ECON1151 Spring 2016
Statistics
Instructor:
Office:
E-Mail:
Office Hours:
Igor Karagodsky
Maloney Hall 339
karagods@bc.edu
W 3:30-4:30, F 3:30-4:30,
or by appointment
Class Meeting Days:
Class Meeting Hours:
Class Location:
MWF
1PM (Section 04)
2PM (Section 05)
Gasson 207
Subject to change, at the discretion of the instructor.
Course Description
The purpose of this course is to help you understand statistical concepts that are fundamental
to econometric analysis. There will be a fair amount of technical notation, many mathematical
concepts, and various statistical formulas used along the way. You are expected to build your statistical intuition as well as the ability to think critically about data. You will be expected to solve
statistical problems, explain the general principle behind the problem using technical notation,
and be able to convincingly explain why a particular method works to someone who has relatively
limited statistical knowledge.
The course will be broken into three main parts:
1. Probability theory
2. Distributions of random variables
3. Introduction to econometrics
Textbook
Statistics for Business and Economics with MyStatLab (8th edition): Newbold, Carlson, Thorne.
Grade Distribution
Homework Assignments
10%
Participation
10%
Midterm Exam 1
18%
Midterm Exam 2
18%
Final Exam
24%
Lab (including lab assignments) 20%
In rare cases, this weighting may vary to reflect excused exams, academic integrity violations, or
other circumstances at the instructor’s discretion.
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Mandatory Lab Sections
In addition to lecture, you will attend a lab once a week. The lab work and assignments will be
incorporated into your final course grade. In the lab, you will learn how to use STATA- a statistical
software package- and apply the concepts learned in lecture. Details on how to access STATA will
be presented in lab.
Homework Assignments
There will be 8 assignments posted on Canvas on an approximately biweekly basis. Students are
encouraged to work with their classmates on assignments, but you will receive credit for the assignments completed under your name that are submitted at the beginning of class on the due
date. Any incomplete exercises within an assignment will receive zero points. Absolutely no late
assignments will be accepted.
Participation
Your participation grade is determined in equal parts by:
1. attending class
2. active participation in discussions
Exams Dates
We will have two midterms and a comprehensive final exam.
Midterm Exam 1
Midterm Exam 2
Final Exam
Wednesday, February 17, in class
Wednesday, March 30, in class
Section 04: Wednesday, May 11, 12:30-3
Section 05: Saturday, May 14, 12:30-3
All exams must be taken as scheduled for the section in which you are registered. The comprehensive final exam is mandatory. The final exam date and time are assigned by BC and cannot be
changed. Thus, please make your travel arrangements with these dates in mind as it is not possible
to reschedule any of these exams.
Course Policies
• General
– Computers are not to be used unless instructed to do so. Phones must be silenced or
turned off.
– In-class midterms and exams are closed book, closed notes.
– Check Canvas and your email frequently throughout the semester for announcements
and supplementary materials.
– Always be respectful towards your classmates and instructor. This includes arriving on
time, not leaving class early, and not disrupting lectures and exams.
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• Grades
– Grades will be posted on Canvas. Students are responsible for tracking their progress
by referring to the online gradebook.
– Any student wishing to dispute a grade received on a particular assignment or exam must
provide a type-written document to me in my mailbox in the Economics Department,
detailing the specific nature of the complaint, within 48 hours of receiving the grade. If
this is not done, I will not consider any grade changes.
• Attendance and Absences
– Students are responsible for all missed lectures, regardless of the reason for absence. It
is also the absentee’s responsibility to get all missing notes or materials. Remember that
the lecture slides I post online will not be the only material that I cover in class.
• Exam and Midterms
– If you need to miss an exam due to unusual circumstances (e.g. significant illness, family
emergency), please contact me at least 24 hours before the start of the exam.
Without advance notice of absence, you are liable to receive a zero on the exam.
– A justifiable reason is an illness with permission from you Dean, a school-sanctioned
athletic event with official documentation, or a family emergency with permission
from your Dean. Please note that neither an extracurricular activity nor course work
for other classes is a valid reason to miss an exam.
– There are no make-up exams. There will be no rescheduling of the final
exam. If you miss the first midterm for any justifiable reason, the weight of the second
midterm will be increased to 27% and the final exam to 33%. If you miss the second
midterm for any justifiable reason, the weight of the final exam will be increased to 42%.
If you miss both midterms for justifiable reasons, your final exam weight will increase
to 60%. Missing the final exam will result in a zero.
– Cell phones and other electronic devices are to be turned off during exams and midterms.
– Students should not to take cellular phones to the restroom during exams.
Academic Integrity - Your work on exams is to be entirely your own. Be sure you are familiar
with the section on “Academic Integrity” in the Boston College Catalog or online at BCInfo.
Cheating on any exam or midterm will result in:
1. an automatic failure in the course and
2. reporting of the incident to the Dean’s Office and the College of Arts and Sciences Academic
Integrity Committee, as requested by the university.
See http://www.bc.edu/content/bc/offices/stserv/academic/integrity.html for a full discussion of the
university’s policies and procedures regarding academic integrity.
Accommodations for Learning Disabilities - If you have a learning disability, you are strongly
encouraged to request accommodations for this course. Please register with either Kathleen Duggan
(kathleen.duggan@bc.edu) Associate Director, Academic Support Services, the Connors Family
Learning Center (learning disabilities and ADHD) or Paulette Durrett (paulette.durrett@bc.edu),
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Assistant Dean for Students with Disabilities, Dean of Students Office (all other disabilities). Advance notice and appropriate documentation are required for accommodation.
Student Athletes - If you are a student athlete, please provide me as soon as possible with the
appropriate documentation and contact information for your coaches and your travel/game schedule. I will work with the Athletic Department and your coaches to help accommodate your travel
and practices.
Tentative Course Outline:
The weekly coverage might change as it depends on the progress of the class.
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Week
Content
Reading
Week 1
• 1/20: Introduction, Summation Notation
• 1/22: Regression to Mean; Descriptive Statistics
• 1/25: Measures of Central Tendency; Weighted Means
Week 2
• 1/27: Variance, Standard deviation; z-scores
• 1/29: Covariance and Correlation
• 2/01: Probability Basics
Week 3
• 2/03: Probability Basics; Conditional Probabilities
• 2/05: Conditional Probabilities; Independence
• 2/08: Independence; Bayes Rule
3.1-3.5
Week 4
• 2/10: Expected Values and Variances of Discrete Random Vars.
• 2/12: Linear Functions of Discrete Random Variables
• 2/15: Binomial Random Variables, Joint Distributions and
Discrete Random Variables, Selection Bias
4.4-4.7
Week 5
• 2/17: First Midterm
5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.6
• 2/19: Continuous Random Variables: Uniform Distribution
• 2/22: Standard Normal Distribution, Other Normal Distributions
Week 6
• 2/24: Normal Distributions, Binomial as Normal
• 2/26: Distribution of Sample Means from a Normal Distribution
• 2/29: Central Limit Theorem and Distribution of Sample Means
5.3; 6.1; 6.2
Week 7
• 3/02: Distribution of Sample Means, Proportions
• 3/04: Examples of Proportions, Confidence Intervals
• 3/07: SPRING BREAK
6.3, 7.1, 7.2
Week 8
• 3/09: SPRING BREAK
• 3/11: SPRING BREAK
• 3/14: Central Limit Theorem and Distribution of Sample Means
6.3, 7.1, 7.2
Week 9
• 3/16: Hypothesis Testing;
Two-tailed and one-tailed tests (known variance)
• 3/18: Hypothesis Testing;
Two-tailed and one-tailed tests (unknown variance)
• 3/21: Hypothesis testing: Proportions
Week 10
• 3/23: Distribution of Sample Variances of a Normal distribution
• 3/25: Easter Break
• 3/27: Easter Break
6.4, 7.5, 9.6, 10.4
Week 11
• 3/30: Second Midterm
• 4/01: Power of a test
• 4/04: Examples of Power of a test Linear Regression Models
7.7; 7.8; 9.5; 10.5
Week 12
• 4/06; Linear Regression Models
• 4/08: Least Squares Model
• 4/11: R-squared and Standard errors
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1.1-1.6; 6.1; 2.1; 2.3
2.2; 2.4; 3.1-3.2
7.1-7.4, 9.1-9.4
11.1-11.5
Week 13
• 4/13; Log functional forms
• 4/15: Dummy Variables and Regression as a conditional mean
• 4/18: Patriots Day
Week 14
• 4/20; Multiple Regression, Partial Derivatives
• 4/22: Quadratic Functional Forms
• 4/25: Data issues with regression analysis
Week 15
• 4/27: Problems with regression inference
• 4/29: Omitted variables, Simultaneity, Reverse Causality
• 5/02: Measurement Error, Sample Selection
Week 16
• 5/04 - Final Review
FINAL
• SECTION 04: Wednesday, May 11, 12:30am
• SECTION 05: Saturday, May 14, 12:30pm
• You must take the exam with the section in which you are registered.
12.1, 12.3, 12.8
12.4, 12.7
Notes
STUDY
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