Stat 470W Problem Solving and Communication in
Applied Statistics (3)
Instructor:
Linda Strauss
323B Thomas Building
8653134
Lus2@psu.edu (best way to reach me)
Office hours TBA
Course Objectives
1. Be able to recognize experimental design
2. Have a working knowledge of SAS
3. Be able to apply statistical knowledge to real world problems
4. Be able to communicate statistical findings through written and verbal
communication
Class Meeting Times: Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 – 9:15 a.m.
PLEASE NOTE: We will occasionally join STAT 580/581 on Monday at 3:35 through
the semester. These meetings will be announced in advance. If you have a COURSE
conflict, please let me know right away.
Required Reading: Assigned journal articles and selected chapter (available through
ANGEL)
Recommended Resources: Biostatistical Analysis (4th Edition) (Hardcover) Jerrold H.
Zar
Learning SAS in the Computer Lab (3rd Edition). Elliott, R.J.
and Morrell, C.H.
This course is a seminar format course. Class attendance and participation is critical to
your success in the course. Just showing up is not participation. You will need to be
actively engaged in the course during class meeting periods or your grade will suffer.
The schedule below is a tentative schedule. Due to the nature of the course and the
interactions with the Statistical Consulting Center (SCC) some of the assignments may be
dispersed throughout the semester. However, all students are responsible for all work.
The three main assignments for this course consist of a previous SCC project done in a
small group format, a current SCC project, and a class wide project. This is a writing
intensive course so all written work will be graded in terms of grammatical correctness,
clarity of writing, and accuracy of content.
Grading of Written Work:
Essays will be graded on a scale of 1 to 25, in the following manner:





5pt for answering the question and strength of argument;
5pts for correct interpretation of data/results;
5pts for clarity and conciseness of writing;
5pts for grammar, spelling;
5pts for overall professionalism.
Date
Jan 12 and 14
Topic
Intro to the
Course and
SCC
Jan 19 and 21
Working with
clients/Presentat
ion of Class
Long Term
Project
SCC Short
Term
Projects/Intro to
SAS Computer
Lab/Importing
Data
Research
Design
Jan 26 and 28
Feb 2 and 4
Feb 9 and 11
EDA/ANOVA
Proc Mixed
Feb 16 and 18
Computer LAB
Proc
Mixed/EDA
Presentation
Logistic
Regression/Co
mputer Lab
Long Term
Feb 23 and 25
March 2 and 4
Reading
Read Chatfield
Avoiding
Statistical
Pitfalls for
Thursday
discussion
Assignment
 Computer Account Forms,
SCC forms
 Chatfield Written
Assignment
 Take the IRB test


Read chapters 1
and 2 of Cohen
for Lab



Summary of SAS Output
Q Drive formatted
First Meeting Summary of
Short Term Projects

Written Assignment:
Compromises of Long
Term Project


EDA write up due
Proc Mixed output and
interpretation

Logistic Regression
Output and interpretation
due
Long Term Project
Terenzini
Chapters 1-4
Canavos
Chapters 1 and
14 of
Montgomery
Read Zar
reading Read
SAS Manual
Reading
Read Ott and
Longnecker
Read Pampel
Reading
Meeting Summary for
Long Term Project
Writing Assignment:
Working with Clients?

Project/Catch
Up
Spring Break
March 16 and
18
March 23 and
25
March 30 April
1
April 6 and 8
April 13 and
15
April 20 and
22
April 26 and
29
Short Term
Project Updates
Long Term
Project
Other Statistical
Techniques
(Factor
Analysis,
Categorical
Analyses)
Designing
Surveys
Ethics and
Research/Deali
ng with
Difficult Clients
Long Term
Project
Presentation/Sh
ort Term
Project
Presentations
Short Term
Project
Presentations
Summary of
580
Observations/C
ourse Wrap-up
Progress Report (intro,
EDA, inferential statistics
draft)
Read Hair
Reading
Read Dillman
Read Krathwohl
Select three of the other
techniques and develop a scenario
where you might use these
techniques
Read
Krathwohl,
ethics
Ethics Writing Assignment

Long Term write up due

Complete Short Term
Write Up due

Critique of 580/581
presentations
Assignment Due Dates
1/14
1/21
1/28
2/4
2/11
2/25
‘3/4
3/18
4/8
4/15
4/22
4/29
TBA
TBA
SCC Form
Chatfield Writing Assignment
IRB Certification
First Meeting Summary for Long Term
Summary of SAS Output
Q Drive formatted
First Meeting Summary of Short Term
Projects
Writing Assignment Compromises in
Research
Written first meeting summary from 580
project
Written EDA Presentation Summary
Proc Mixed Output and Interpretation
Logistic Regression Output and
Interpretation
Long Term Progress Report
Inferential Statistics for Group Project Due
Select three of the other techniques and
develop a scenario where you might use
these techniques
Ethics Writing Assignment
Long Term Report Due
Short Term Projects Due
STAT 580/581 Project 1st meeting
Summary
STAT 580/581 Presentation Critiques