PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY
Introductory Statistics
Soc/Posc 250.01
4 Units

Professor: Robin D. Perrin
Office: AC 222A
Home Phone: 506-4954
Office Phone: 506-4885
email: robin.perrin@pepperdine.edu
Robin Perrin Home: http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/rperrin/
Location: AC 232
Time: Tue/Fri, 10:00-11:50
Fall, 2004

Download a Word version of the syllabus here.

Course Description
This course presents the conceptual basis and application of statistical analysis in social and behavioral research. It is divided into two sections, descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics describe or summarize data. The descriptive statistics we will cover in this class include frequency distributions and graphing, measures of central tendency and variability, linear regression and correlation. Inferential statistics, which are somewhat more complicated, use sample statistics to make inferences about a characteristic of a population. This includes confidence intervals, t tests, and chi-square.

It is my hope that you will not find this course as difficult as you are perhaps anticipating that it will be. To this end, I am going to make several suggestions. First, you cannot read the textbook like a novel. It must be studied carefully, reflected upon, and reread in order to obtain a reasonable understanding of the concepts and methods described. Second, please do your reading before class so that you will know what is going on in class. I know that many of your professors will ask you to keep up with the reading. And I know that many of you will ignore your professors. But please trust me when I say that it is to your advantage to stay ahead of me. Third, make sure you learn the symbols as you progress through the course. The book really will look like Greek if you do not take the time to learn what the symbols stand for. Fourth, you cannot get behind in this course. This is not a course where "cramming" the night before is likely to pay off. Finally, this course is cumulative. You cannot skip over confusing chapters in hopes that it won't matter in the long run. In the long run it probably will matter because you need to understand the material in the early chapters if you are going to understand the material in the later chapters.

You should always bring a calculator and the textbook to class.

Book
Textbook (required): Ferris Ritchey, The Statistical Imagination: Elementary Statistics for the Social Sciences (text should come with a SPSS disk)

Course Policies:
Missed exams will be counted as zeros except, of course, for extraordinary circumstances.  Acceptable reasons for missing an exam would include health problems, a death in the family, etc. Please note that arrangements should be made with me before the exam. Exams are scheduled well in advance so discretionary activity should be scheduled around these dates.

Attendance and Participation.  No points are awarded for attendance but in-class exercises may be assigned at any time so it is wise to attend class every time. You will be allowed to drop 1 in-class exercise.

Office Hours are Monday/Thursday, 9:30-11:00, and Wednesday, 11:00-12:00. If the designated office hours do not fit your schedule you are encouraged to stop by my office at your convenience.  An even more desirable option would be to call me to set up a more convenient time.  Indeed, my "door is always open" (even if it is closed) and you need not feel limited by the posted office hours.

Homework. You will turn in 13 homework assignments over the course of the semester. Each is worth 5 points. No late homework will be accepted but you will be allowed to drop one assignment. Your homework must be neat and your homework must be stapled. Also, homework is due at the beginning of class. Homework that is handed in after the assignments are collected in class will be counted as late.

Computer Assignments should be typed. The length will vary depending on the particular assignment. Late assignments will be docked one point if they are handed in within 24 hours, two points if they are handed in between 24 hours late and one week late. After that, computer assignments will be worth ½ credit. You will not be allowed to drop one computer assignment.

General Outline and Time Schedule

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DAY          TOPIC                           READING   HOMEWORK 
T Aug 31    Introduction                    Ch 1
F Sep 3      Level of Measurement     Ch 2
T Sep 7      Frequency Distributions   Ch 2,3         Ch1 (p. 23) Q2,4,5,7; E2,4,6,10,16
F Sep 10    Central Tend/Dispersion  Ch 4,5         Ch 2 (p. 62) Q2,3,5,9,13; E2,4,8,13,15,18
T Sep 14    Normal Curve                 Ch 5            Ch 4 (p. 117) Q2,3,5,9,10,13; E8,12,14,16,18
F Sep 17    Probability                       Ch 6            Ch 5 (p. 148) Q2,3,4,11,14,20,21;E2,4,11,12,14
T Sep 21    Probability                       Ch 6
F Sep 24    Test #1                            Ch 6 (p. 183) Q2,8,9,12,15,16;E2,4,6,8,12,14,15,16

T Sep 28     Sampling Distributions     Ch 7
F Oct 1       Sampling Distributions     Ch 7
T Oct 5       Confidence Intervals        Ch 8            Ch 7 (p. 215) Q2,4,5,6,7,10,12,14; E2,4
F Oct 8        No Class
T Oct 12      Confidence Intervals       Ch 8,9
F Oct 15      Hypothesis Testing          Ch 9            Ch 8 (p. 246) Q1,2,4,5,6; E2,4,6,8,12
T Oct 19      Hypothesis Testing          Ch 9,10
F Oct 22      Single Sample Tests        Ch 10           Ch 9 (p. 283) Q4,5,6,8,13; E,6,8,10
                                                          (skip 318-326)
T Oct 26      Test #2                                      Ch 10 (p. 328)Q3,6,9,11,12,13,1617,19,21;E6,10

F Oct 29      Dif of Means Tests          Ch 11 (read 334-348 and 359-362)
T Nov 2       Dif of Means Tests          Ch 11
F Nov 5       Nominal Variables           Ch 13          Ch 11 (p. 368) Q2,5,15; E1,2 (Use SPSS)
                                                           (do not read p. 437-449)
T Nov 9       Nominal Variables           Ch 13
F Nov 12     Correlation & Regression Ch 14          Ch 13 (454) Q4,5; E2,4,6,8
T Nov 16     Correlation & Regression Ch 14
F Nov 19     Correlation & Regression Ch 15          Ch 14 (p. 486) Q3,5,6; E2,3,4,6 (Use SPSS)
T Nov 23     Correlation & Regression Ch 15             
F Nov 26     No Class
T Nov 20     Review for test
F Dec 3        Test #3                                                 Ch 15 (p. 518) Q5,8,11;E2,4,6,10 (Use SPSS)

T Dec 7            Final review
F Dec 10          Final review

Monday, December 13 - Comprehensive Final, 1:30-3:00

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