Instructor |
|
|---|
|
General course information: objectives, prerequisites, text, policies, etc.
|
|---|
|
Lectures and assignment due dates (subject to revision as the semester proceeds).
|
|---|
|
Lecture notes in PDF format.
|
|---|
|
HW assignments (will be updated as the semester proceeds).
|
|---|
|
Details on your term project, which includes a proposal, in-class presentation,
and final paper.
|
|---|
|
Sample datasets from the textbook, also used in lecture. These are copyrighted.
Also see
the textbook's companion website, including Excel 2007 tutorials, self-study quizzes, and
the PHStat2 software.
|
|---|
|
Tips and tricks for using Excel, will be updated as the semester progresses.
|
|---|
|
Practise questions for the midterm exam on Thu 20 Oct
and the final exam on Sat 10 Dec.
|
|---|
Resources |
|
I have taught similar statistics courses before;
you may find the old exams (with solutions) useful:
MATH108 (for Nursing) and
MATH102 (for Science).
A link at the bottom takes you to previous years.
|
|---|
|
We use Excel in class not because it is the most easy-to-use, cheap, or
powerful statistical software (far from it!), but because it is easily
accessible and still widely used in the business world.
- Download the PHStat2 Excel add-on used
by the textbook. Also see
the PHStat homepage.
PHStat is installed in the classroom; go to Start Menu, Programs, Business.
It should then appear under the "Add-Ins" menu in Excel.
- For Mac users and others who can't get the Analysis ToolPak for Excel,
try
StatPlus:mac from AnalystSoft; there is a free LE version for download.
- For help and tips with Excel,
Bill Jelen's "Mr. Excel" site is useful.
- Excel does have some problems when used for statistics; see
Practical Stats and
David Heiser.
- Excel is not the only spreadsheet software out there; you can try
the free office suite LibreOffice,
or even Google Docs
(although their regression tools are pretty limited without using
add-ons).
- The social and health science folks often rely on IBM's
SPSS, however it is not that easy
to use, and is pretty expensive (although TWU has a site-license).
- Stata is cheaper than SPSS and
has a growing following; I've never used it myself.
- SAS is the old, established
industry leader, especially in financial services and business analytics.
But they are (IMHO) way overpriced and a bit slow to embrace change.
(I do hear they're a great company to work for, though!)
- For those not shy of a command-line interface, there is also the very
powerful (and free) R project.
This is what I use personally; it is the de-facto standard amongst
academic statisticians, and as such constantly has the most cutting-edge
techniques added to its enormous ecosystem.
R is not just software; it's a community!
|
|---|
Datasets |
Some resources to find data for your term project:
|
|---|
|
|---|
|
Every class starts with a short devotional from the Bible, to help keep
everything in perspective!
|
|---|