 ~ Spring 2005

Syllabus: (Printer-friendly syllabus)

Instructor: David Sackett (Call me David)

Office: STV 422C

Office Hours: M, W 11 – 1, or by appointment

Phone Number: 438.7071

Email: dasacke@ilstu.edu

Class Time:  Section 02 ~ T, R 10 – 11:50 am                 

Class Location: Stevenson Hall 438A

Course Website: http://www.lilt.ilstu.edu/dasacke/eco148/index.htm

Required Text: Intro Stats 2^nd Edition by Richard D. De Veaux and Paul F. Vellman (Addison Wesley/Pearson Education Inc., 2005) ISBN 0321-37927-6 which includes the ActivStats for SPSS software. This software is required for this course.

This course is designed to 1) familiarize you with the basic analytical tools of statistics, including data, distributions, hypothesis tests and regression and 2) bring into focus how statistics applies to daily life.

Format for the course:

This course contains three parts, each lasting roughly five weeks.

            Part One - Chapters 1 - 6:                              

Exploring and Understanding Data

Part Two - Chapters 7 - 9, 11 - 13:

Relationships Between Variables / Gathering Data

Part Three - Chapters 14 -16, 18 -21, 23:     

Randomness, Probability, and Data in the Real World.

Note: This schedule is subject to change; I will notify you in advance of any changes.

Drop Dates: Friday, September 2 is the last day to withdraw with no grade. Friday, October 14 is the last day to withdraw from this class with a WX grade assigned. (My signature will be required).

Graded Work

• Attendance & Participation:

Attendance is mandatory. Due to the sequential nature of statistical analysis, missing class can lead to serious and irreversible problems in subsequent class periods. Attendance will be taken every class period and count toward your final grade. Participation in the form of questions asked, answers to questions posed, and attentiveness during the in-class lectures and labs will also count toward your final grade. You start with 60 points and will lose six points for each class you miss. If you have to miss class you need to notify me ahead of time and let me know why if you want leniency on points lost.

•  ActivStats:

ActivStats is an interactive statistical tutor that will assist me in teaching you the basic fundamentals of statistics and will help you greatly in learning the SPSS software program and its capabilities. I will grade your completion by three audits of your student file, one before each exam. This will be calculated as the percentage of lessons completed.

•  Homework:

There will be 15 homework assignments during the semester, 13 of which will count toward your grade. If you complete more than 13, I will count the highest 13 scores.  Late homework will be accepted until the grading is complete and returned to the class; however, a two-point-per-school day penalty will be assessed.

• Labs:

There will be six labs or short projects during the semester. These will involve increasingly more sophisticated analysis and will explore some specifically economic topics. Late labs will be accepted until the grading is complete and returned to the class; however, a two-point-per-school day penalty will be assessed.

• Quizzes:

You will take three quizzes during the semester. These quizzes will help me assess your learning and help you prepare for the exams. There will be no make-up quizzes for any reason.

• Exams:

You will take three non-cumulative exams during the semester; these exams will cover the material from class lectures and labs, quizzes, homework and readings.

An optional final exam will be given during finals week. The final exam will be a multiple-choice exam that may be used to replace your worst score of the three exams taken during the semester. If you choose to take the final, it cannot hurt your grade - the lowest score of the four exams will be dropped. This option is intended to account for emergencies, so please plan accordingly. If you miss more than 1 exam, you will not be able to make up those lost points.

Scale

A standard 90/80/70/60 scale will be used; thus 627 points are needed for an A, 557 points for a B, 487 points for a C and 417 points for a D.

Point Breakdown

General Information:

I am a reasonable person. If for any reason you are having difficulty with this class, let me know what is up. If something is not working and you fail to let me know there is no way that I can fix it. We can do better working together than separately. In my experience the greatest hindrance to learning occurs when student will not get actively involved in the learning process.

Also, I want to get know each one of you and so our interaction will enhance the class atmosphere. I strongly recommend that you take this course very seriously. If it seems as though there is a lot of class work, remember that this is a four semester-hour course. It is designed with that in mind.  Because we meet only twice a week, we will have an assignment due almost daily.

Monitor policy: All monitors will remain off during lecture until instructed to turn them on. It is imperative that you pay very close attention to the lectures and distractions will not be permitted.

A note on the textbook: You may have noticed that the textbook required for this course is more expensive than the same textbook used by another instructor of a similar course. This is not an oversight. Our textbook comes with software that will be needed for the successful completion of this course including the ActivStats interactive learning program for the SPSS Statistical program that will be the foundational tool for exploring statistics this semester. Many labs around campus offer the SPSS program. You will need to sell this CD back with the book so don’t lose it.

There will be no group work in this class. Though I understand that this is popular with colleges these days, it is difficult to evaluate each individual’s performance. Our in-class interaction will be sufficient to allow for you to get to know your fellow students.

Of course, cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated.  Any student guilty of either will fail this course and may face further disciplinary action from ISU.

If you have a documented disability and need a reasonable accommodation for contact Disability Concerns at 309.438.5853 or 309.438.8620 (TTY) or go to their office at 350 Fell Hall.

For questions or comments email me at dasacke@ilstu.edu