POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for PA 1
POLS 5684
Empirical Analysis for Public Administration
Spring 2016
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Jisun Youm
OFFICE: Arts and Sciences 144
PHONE: 307-766-2880
OFFICE HOURS: Monday 3-5 pm, Tuesday 3-4 pm and by appointment.
EMAIL: jyoum@uwyo.edu
Meeting Times: Monday 7-10 pm for Zoom Video
Required Texts:
Meier, Kenneth J, Jeffrey L. Brudney, and John Bohte. 2015. Applied Statistics for Public and Nonprofit Administration, Ninth Edition. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Caldwell, Sally. 2013. Statistics Unplugged , Fourth Edition. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth/Cengage.
Longest, Kyle, 2015. Using Stata for Qualitative Analysis , Second Edition. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
STATA statistical software, version 13 or 14. STATA Intercooled (IC) 14 Perpetual
License is recommended, but if money is a concern, then renting STATA IC for six months or a year will work.
Additional readings as necessary.
A basic calculator that can add, subtract, multiply and divide.
Course Description:
This course covers a breadth of statistical information for public managers. The course focuses on commonly used statistics in the social sciences paying particular attending to public administration. The class stresses conceptual understanding of various tools including Correlations, Ordinary Least Squares, and ANOVA. Accordingly, class time will be divided between lectures, class discussion, and applied computer time.
Specifically, this course will focus on:
- Conducting Descriptive and Explanatory Analysis
- Use of STATA to Describe, Graph, and Analyze Data
- Probabilities and Distribution
- Regression Analysis
- Confidential Intervals
- Hypothesis Tests

POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for PA 2
- ANOVA
MPA students who successfully complete the course expected to leave with the ability to: develop questions for applied research projects, conduct original analysis of data to address those questions, and answer and understand analysis presented to them.
This is not mathematics. But it is fundamental for you to have at least middle school level skills in arithmetic and algebra prior to this course in order to understand the topics. For some of you, this will be your first math course in years. Do not hesitate to ask questions.
The only mistake that can be made is not asking. I will assume a very basic knowledge of algebra in lieu of any formal pre-requisites for this course. If this looks familiar: y=3+5x and you can do the following, then you will have most of what you need. a. Identify that the + means to add, and that the = symbol means equality. b. Identify the constants and variables in this equation c. Identify that the graph of this equation would be a line d. Identify that y intercept e. Solve for x
If these concepts are Greek to you, then contact me and we will figure out a way for you to quickly catch up. One way is to review some materials at the Khan Academy at https://www.khanacademy.org/
We will also spend some time engaged in STATA programing. No prior knowledge of
STATA or computer programing in general is required. STATA is both powerful and easy to use and will be an excellent skill to have.
This course will be quickly over. I urge you to keep up as we go. It is very easy to miss something early and then be lost for the rest of the semester. So, come to class prepared.
Course Requirements and Evaluation:
Instructions for each assignment will be available on WyoCourses.
1. Homework (40% of total grade)
You will be assigned four number of homework assignments. Homework assignments will be used to assure that you have practical experience doing the math, and using
STATA.
2. Analytical Analysis Project (30% of total grade)
You are required to write a 5-7 page (double-spaced) essay to demonstrate how you apply the analytical methods that you learn from this course to real world inquires. You should prepare a quantitative dataset for data analysis with at leas t
30 observations and 4 variables for the essay (at least 2 variables with continuous measurement).
3. Small Exercise (20% of total grade)
I will select a few problems for each chapter. An assignment sheet will be posted on
WyoCourses before we go over each chapter in class. I will show how to solve each

POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for PA 3 question during the lecture. After then, you should work and submit the small exercises by every Thursday. I will return your assignments with my comments by Sunday night before next class.
4. Attendance and Participation (10% of total grade)
Class participation grades are assigned by the instructor based on four criteria: (1) class attendance, (2) the extent to which you ask questions or make comments/critiques in class that show you have done the readings, (3) your responses to questions asked by the instructor, and (4) your contributions in class on topics related to our weekly themes and discussions.
Getting Help
I strongly encourage you to make a study group with your classmates and meet regularly to discuss course material and homework assignments. You are also very welcome to see me with questions during my office hours if you are regularly attending class. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to ask for help as soon as you realize you do not understand a topic.
Late Assignment Submission
To encourage timely submission, one point will be deducted from assignments turned late on the due day. No assignments will be accepted on the third day or later; please contact me right away.
Final Overall Grades:
Final Grading Scales:
A: 100-90
B: 89-80
C: 79-70
D: 69-60
F: 59-0
According to MPA student policies, students are required to maintain a cumulative 3.0
GPA or better in order to graduate from the program. Also, students are not allowed to make a C or below in any MPA core/option core course. Therefore, you must receive a letter grade of “B” or better in that course.
Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism:
University regulations concerning academic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.
UNIREG 802, Revision 2 (subsections 3e-3h) defines academic dishonesty to include:

Copying from, or assisting, another student during an examination.

Stealing, or otherwise improperly obtaining, copies of an examination before or after its administration.

All quotes and ideas from other sources should be properly attributed.
 Improperly ‘borrowing’ information from a web site.

POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for PA 4
The penalty for committing academic dishonesty and/or plagiarism in this class is a grade of “F” for the entire course. In addition, a letter will be placed in your University
“citizenship” file. The University and I both take Academic Dishonesty very seriously.
The University Regulation that outlines academic dishonesty can be found here: http://www.uwyo.edu/generalcounsel/_files/docs/uw-reg-6-802.pdf
.
In addition, the department’s statement on academic dishonesty can be found here:
Http: www.uwyo.edu/pols/syllabus/index.html
. You should read both of these statements before class begins. If you have questions about academic dishonesty, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Accommodations for persons with documented disabilities require student registration wit University Disability Support Service (USDD) in SEO, room 330 Knight Hall, 766-
6189, TTY 766-3073.
Student Disability :
It is University of Wyoming policy to accommodate students, faculty, staff, and visitors with disabilities. If you have a physical, learning, sensory, or psychological disability and require accommodations, please let me know as soon as possible. You will need to register with University Disability Support Services (UDSS) in the Student Educational
Opportunity offices, Room 330 Knight Hall, and provide UDSS with documentation of your disability.
Schedule and Class assignments:
I reserve the right to change the schedule and readings as the semester progresses. I will announce any changes or additions to the schedule in class or by email.
Date Small
Exercise
Class Topic Reading
Jan. 25 No exercise
Introduction to analytical methods
Feb. 1 Exercise 1 Measurement, Data Collection and
Management
MBB Chapter 1 and 2
Caldwell Chapter 1
Longest Chapter 1, 2, and 3
Feb. 8 Exercise 2 Frequency and Central Tendency 1 MBB Chapter 4 and 5
Caldwell Chapter 2
Feb. 15 Exercise 3 Frequency and Central Tendency 2 MBB Chapter 6
Longest 4
Feb 20 Homework 1
Feb. 22 Exercise 4 Z distribution and Probability
Feb. 29 Exercise 5 T distribution and Probability
MBB Chapter 7
Caldwell Chapter 3 and 4
MBB Chapter 10
Caldwell Chapter 5
Mar. 7 Exercise 6 Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis testing (t-test)
MBB Chapter 11
Caldwell Chapter 6 and 7
Longest Chapter 6
(137p-145p)

POLS 5684 Empirical Analysis for PA
Mar. 14 No Class- Spring Break
Mar. 20 Homework 2
Mar. 21 Exercise 7 Difference of Means in two groups MBB Chapter 13
Caldwell Chapter 8
Longest Chapter 6
Mar. 28 Exercise 8 Contingency Table and Chi Square
(150p-157p)
MBB Chapter 14 and 15
Test Caldwell Chapter 11
Longest Chapter 5
Apr. 4 Exercise 9 Correlation Analysis and Linearity MBB Chapter 17
(319p-332p)
Caldwell Chapter 12
(284p-301p)
Longest Chapter 7
(158p-166p)
Apr. 9 Homework 3
Apr. 11 Exercise 10 Simple Linear Regression
Apr. 18
Apr. 25
Exercise 11 Multivariate Linear Regression 1
Exercise 12 Multivariate Linear Regression 2
MBB Chapter 17
(333p-349p)
MBB Chapter 18
MBB Chapter 20
Caldwell Chapter 12
(302p-313p)
Longest Chapter 7
(167p-178p)
Apr. 30
May 2 No
Exercise
Logit/Probit
Homework 4
TBA
Analytical Analysis Project Due Date May 11
5