Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Syllabus (Fall, 2015)
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS
PAI 721
Name:
Email:
Office:
Office Hours:
Instructor
Hosung Sohn
sohnhosung@gmail.com
426 Eggers Hall (Room 406J)
Friday, 2:00 pm–4:00 pm
(Or by appointment)
Classroom:
Date:
Time:
Class Web:
Lecture
110 Maxwell
Tuesday & Thursday
8:00 am–9:20 am
Class materials posted at
http://blackboard.syr.edu
Course Description and Objectives
This course will introduce MPA students to the logic of statistical approach widely used
in research that use data. I have two goals in mind. The first goal is to equip students with
knowledge necessary for becoming a critical consumer and producer of data-driven research.
To fulfill the goal, this course will focus on reasoning, rather than mathematical derivation
and proofs. Focusing on reasoning, however, doesn’t necessarily imply that there will be
no math-related stuffs in this course. Studying statistics with some degree of mathematics
will tremendously help students grasp the logic behind statistics. So, some mathematical
rigor will be involved in this course—a thorough understanding of basic high school algebra
and geometry will be assumed. The second goal is to make students well prepared for
the Quantitative Analysis course (i.e., Econometrics)—the other statistics-related MPA core
course offered in the spring semester. Econometrics relies heavily on concepts that you will
learn in this course. Accordingly, I hope students make a “soft landing” on and to excel at
the second semester course after completing this course. After taking this course, as well as
the Quantitative Analysis course, students are expected to read and understand data-driven
research and to judge the degree to which they can provide an evidentiary basis for policy.
Prerequisites
Although the focus of the course is on logic rather than mathematical derivations, I
expect from the students taking this course to have knowledge in algebra and geometry at
the high school level.
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Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Syllabus (Fall, 2015)
Assignments & Grading
At this point in your career, the grade you receive in this course should have next to no
impact on your future life—unless you intend to pursue another master or doctoral degrees.
Therefore, worrying excessively about grades is strongly discouraged (it’s not good for your
health!). To encourage students to learn diligently, however, I will assign final grades based
on the following:
1. Class participation (0%)
Although class participation does not count toward your final grades, participating in
class discussion is extremely beneficial for your own understanding. It is also a service
that you can provide to our class (including me!). In my experience, it is almost
certainly the case that if you are unsure about something, other students are as well.
So please do not worry about the sophistication of your questions or the correctness of
your answers about topics under discussion.
2. Problem sets (20%)
I will assign four problem sets over the semester, spaced about three to four weeks
apart. These problem sets will be pencil-and-paper exercises, intended to make you
solve equations and apply concepts you learned, as well as computer exercises using
data. In order to solve computer exercises, you have to use statistical software. I
recommend using SPSS as it will be used in the Quantitative Analysis course; but
you are welcome to use other statistical software such as STATA and R. Answers
to computer exercises, however, will be provided in the SPSS format. Students are
allowed to work together on these problem sets, but each student should write up one’s
answers using their own words! Please submit your problem set by the end of the class
(i.e., 9:20 AM). Answers to each problem set will be available at the course website
after the corresponding due date. The due date of each problem set is as follows:
• Problem set 1: released on September 18 and due on September 29
• Problem set 2: released on October 9 and due on October 20
• Problem set 3: released on November 6 and due on November 17
• Problem set 4: released on November 27 and due on December 1
3. In-class midterm (30%) & final exams (50%)
Midterm exams will be held on October 27 and final exams will be held on December
10.
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Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Syllabus (Fall, 2015)
Textbook and Reading
• Moore, D. S., McCabe, G. P., & Craig, B. A. (2014). Introduction to the Practice of
Statistics, 8th Edition. NY: W.H. Freeman and Company (ISBN-13: 9781464158933;
ISBN-10: 1464158932)
• Lecture notes
Optional Books
• For those who want to read an “easy-to-read” book related to statistics, I recommend
Naked Statistics: Stripping the Dread from the Data by Charles Wheelan.
• If you really love math and want to study statistics rigorously, I am more than happy
to recommend books on probability and mathematical statistics.
Statistics Software
Students may purchase a personal copy of the software from the SU Bookstore. If you
do not want to purchase the software, copies are located on the computers in the student
clusters in the basement of Eggers Hall. Also, the UCLA website has many helpful resources
for statistical software.
• SPSS : http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/spss/
• STATA: http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
• R: http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/r/
Religious Observance
Syracuse University’s religious observances policy, found at
http://supolicies.syr.edu/emp_ben/religious_observance.htm
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Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Syllabus (Fall, 2015)
recognizes the diversity of faiths represented among the campus community and protects the
rights of students, faculty, and staff to observe religious holidays according to their tradition.
Under the policy, students are provided an opportunity to make up any examination, study,
or work requirements that may be missed due to a religious observance, provided they notify
their instructors before the end of the second week of classes. For fall and spring semesters, an
online notification process is available through “MySlice/Student Services/Enrollment/My
Religious Observances” from the first day of class until the end of the second week of class.
Any student who will miss an assignment or exam due to a religious observance and has
made the appropriate notifications should see me as soon as possible (at least within the two
weeks of class) to make arrangements for making up his or her missed work.
Make Up Work
Although students are expected to complete the requirements of this course by the deadline, I totally understand that life is a blinding blizzard. If there happens to be some legitimate reasons for missing the deadline (e.g., family emergency, religious observance mentioned
above), please write to me with proper documents to prove your emergency.
Disability Statement
If you need accommodations for a disability, please contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS), http://disabilityservices.syr.edu/, located at 804 University Avenue, or call
315-443-4498 for an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. The ODS is responsible for coordinating disability-related accommodations
and will issue students with documented disabilities “Accommodation Authorization Letters,” as appropriate. Because accommodations may require early planning and generally
are not provided retroactively, please contact the ODS as soon as possible.
Academic Integrity Statement
The Syracuse University Academic Integrity Policy holds students accountable for the
integrity of the work they submit. Students should be familiar with the policy and know that
it is their responsibility to learn about instructor and general academic expectations with
regard to proper citation of sources in written work. The policy also governs the integrity of
work submitted in exams and assignments as well as the veracity of signatures on attendance
sheets and other verification of participation in class activities. Serious sanctions can result
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Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs
Syracuse University
Syllabus (Fall, 2015)
from academic dishonesty of any sort. For more information and the complete policy, see:
http://supolicies.syr.edu/ethics/acad_integrity.htm
Calendar and Important Dates
Day/Date
Month
September
September
September
September
September/October
October
October
October
October
November
November
November
November
December
December
Tuesday
1
8
15
22
29:
6
13
20:
27:
3
10
17:
24:
1:
8
Problem set 1 due
Problem set 2 due
Midterm exam
Problem set 3 due
No class (Thanksgiving)
Problem set 4 due
5
Thursday
3
10
17
24
1
8
15
22
29
5
12
19
26: No class (Thanksgiving)
3
10: Final exam
Tentative Course Schedule
Dates
September 1, 3
September 8, 10
September 15, 17
September 22, 24
September 29, October 1
October 6, 8
October 13, 15
Topic
Descriptive
Descriptive
Descriptive
Descriptive
Descriptive
Descriptive
Descriptive
Readings
statistics
statistics
statistics
statistics
statistics
statistics
statistics
6
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
Chapter
1,
1,
1,
1,
1,
1,
1,
lecture
lecture
lecture
lecture
lecture
lecture
lecture
note
note
note
note
note
note
note
1
1
1
1
1
1
1