ECON-UA.0018: Statistics – Section 006 – Fall 2025
Professor: Quang Vuong, qv1@nyu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:15am-10:30am, by appointments otherwise
Office: NYU Econ. Dept., 19 W. 4th Street, Room 806
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thuesdays 8am-9:15am, Room 101A, 31 Washington Pl
TA: Chengdai Huang, ch3586@nyu.edu
Office Hours: Wednesdays 4pm-5pm, NYU Econ. Dept., 19 W. 4th Street, Room 717
Lab Sessions start TBA
ECON-UA 18-009: Fridays 8am-9:15am, 70 Washington Sq S (Bobst) Room LL138
ECON-UA 18-010: Fridays 9:30am-10:45am, 7 East 12th St Room LL23.
SYLLABUS
Course Objective: The purpose of this course is to introduce some basic elements of the
Theory of Probability and Statistics used in the analysis of economic data. The course
presents some basic probability concepts and models. Statistical estimation and testing
principles are discussed and illustrated with proportions and means. Linear regression
(Chapters 6–9 and 23–27 in the textbook) are not covered.
Prerequisites: MATH-UA.0121 with a minimum grade of C, or AP3 CALCAB or CALCBC with a score of 4, or MATH-UA 122, or MATH 123, or MATH 211. Not open to
Stern students. Must also register for one recitation section (lab session).
Required Textbook: Stats: Data and Models, fifth edition, by De Veaux, Velleman
and Bock, Publisher: Pearson/Addison Wesley. Purchasing the digital version through
the Access program will save you some $ off the physical book rental, the digital book
purchase, and the 120 day rental version.
Course Website: The course website is on Brightspace. Course syllabus, announcements, homeworks, answer keys are available through this website.
Office Hours and Locations: See above. The purpose of my office hours is to address
questions pertaining to the lectures, content and organization of the course. Questions
related to homeworks, exams and grading should be addressed to the TA.
Recitation Sessions (Lab Sessions): They are a full part of the course. Their main
purpose is to prepare students for their homeworks, midterm and final exams.
Homeworks: There are 6 homeworks, each drawn from exercises in the textbook. Each
is announced by the TA and is due not later than the following recitation session.
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Students are allowed to work together on homeworks but must independently write up
any answers they turn in. Answers that appear to be copies are treated as violations of
the NYU CAS Policy on Academic Integrity.
Exams: There will be two exams: One midterm exam and a final exam. All exams are
closed notes – closed book. The midterm exam covers the material seen in class and in
recitations since the beginning of the course up to and including Chapter 17. See Tentative
Schedule below. The final exam is comprehensive though focusing on the material covered
in class and in recitations after Chapter 17. You are responsible to know only what you
have seen in class, recitations and homeworks.
The textbook and any notes or electronically recorded material are prohibited. The use
of a personal computer, and the use of any electronic device to access remote information,
are prohibited. Consulting other persons during the exam and consulting or aiding the
work of another student during the exam are prohibited. Cell phones must be turned off
during exams. Cheating will be punished to the full extent consistent with the NYU CAS
Policy on Academic Integrity.
Exam Schedule:
Midterm: Thursday November 6, 8:00am - 9:15am, in lecture room.
Final Exam: TBA. See Official NYU Schedule for Final Exams.
Grading: I expect each student to attend lectures, complete at least 5 of the 6 homeworks,
take the midterm exam and the final exam. From time to time (≤ 5), I will take a roll
call and give 1 bonus point for attendance to each student present.
The course grade is based on the 5 best homeworks, the midterm and final exam scores
and the attendance bonus points. The 5 best homeworks altogether count for 1/3, the
midterm counts for 1/3 and the final exam counts for 1/3 in determining a score out of
100. The bonus points for attendance are then added to compute the course score.
Your letter grade for the course depends on your course score and follows the Economics
Department grading guidelines. Specifically, “The Economics Department has agreed
to coordinate grading practices in the interest of fairness to students and to avoid nonintellectual incentives to take or avoid courses. We have asked all teachers of courses
to conform approximately to the following distribution. Deviation of ±5% is considered
within the normal bounds:”
A 29%
B 40%
C 31%
D when appropriate
F when appropriate
Pluses and minuses are used within each letter grade. There are no A+ and C- grades.
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Absences from Exams: Absence from any exam will result in an exam score of 0, unless
the absence can be excused. If you miss an exam due to an excused absence, I will decide
whether to base your grade on the other exam. There is no make-up exam.
To be excused from any scheduled exam, you must provide a medical note in which the
doctor states that there were medical reasons why you ought to be excused from the exam,
or you must provide a written explanation of the extraordinary circumstances together
with documentation in advance if possible.
Tentative Schedule:
Note: Depending on the length of each chapter, I may not follow exactly the timing
indicated in the next table. Also, I may not cover all the materials in each chapter.
Months/days Chapters
9/2-9/4:
Chapters 1 & 10:
9/9-9/11:
Chapter 12:
9/16-9/18:
Chapter 13:
9/23-9/25:
Chapter 14:
9/30-10/2:
Chapter 5:
10/7-10/9:
Chapter 15:
10/14-10/16: Chapter 16:
10/21-10/22: Chapter 17:
10/28-10/30: Chapter 18:
11/4:
No Class
11/6:
Midterm
11/11-11/13: Chapter 19:
11/18-11/20: Chapter 20:
11/25:
Chapter 21:
11/27:
Thanksgiving
12/2-12/4:
Chapter 22:
12/9-12/11: No Class
TBA:
Final Exam
Topic
Statistics, Sample Surveys
From Randomness to Probability
Probability Rules
Random Variables
The Normal Model
Probability Models
Confidence Intervals for Proportions
Confidence Intervals for Means
Testing Hypotheses
8:00am - 9:15am, in lecture room
More About Tests and Intervals
Comparing Groups
Paired Samples
Comparing Counts
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