Economics 250
Economics and Business Statistics I
Fall 2013
MW 2:00 – 3:15pm
Bryan 105
Instructor:
Dr. Michelle Sheran
Office: 445 Bryan Building
Phone: 336-256-1192
E-mail: mesheran@uncg.edu
Office Hours: Mondays
1:00-1:45pm
Wednesdays 3:30-4:30pm
Fridays
1:00-1:45pm
Learning Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Calculate and interpret common measures of central tendency and dispersion.
Use probabilities and probability distributions to assess the likelihood of events.
Estimate parameters of common discrete and continuous probability distributions.
Understand sampling, sampling distributions and the Central Limit Theorem.
Calculate and interpret confidence intervals for population means.
Perform hypothesis tests for population means and understand the consequences of errors in tests.
Required Materials:
1.
2.
Textbook: Business Statistics by Robert A. Donnelly
All students are REQUIRED to register for MyStatLab through http://pearsonmylab.com/.
Homework assignment and submission occur through this on-line account. Registration
instructions are posted on Blackboard under the Syllabus link.
To register, you will need a:
• course ID (sheran19891)
• student access code
Custom textbooks (containing only the chapters covered in this course) are available from the UNCG
bookstore for $148.20. These come packaged with the required student access code for MyStatLab.
Alternatively, you can buy the eText and student access code for $91.30 through
http://pearsonmylab.com/. If you're waiting for financial aid and can't pay immediately, you can get
temporary access without payment for 17 days.
Grading:
Homework Assignments
Now you try! Questions
Exam I
Exam II
Exam III
15%
10%
25%
25%
25%
Your course letter grade will be assigned based on the following scale:
97% and above:
At least 93% but less than 97%:
At least 90% but less than 93%:
At least 87% but less than 90%:
At least 83% but less than 87%
At least 80% but less than 83%:
At least 77% but less than 80%:
At least 73% but less than 77%:
At least 70% but less than 73%:
At least 67% but less than 70%:
At least 63% but less than 67%:
At least 60% but less than 63%:
Less than 60%:
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
Attendance:
You are allowed to miss at most 3 classes during the semester. After 3 missed classes, I will deduct 3
percentage points from your course grade for each class you miss. I reserve the right to count you as
absent if you are late to class.
Homework Assignments:
There are 7 homework assignments. All assignments are due by 11:59 pm on the evening of the
stated deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted for any reason. I will drop your lowest
homework score before calculating your homework average. The remaining 6 assignments will receive
equal weight in your homework grade.
Extra Credit:
You can earn extra credit points by working through the Study Plan in MyStatLab. Each homework
question has a corresponding practice question in the study plan. You can earn ¼ point for each
correctly answered practice problem. Extra credit points will be added to your homework score. The
deadline for all extra credit is 11:59pm on December 2nd.
Example: Homework #1 has 12 questions. There are 12 corresponding practice questions. Say you
score a 10/12 = 83.33% on Homework #1. If you answer all 12 corresponding practice questions
correctly, you will earn 3 additional points, bringing your Homework #1 score to a 13/12 = 108.33%.
Now you try! Questions:
Once I work a Your Turn question in class, you will be responsible for completing the corresponding
Now you try! question and turning it in at the start of the next class.
There are 34 Now you try! questions throughout the course. Your grade for these questions will be a
function of how many you complete and submit.* Additionally, for each Now you try! question I will
randomly grade the submissions for 10 students.
Your Now you try! grade will be calculated as follows:
#
30
∗
Example: Suppose you turn in 32 out of 34 Now you try! questions, and your average score on the
questions that were graded is an 85%. Your grade will then be:
32
∗ 85% = 90.67%
30
*
Note that to be considered submitted, a question has to be answered in full and all work shown.
Exams:
The exam dates are listed in the schedule below. Put them in your calendar immediately because there
are no makeup exams and very few acceptable excuses for missing one. Acceptable excuses include a
death in the family, a University-sponsored event or excursion, or a serious illness documented by a
doctor. Acceptable excuses must be approved before the scheduled exam date. Exams are all closedbook, closed-note, and closed-friend/neighbor. You may bring a calculator to the exam; you may not
use your cell phones as a calculator.
Academic Integrity Policy:
Students are expected to know and abide by the Honor Code in all matters pertaining to this course.
Violations of this code will be pursued in accordance with the code. The link to UNCG’s academic
integrity policy is: http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/complete/
Faculty and Student Guidelines:
Please familiarize yourself with the Bryan School’s Faculty and Student Guidelines. These guidelines
establish principles and expectations for the administration, faculty, staff, and students of the Bryan
School of Business and Economics. The link for this document is
http://www.uncg.edu/bae/faculty_student_guidelines.pdf
Additional Requests:
•
Do not talk to your neighbors during class. It distracts the students around you, and it distracts
me. It will not be tolerated. If you talk during class I reserve the right to ask you to leave the
room.
•
I know about the parking problems on campus and am sympathetic, but I do request that you be
on time.
•
Please make sure that all cell phones are turned off during lecture. DO NOT answer calls/text
messages during class. If I see you texting I reserve the right to ask you to leave the room.
•
I encourage you to work together on assignments, although every student is responsible for
submitting his/her own answers to each graded assignment in order to receive credit.
•
When you begin to feel lost, BE PROACTIVE!! I am more than happy to answer questions
during lecture.
The following schedule is subject to change as necessary.
Week #
1
August 19:
2
3
4
Monday
Chapters 1 & 2
August 26:
Chapter 3
Homework #1 due
September 2: LABOR DAY
August 21:
Wednesday
Chapter 3
August 28:
Chapter 3
September 4: Chapter 3
September 9: Chapter 5
Homework #2 due
September 16: Chapter 5
September 11: Chapter 5
September 25: Exam #1
7
September 23: Chapter 6
Homework #3 due
September 30: Chapter 6
October 2:
Chapter 6
8
October 7:
Chapter 6
October 9:
Chapter 7
9
October 14:
FALL BREAK
10
October 21:
Chapter 7
October 16: Chapter 7
Homework #4 due
October 23: Chapter 7
11
12
October 28: Chapter 8
Homework #5 due
November 4: Chapter 8
November 6: Chapter 8
13
November 11: Chapter 8
November 13: Chapter 9
14
November 18: Chapter 9
Homework #6 due
November 25: Chapter 9
November 20: Chapter 9
5
6
15
16
17
December 2: Chapter 9
Homework #7 due
December 9: Exam #3 (3:30-6:30pm)
September 18: Chapter 5
October 30:
Exam #2
November 27: THANKSGIVING
BREAK